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 Intensives! We also offer several Specialty Intensives 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 Intensives
Winter & Spring 5-day Adult Intensives
Our Intensives 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. Intensives attract students from all over…
Summer 5-day Adult Intensives
Our Summer Adult Intensives 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…
Specialty Immersions
New York Comedy Festival Workshops
The Second City at The New York Comedy Festival
This year, comedy enthusiasts can do more than watch stand-up comedians at the New York Comedy Festival, they can also train with The Second City. Caroline’s and The Second…
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…
