Hey, guess what?
We're psyched to announce that a bunch of improv performers from Upright Citizens Brigade and ImprovBoston are coming to perform on the Green Mountain Comedy Festival in May.
Not only that, they are also going to be teaching 2-hour workshops at Spark Arts!
Check them all out, and register soon - they're affordable and they're sure to be awesome, so they are filling up fast.
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Just over a year after we started this crazy awesome place (with the help of a lot of you crazy awesome people), we got the opportunity to add a second classroom right across the hall from our existing space.
That's huge, because it means we can run two things at once - improv classes, standup classes, voice coaching, music lessons, you name it.
It used to be a woodworker's gallery, so the space is beautiful. It'll need a coat of paint and a sign, but otherwise we're ready to rock. Let's do it!
Oh, and we also bought a desk:
We just updated our list of improv classes & standup classes!
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Looking for an entertaining night out?
Our co-founder, Natalie Miller, is in the latest Girls Nite Out production at the Main Street Landing, and it's a fun one!
The play is called "Love, Loss & What I Wore," and it's comprised of a series of monologues from five women who connect the fashion of their lives to major events like love, marriage, parents and children. The piece was the final work of the late Nora Ephron.
Girls Nite Out's production of the play was lucky enough to get great reviews from The Free Press and Seven Days.
Love, Loss & What I Wore runs through February 17 and tickets can be purchased here.
See you at the theater!
Images by Jonathan Couture Photography
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What an inspiring night.
I love seeing comedians at the top of their game, who have managed - through that difficult process of refinement - to create a show that gets consistent laughs for 90 minutes.
Last night's Mike Birbiglia show at the Flynn delivered on that count. A huge part of the night - the majority of the show, really - was comprised of expertly crafted 5-10 minute jokes that had the audience rolling in the aisles.
What I wasn't prepared for, however, was the completely seamless blend of standup, storytelling and theater that made up My Girlfriend's Boyfriend.
Of course I'm familiar with Birbiglia's style, which is autobiographical and observational. But director Seth Barrish takes an excellent standup show and adds theatical elements that are never distracting - a narrative arc; a structure that jumps backward and forward in time; important acting beats (comedic and dramatic), and tastefully simple blocking, lighting and set design. On top of this, Birbiglia is an expert storyteller, in that Moth-style way where even though you know it's been tweaked and exaggerated, you believe/enjoy every word of it anyway.
All this comes together in a show that's impossible not to like. Birbiglia is a gifted writer (his material is razor sharp and extremely layered) and performer (his acting range and physicality are surprisingly impressive). The whole experience is a bit like watching David Sedaris' work brought to life by a professional theater company.
An extremely inspiring night. "Makes me want to bag all my responsibilities and spend the next year just writing," a student of mine wrote in an email this morning. I'd have to agree.
- Nathan Hartswick
Want to learn standup? Click to learn about upcoming classes!
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Natalie and Nathan had a great time with the WCAX crew this fall shooting two spots - yes, because the people (Andrick, Andy & Jen) are awesome, but also because they got to be pummeled by children and get paid for it.
We brought our interns, Chichi and John, along so they could see how a commercial gets made.
They alternately had fun and froze their butts off all day.
The children, although they look impetuous in the final product, were super cool.
Click here to see pictures of the shoot, and check out the final product(s) below:
Open MRI Football Spot:
Open MRI Leaves Spot:
We're super excited to announce that we are now offering the opportunity for improv students to create their own, Spark Arts-sponsored improv teams!
As the popularity of our classes and workshops have grown, and as people have watched our official improv team perform, we've gotten more and more people asking: "What's next?" Many students want to take the next step of being on a team and performing in front of an audience.
And so, Spark students can now form their own teams, which we support by offering them low-cost rehearsal space, instructor coaching, and eventually, performing opportunities. We can't wait!
If you're interested, check out this link - and come to a drop-in and chat with other students about your desire to be on a team. Let's do this!
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While our good friend Heather Schoppmann - who runs a fantastic theater program at CHMS - is out having a baby this year, Nathan will be directing three plays that he has written and published. The students are excited to be able to work with a director who is also the author of the works!
The plays are: The Ever After (a story of fairy tale characters reconciling on a talk show 20 years later), Cafe Murder (a whodunnit about a hypochondriac who thinks she's allergic to water), and The Great Nursing Home Escape (about a group of seniors who plot to break out of the home).
Today's informational meeting was a little intimidating - 90 students showed up who were interested in being part of the production! But it's exciting and fun - you'll hear more about this later - the show goes up in March!
]]>If you or a friend/family member has always wanted to take classes in standup or improv, voice lessons, acting classes, etc., now is the time; consider supporting a small local business. Thanks and Happy Holidays, everyone!
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We're collecting non-perishables for the Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf! C'mon by during the next couple Wednesday improv drop-ins and get in for free! Or swing by Thursday 11/15 - we'll be here all day.
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We just finished an amazing two nights at Club Metronome, producing and hosting the semifinals and finals of the first annual Funniest Comic in Vermont contest. What a ride!
We started with nearly 40 comics, who competed last weekend in the preliminaries. Friday night, 14 semifinalists performed to a sold out crowd of 200 people at Metronome. It was mayhem, in a good way, and the judges, Jay Grove, Doug Blay and Dana Jay Bein, had their hands full.
Last night: the finals. It was sold out again; this time we made a few adjustments to the room that helped the traffic flow and general vibe of the room, and 7 finalists gave insanely good performances, such that we were glad we didn't have to rank them. (That job fell to our esteemed finals judges, Tim Kavanagh, Jonny Benson, and Mike Smith.)
We couldn't have asked for a better event - our out of town judges all commented on what great talent we have here, and the comedians got to polish their game and perform for some new audiences and New England bookers.
Thanks to all who came out, and congratulations to Kevin Byer and the other winners! Be sure to come back to Metronome on December 1 for some improv comedy!
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