Immersions & Intensives
Are you looking to visit to experience the vitality of the sketch and improvisation community? Are you a local who just wants to spend some concentrated time digging into The Second City method of writing and improvisation? Our immersion programs attract students from all over the country and abroad. Come learn new skills, meet new friends, and take advantage of the comedy scene!
3-Day Intensives
Improv and Writing Intensives
- Improv and Writing Intensives
- 3 days
Our 3-day Improv and Writing Intensives are a fun introduction to the techniques done at The Second City.
Improv Intensive
Learn the fundamentals of improvisation. You will learn how to create environments on stage and how to develop characters and interact with your scene partner. You will learn the tenets of “Yes, and” as well as some well established improv games used by performers in the Chicago improv scene.
Writing Intensive
Learn about scene structure. You will learn to write from a character’s point of view. You will learn the technique of “writing from abundance” which is where you learn to write improvisationally. This technique incorporates the “Yes, and” philosophy to your writing as a way to create freely and avoid writer’s block.
Improv & Writing Intensive
Explore the principles and processes of improv in the morning leading into an introduction to sketch comedy in the afternoon.
Got a little more time on your hands? Check out our 5-day Improv and Writing Immersions! We also offer several Specialty Immersions during the summer.
WHERE TO STAY IN CHICAGO? The Second City Training Center does not provide housing for students. Students are responsible for arranging their own accommodations. See our “Where To Stay” list for recommended hotels, hostels, and dormitories in the Chicago area, some with special rates for Second City students!
Week-Long Immersions
Summer Adult Immersions
Our Summer Adult Immersions programs are a crash course in the philosophies and methods that Second City uses to find, explore, and create material. These programs are a great way to study our creative process, and to get you excited about how you can reach your potential. Our Immersions attract…
Winter & Spring Adult Immersions
Our Immersion programs are a crash course in the philosophies and methods that Second City uses to find, explore, and create material. These programs are a great way to study our creative process, and to get you excited about how you can reach your potential. Our Immersions attract students from…
Improv for Actors Immersion
The Improv for Actors Immersion teaches trained actors the fundamentals of improv. Cover the fundamental elements of scenework, creating environment, scenic transformation, object work and building ensemble in this one-week class. Students will become more improvisational in written moments and more confident when they improvise.
Students work on building ensemble, object…
Specialty Immersions
Comedic Songwriting Immersion
Every wonderned how to write a song? In this Comedic Songwriting Immersion you will learn the fundamentals of comedic songwriting. Immerse yourself in song structure, rhyming, and music, and discover how to locate and heighten your character point of view to comedic effect. Develop your ear for musical style, and…
The Improvised Quest: A Hero's Journey
Become a stronger improviser and a more courageous creator as you go on your own journey of devised story. Participants in this workshop are invited to play, explore and transform as they learn how to create their own stories and myths. The Quest incorporates improv into the theories of Joseph…
Music Improv Immersion
This Music Improv Immersion will explore the fundamentals of improvised song. Using vocal exercises, rhyming, character-based scenework, and short-form musical games, participants will learn to ground their improvised songs and scenes in character and emotion. Take advantage of the style and theatricality of musical theater to strengthen your existing improv…
One Person Show Immersion
“Why write a show if you’re not going to change the world?”
– Anne Marie Scheffler
You know the power of comedy. You have a comedic voice. Now you need a show. Work with Anne Marie Scheffler, Second City Toronto alum and the queen of the solo shows, to create your very…
Writing the Humorous Memoir Immersion
Life is funny – so it’s time to write that sh*t down. In Writing the Humorous Memoir Immersion, you will capture “the funny” from your memories. Rat out old lovers, bosses and brothers. Swear a lot – or a little. Learn to tell the truth on the page, and in…
Writing
Developing Your Movie Idea: A Crash Course
Developing Your Movie Idea is a two-day story workshop that will demystify the process of developing a movie idea into a feature-length screen narrative. You will be taken through a lively, step-by-step story development process in real-time, then watch the magic happen as the process is applied to your own…
One Person Show Workshop
The best way to get work is to make work! Ever fantasized about creating your own one person show, but weren’t sure where to start? This is the course for you!
In One Person Show Workshop you can act in the best role, the one you wrote for YOU! Find your…
One Person Show Workshop 2: More Writing and Story
You know what your one person show is. You’ve got an outline, the title, the poster (even if it’s just in your head). Now you just want the actual script! This workshop is designed for writing, writing, writing.
Specific writing exercises will give you the key points of your show: the…
