UCLA
Comedy Improvisation

Tuition includes room and meals
Grade entering in Fall 2010

Camp/Workshop Details

Comedy and improvisational theater is at the heart of performance for an actor. Both have been around for centuries and are very much a part of our national heritage dating back to the comedy of such brilliant actors as Charlie Chaplin, The Marx Brothers, and Buster Keaton who developed their gags while filming and altering the plot to fit. Improv comedy techniques are now used in theater, mockumentaries, and such shows as Curb Your Enthusiasm, Whose Line Is It Anyway?, and Thank God You're Here. This unique workshop trains the quick imagination of the actor and develops their spontaneous skills in working together to responsively define the parameters and actions of a scene created through other means than scripted text. It will teach the performer the various improvisational concepts necessary to play a variety of roles without preparation. It will explore gestures, accents and voice changes, as well as offering, gagging and endowing certain physicality to define the physical environment. The actor will learn to find character relationships within the immediate parameters of comedy and character motivations and objectives that are an important part of successful improve. Through this workshop actors will learn the cornerstones of improvisational techniques while remaining true to the comedy. An important workshop for anyone who is serious about acting, this workshop will keep not only its participants but the viewers laughing the entire week.

Earn College Credit this summer!

Directors and Faculty

Brian Clark

Workshop Head

Location Information

The UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television (TFT) is the only university in the country where the study of theater, film, television and digital media is integrated within a single professional school.

The Department of Film, Television and Digital Media offers a wide range of courses for undergraduates in the study of three areas of moving images: Critical Studies, including the history, theory and aesthetics of both film and television; Production/Directing, including film, television (studio and field), digital, experimental and animation; and the film and television disciplines, including writing, producing, cinematography, sound recording and editing.

At the graduate level, there are five areas of concentration: Critical Studies, which offers film and television history and theory; aesthetics and popular culture, films from diverse genres and extensive national cinemas; Production/Directing, which trains students in all aspects of directing narrative fiction, documentaries and/or experimental film, emphasizing the aesthetic components; Screenwriting, in which the elements of character, dialogue, story and tone are explored; Animation, in which students are trained to create an individual style and voice; and the Producers Program, in which students learn the business and art of making films and television programs.

At UCLA's Department of Theater, we believe that great theater programs must prepare and train students for careers in all contemporary and emerging entertainment forms -- including live theater, film, television, video, themed entertainment, interactive gaming, and more. Our students live in a world that is interactive, collaborative, and fueled by their passion for our art form -- one that encompasses the many forms of professional practice as well as the theoretical exploration of current and emerging entertainment forms.

Igniting our students' talent and passion to achieve success is our goal. That is why students work with a distinguished faculty composed of professional and creative artists who have excelled in their fields. UCLA Theater has some of the most distinguished faculty and visiting artists in the world, among them Mel Shapiro, Annette Bening, Anthony Hopkins, Larry Moss, Neil Jampolis, Deborah Scott and Jerry Katzman. With this professional training, students are following in the footsteps of such illustrious alumni as Francis Ford Coppola, Tim Robbins, James Dean, Carol Burnett, Susan Egan, Jack Black, Ben Stiller and many others.

TFT's extraordinary undergraduate and graduate students are drawn from an admissions pool of the finest students from around the world, and enjoy participation in small classes with faculty members who themselves are accomplished artists and industry leaders.

We invite you to explore our US Performing Arts Camps web site further where you can register online for any of the ucla summer programs offered to high school students.

Click HERE for UCLA Campus Map.

If you have questions or need help registering, please call 888-497-3553

Dates, Directors, and Faculty subject to change without notice. The faculty is comprised of college professors representing their schools and professional industry artists. Images are of USPA programs, but may not represent actual program or location. Photos by Tito Deverya (UCLA TFT), and Lauren di Matteo.

**   USPA highly recommends that students secure travel insurance to cover trip cancellation, interruption, and/or medical emergency. For more on travel insurance, please visit: Assurance Solutions.