Improv for Everyone

Go U: The Improv Academy

our summer term begins may 28, and you can sign up below. be sure to read through all information to find the right class, and you can always email classes@gocomedy.net with questions.

For our Summer Camps for kids & teens, please go here.
For our Spring Break Workshops, please go here.

Hello there! Welcome to Go U, Go Comedy’s home for improv classes and one-off workshops. We offer an eight-term program comprised of four Intro classes, and four Advanced classes, designed to take you from improv newb to seasoned performer. Please keep scrolling to choose your class and sign up!

A Few Things:

• The email you use to sign up is how we will communicate with you. Be sure to add classes@gocomedy.net to your contacts, and we’ll be in touch about a week before class begins.

• Classes run for 8 weeks, and are $250 unless otherwise noted.

• All classes culminate in a class show for friends and family, unless otherwise noted.

• Nearly all of our classes take place in our Training Center, at 1915 E. Nine Mile Rd. (Not at the theater itself).

• If you signed up using early registration, please email us to pay.

• Our 2024 calendar can be found right here, if you want to keep an eye out for future terms.

• More questions? Check out our class FAQs or email classes@gocomedy.net.

A four-class program designed to take you from brand new improv baby to master of short form improv.

INTRO 1: WELCOME TO IMPROV

Every improv education starts somewhere - yours starts here. Learn the fundamentals of improvisation, basic games, scene work, and skills. Get used to being on stage and working with others in a safe, supportive environment. Class term runs for 8 weeks and culminates in a class show for family and friends.

Intro 1 | Tuesdays 7-10PM | Starts May 28
Intro 1 | Saturdays 1-4PM | Starts June 1

INTRO 2: IMPROV TOOLS

Intro 2 picks up where Intro 1 leaves off, taking the concepts covered and looking deeper into them. This class looks at the tricks, tips, and tools of improv and incorporates them into a variety of games.

Intro 2 | Thursdays 7-10PM| Starts May 30 - SOLD OUT
Intro 2 | Sundays 1-4PM | Starts June 2 - SOLD OUT

If you enrolled using early registration, please email classes@gocomedy.net for payment.

INTRO 3: IMPROV SKILLS

Intro 3 takes all of the skills learned in Intro 1 & 2 and focuses on the goal of telling a solid story through scenes and games.

Intro 3 | Saturdays 1-4PM | Starts June 1 - SOLD OUT
Intro 3 | Mondays 7-10PM | Starts June 3 - SOLD OUT

If you enrolled using early registration, please email classes@gocomedy.net for payment.

INTRO 4: IMPROV GAMES

Games are the bread and butter of every improviser's diet and can be seen at Go Comedy! every weekend. Learn all about improv games from the classics to challenging new games. You’ll even learn a few of Go Comedy’s signature games.

Intro 4 | Tuesdays 7-10PM | Starts May 28

Ready for the next step? Advanced improvisers take all the tools learned in the Intro Program, and start applying them to long-form scenework.

ADVANCED 1: SCENE WORK

Welcome to long-form! Begin your study of long-form, shake the cobwebs off your improv, or reinvent your approach. Learn the GoU Improv Philosophy and be free of the “rules” of improv. This class will focus on the basis of long-form improv: scene work. Learn how you create a scene, work with a partner, and keep an audience interested.

Adv. 1 | Mondays 7-10PM | Starts June 3 - SOLD OUT

ADVANCED 2: THE ELEMENTS OF LONG FORM

Building upon the scene work skills of Advanced 1, Advanced 2 begins stringing those scenes together through an improvised montage. Learn and master the elements that create long-form improv.

Adv 2. | Wednesdays 7-10PM | Starts May 29 - SOLD OUT
Adv. 2 | Thursdays 7-10PM | Starts May 30

ADVANCED 3: FORMS

Now that you've learned the basics and the montage, learn how to perform different styles of long-form improv, known as forms. This class will cover everything from a simple location-based long-form set to the legendary Harold.

Not offered this term.

ADVANCED 4: THE IMPROVISER

The focus of this class is you, the individual performer, and how you influence the group and your show. Extensive notes will be given to individuals and the group. The focus of this class is on YOU the improviser: your areas of strength, areas to work on, and suggestions on areas to focus on going forward after completing the Go U! The Improv Academy program.

Adv. 4 | Wednesdays 7-10PM | Starts May 29

Keep an eye on this space for exciting new class opportunities!

From May 13-May 23, 2024 we are offering TWENTY improv workshops. Learn more here.

Special Guest Workshop

We are delighted to offer a one-day improv masterclass with Rich Talarico, a Peabody® Award-winning writer/producer with four Emmy® and four WGA Award nominations, best known for his work on Key & Peele. His full bio is below, but suffice it to say Rich has been improvising, writing, and coaching since 1992, and has a wealth of insight to pass on to students in this one-day class.

