Shake the Cobwebs Loose: Improvisation as a creative idea generator with Matt Jenner

Shake the Cobwebs Loose: Improvisation as a creative idea generator. 

Sometimes pen to paper can feel like such a limiting way to find inspiration. There’s a gig coming up but you’re just staring at the blinking cursor of a blank Google Doc, waiting for an idea to arrive. 

What if, instead, you started moving, experimenting and seeing what emerges?

Shake the Cobwebs Loose is a practical workshop exploring improvisation as a tool for generating creative material. Through a series of physical and abstract improvisations, participants will experiment with different stimuli and prompts to discover character, physicality, atmosphere, images and scene kernels.

The focus is not on creating the “perfect” improvised scene, but on learning how to mine improvisation for material. We’ll hunt for unexpected moments, accidents and discoveries that spark something worth exploring.

Get out of your friggin’ head and give your instincts a go for once!


Matt's Bio

Matt Jenner is a comedian, writer, teacher & film-maker from Melbourne, Australia. He has been writing & performing for over a decade and a half.

As a teacher, Matt is interested in helping performers discover what is fun rather than what is "right", embracing play, risk-taking, and, when necessary, fucking shit up. His approach draws on years of experience across sketch, improv, clown and character comedy.

He received a ‘Best Comedy’ nomination at Melbourne Fringe 2023 as one half of the sketch show ‘Latchkey’ and performed multiple sellout nights (resulting in added shows) for his solo-sketch show ‘Ingrown’ at Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2023. In 2025, his solo show ‘I Feel Sick’ received the ‘Good Bit of Timber’ award (Best Show) at the Unofficial Dumpster Awards during Melbourne International Comedy Festival - and continued on for a run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

As a writer he has written for stage and screen with such projects as ‘Trope RPG’, ‘The Telling of the Untold Story of Tabitha Booth’ and ‘The Booth Variety Spectacular & Formal Apology Hour!’.

He has trained in improvisation globally in places like Chicago (iO), London (Hoopla) & Melbourne (The Improv Conspiracy, Impro Melbourne), studied Clowning and Le Jeu at the Gaulier school in France, and trained in clown with Dr. Brown (Phil Burgers), Elf Lyons and Zack Zucker.

His extremely sharp sketch writing and high-energy performance style is often on display at character comedy nights such as ‘YesYesYes’ (Comedy Republic), ‘Limbo Comedy’, ‘Dirt’ & ‘Honk Dogs’. Additionally he has been performing improv, ensemble & solo sketch in various shows at The Improv Conspiracy since 2015 including ‘The Remix’, ‘Harold Night’, ‘Improvised Movie’ & ‘House Sketch’.

Scholarship

If your financial circumstances are a barrier for attendance we have one scholarship spot available per class- please fill out this form to apply: https://forms.gle/dECi2aEzkscw5Xc96

You're welcome to email Workshops@Cornershopcomedy.com.au with any questions.