Favorite Things: The People's Improv Theater

If there was anything good that came from the Continuing Saga of Coronavirus 2020 and Beyond, it's that so much of the world that was previously inaccessible turned online. 

Ever since a friend suggested improv, aka improvisation, as a way to get better at public speaking, I've had the idea that I would take a class. I live outside New York City, where there are lots of improv classes and theaters, and while it doesn't take that long to get to Manhattan, the travel logistics and time constraints were obstacles to that first step.

After I got through what I can only describe as low-level depression in the early days of Coronavirus, I started Googling for online improv classes. And, wow, there were a lot! Many schools offered free or low cost drop in classes, so I started there first. I discovered what I liked, didn't like, and also discovered that the east coast / west coast time difference was an issue.

Of all the schools I tried, the classes at The People's Improv Theater (aka The Pit) in NYC became favorites. I started with a Stand Up Comedy drop in with Chris Griggs because I was curious. Chris was super cool and generous even though I was clueless. I learned a bunch and maybe I'll take a stand up class one day. Then I took Joy of Improv with Sunny Atwal and I loved this four week intro, so I moved on to Sunny's Introduction to Public Speaking, which was another ton of fun. I learned to embrace the "pause" and am really conscious now of vocal fillers, um, uh, you know, etc! That doesn't mean I've eliminated the fillers, just that I am super conscious of them now! Then I took Storytelling Level 1 with Lisa Whitten and that was even more fun, and wow, that opened up a walk down memory lane with all the story prompts! Overall, I highly recommend their classes!