Musical Improv 1: Songs, Lyrics and Rhymes

Do you enjoy improv? Do you enjoy music? Congratulations, you have what it takes to be a musical improv rock star–which is exactly what the All Out Comedy musical improv program will help you to become.

In Musical Improv 1, we focus on what it takes to improvise complete songs based on nothing more than a suggestion. We start with building confidence in our own voices–redefining what it means to be a “good singer”–then focus on the fundamentals of improvised songs: Heightened emotions; big dumb choruses; structured verses; tight taglines; humorous lyrics, f*ck-around bridges; and setting up and paying off bad-ass rhymes.

Each week we’ll build on those specific skills in structured ways so that after 8 weeks, you’ll leave feeling confident to sing your own improvised songs. In level 2, we’ll introduce genres, styles, and spectacle, all of it building to a graduation show in which we stage our own improvised music festival.

Due to the more advanced nature of this class, all students enrolling in this class must have completed All Out Comedy’s Level 3 improv course or the equivalent at another improv theater.

People with no musical experience and people who’ve been told they are “bad singers” are highly encouraged to enroll!

Those who have previously studied or performed musical improv in the bay area will also benefit from this class–our curriculum is rooted in approaches and forms developed in Chicago that are not commonly taught in the bay area.

The Instructor: Jed Levine

Jed is an All Out Comedy mainstage cast member with nearly a decade of experience as a musical improviser, coach and teacher. He is a graduate of the Second City Musical Improv Conservatory in Chicago and is an alumni of the critically-acclaimed musical improv company Baby Wants Candy. Jed is currently a guest player for improvised musicals at BATS Improv and teaches musical improv at Leela in San Francisco where he also coaches the musical improv team Noteworthy.

The Musical Director: Jared Hauser

Jared has spent the past 10 years in Seattle, fronting several local rock bands as singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Blending his love of late-60s psychedelia with mid-70s jangle-rock, Jared has graced stages around the Northwest and beyond. Recently, Jared relocated to California, setting up his homebase in the east bay. Jared’s instruments include: guitar, piano, mandolin, lap steel, sitar, melodica, autoharp, and many more. As a rule of thumb, if it has strings and frets Jared can probably jam on it.

Dates: Thursdays 7:00pm-9:30pm, January 9-February 27 (8 Weeks/20 Hours)

Location: A ll Out Comedy Theater, 2550 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland CA 94612

Requirements: Completed All Out Comedy’s Level 3 improv course or the equivalent at another improv theater.

Registration: $364