Students will learn how to initiate organic scenes, emphasizing discovery over intention. Giving and using gifts allow players to focus on relationship over situation and to dig deeper into character and story. Explore relationships and build characters by exploring endowments from our scene partners. 

For Intermediate - Advanced Improvisers
No Recording 
PG-13 Content and Conduct 

About Rich Talarico

Rich is a Peabody® Award-winning writer/producer with four Emmy® and four WGA Award nominations, best known for his work on Key & Peele. He wrote Substitute Teacher, (“…Ay-ay-Ron?”) which in 2024, was added to The Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum Of American History. Rich also wrote Racist Zombies, Karim and Jahar, Hatz, Teaching Center, Obama Greets, Black Ice, and many more. 

Other TV credits include: MADtv, The Tonight Show w. Jay Leno, Saturday Night Live, HBO’s The Sketch Pad, and Comedy Central's critically-acclaimed, Review. An alum of Chicago’s Second City and Improv Olympic, he's also provided punch-up work on the films Mean Girls and Get Out. Rich’s latest screenplay The Widow Daredevil was an Official Selection of the 2020 Beverly Hills Film Festival. 

Rich took his first improv class from Stephen Colbert at Chicago’s Second City in 1992. He went on to tour with SC’s National Touring Company and later co-created five original sketch comedy revues with SC’s Etc., and Main Stage Companies. While in Chicago, Rich was a performer, director, coach and teacher at Improv Olympic (Now iO) under the direction of Charna Halpern and the late, Del Close. 

Rich was in early casts of Chicago’s longest running improv show: The Armando Diaz Experience, Theatrical Movement and Hootenanny. He co-starred in Jeff Richmond and Michael Thomas' Hamlet! The Musical, and alongside T.J. Shanoff, Rich co-created and starred in the hit parody, The Roof Is On Fiddler. Talarico played on house teams like, “Mr. Blonde” and “Faulty Wiring” and, co-created long-form improv shows like “Strap Heads,” “Trio,” “Close Quarters,” and “Dasariski.”

As an actor, Rich has appeared on screen on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, MADtv, the feature film High Fidelity, and in A&W Root Beer’s classic TV ad, “Mr. Dumass.” Talarico’s extensive experience in the comedy industry has made him a sought-after teacher, writer and consultant. Currently Rich is teaching and performing improvisation and stand-up comedy around the US. Learn more at: https://richtalarico.com/

QUOTES: 

“Rich Talarico is the embodiment of good improv: positive, giving, and genuine. We can't wait to have him back!” - Colin Thornton, Improv Cincinnati 

“The space felt really welcoming and safe” - Catherine Seed, Student Baltimore Improv Group 

"Rich is one of those rare people who not only loves to teach, but also wants to learn from his students. His passion and respect for improv as an ever-evolving art form is infectious. Also, he's a shitload of fun.” -- Amy Rhodes, Student

“Rich's care for his craft and his students shines through.” — Stefanie Jewett, Student 

We’re so excited to be working with guest instructor Hailey Zureich to offer her Stand Up: Femme, Them, & Queer Comedy Classes! These classes are currently running, so check back for information on future terms.

About the Instructor

Self proclaimed Posh Spice of the Metro Comedy scene -- Hailey Zureich has been performing stand up comedy since age 14. She's cultivated an unique audience engaged storytelling style that brings the laughs and inspires!

Hailey is a certified Life Coach,Yoga Teacher, 15 years experience as a corporate trainer, and rounded out her performance experience to include short and long form improv, and stage acting. 

Her training integrates her mastery in these areas to help create an atmosphere of safety, confidence, and space for fun while learning.

“This class exceeded my expectations. It’s advertised as “safe” and that’s a great description. The collaborative atmosphere enables you to feel safe trying something new, safe being silly, safe playing outside your comfort zone… Highest compliments to the class structure and the Business as a whole. We feel fortunate to have found Go Comedy!”

— Amy D., Intro 2

“This is a spectacular community. You all have done an excellent job of crafting a place where people can come together to imagine, play, dream, and just have some fun. We don’t have a lot of spaces like that as “grown-ups,” so what you’re doing is appreciated. You’ve also crafted safe spaces for people to come just as they are. The culture of this places is one of support, acceptance, and encouragement.”

— Elizabeth H., Intro 4

“I signed up for classes initially because I thought I was kind of funny and wanted a collaborative way to explore that. I indeed got what I was looking for, but I also ended up getting a crash course in confidence and communication. I learned to stop overthinking things and trust that if I try something I’ll be okay, even if I fail. I listen a lot better to people and have a lot more success understanding them and getting on the same page. These skills permeate my life well beyond the classroom and the stage, and that’s just not something I could have seen coming.”

— Matt W., Advanced 2