We are excited to invite you to our beginners’ improv course! Improv (or improvised comedy/theatre) describes a wide variety of theatrical forms, but at its essence is about creating characters, scenes and emotions on the spot without prior preparation. Other than being a ton of fun, this kind of theatre helps develop communication skills, boost confidence and help deal with the unexpected. We are a group of scientists ranging from students to post-docs and we meet regularly to improvise together, have fun and practice with each other and our wonderful improv teachers.
This March, we are organising an 8-week Beginners’ Improv Course led by our Artistic Director Roni Jortner (biography below). Many of us have taken part in a similar course previously and it was a blast!
The course is competitively priced at £100 per participant for eight 2-hour online classes (this comes out at about £6/h) in a small group (about 10 participants) plus an extra rehearsal and finale performance (optional, but highly recommended!). This is a great way to start off in the world of improv, with more advanced courses, drop-in sessions and workshops in our planning pipeline!
In the past, our members have not paid for the course themselves, thanks to funding from their courses, Colleges etc. So, we recommend speaking with your supervisors, tutors, the College, Department etc. as there may be small sums of money for personal development available.
If you would like to participate in the course, then please fill out this form and we’ll get back to you in the next week or two with further details.
Let us know if you have any other questions, whether about the course itself or obtaining funding, at camscienceimprov (at) gmail.com, or any of our social media @CUScienceImprov. You can also contact Roni directly at ronijort (at) gmail.com or our Training Officer Joonatan at jeml3 (at) cam.ac.uk.
Lastly, feel free to share this advert with your friends!
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Dr. Ron Jortner (aka Roni) – Improv Coach
A computational neuroscientist, founder and CEO of Masthead Biosciences, and professional improviser. His academic path included Caltech, Hebrew University, several Max Planck Institutes and the MRC Laboratory for Molecular Biology. Roni got into improv theatre in 2007 and never stopped since. In 2011-2016 he was a founding member of Bake This, Munich’s first English Improv theatre, performing regularly in front of large audiences. At Bake This he co-started an improv school, teaching beginners, advanced students and corporate teams. He particularly enjoys teaching scientists, engineers and programmers, and has taught improv courses and workshops at the Ludwig Maximilian University, the Max Planck society, and Cambridge University, including putting on shows tailored specifically for scientists. Roni trained with internationally acclaimed improv teachers, including Patty Stiles, Jo Bill, Felipe Ortiz, Dave Razowsky, Daniel Orrantia, Inbal Lori, Jill Bernard, Lee White, Rod Ben Zeev, Derek Flores and others. He is a regular participant at international festivals, including Improtheaterfestival Wuerzburg (Germany), Impro Amsterdam (Netherlands), FiiF (Finland), and Improvember (Munich).
