FEST WORKSHOPS
The 2025 Asheville Improv Festival is offering an unparalleled amount of workshops taught by our incredibly talented headliners!
Below is the schedule of workshops, organized by day, along with times and locations.
Friday, MAY 9
Creating Realistic Characters
with Jill Bernard
10am - 1pm (3 hrs.)
For: Intermediate and above
Attic Salt Theatre Company
2002 Riverside Dr studio 42-o, Asheville, NC 28804
In recent years in the United States, improv teachers such as Joe Bill and TJ Jagadowski from Chicago, David Razowsky from Los Angeles, Greg Tavaras from South Carolina, and Jill Bernard from Minneapolis have begun working with the idea that improv can contain realistic characters who are vulnerable. Having the ability to create improv that is honest and vulnerable adds another layer to your work, a little bit of cake underneath your frosting to take your work from light entertainment to something with resonance. In this module, we start with your true self as a completely valid and powerful launchpad to creating original improvisation. We will explore emotion as a driver. We will practice letting your relationship, and how your partner sees you, define your character. We will learn to trust assumptions in place of inventions.
Be Your Own Action Hero
with Carla Cackowski
10am - 12pm (2 hrs.)
For: All levels
Story Parlor
227 Haywood Rd, Asheville, NC 28806
Saying yes isn’t just agreeing to the reality your partner is creating in the scene. It’s also saying yes to actively moving the scene forward. This workshop focuses on making active, fun choices so you can avoid talking about what you’re doing and pursue tackling what you’re doing instead. If you have been in a rut or recently found yourself standing around onstage with nothing more to offer than being a talking head, this workshop is for you!
Improv Workshop w/Individualized Notes
with Mick Napier
1:30pm - 4:30pm (3 hrs.)
For: Intermediate and above
Story Parlor
227 Haywood Rd, Asheville, NC 28806
Mick Napier, founder of Chicago’s Annoyance Theatre, works with a small group of people taking them through exercises and giving specific individual feedback on their improv performance.
Saturday, MAY 10
HodgePodge Form Deep Dive
with Hodgepodge
10am - 1pm (3 hrs.)
For: All levels
Misfit Improv & Acting School
573 Fairview Rd Unit 21A, Asheville, NC 28803
Four talented and seasoned improv instructors with over 130 years of combined experience — Shelby Burton, Beth Melewski, Liz Allen and Dee Ryan — will lead a workshop highlighting the key elements of their renowned long-form HodgePodge, a staple at The Bughouse Theater in Chicago.
The workshop focuses on the HodgePodge approach to:
group scenes maximizing collective creativity
the power of the personal monologue to enhance individual expression
building trust within the ensemble for early backline involvement
calling back and expanding scenes with confidence
This is an opportunity to tap into a female forward group mind and experience these ladies’ approach to creating cohesive long-form. Elevate your improv skills with guidance from some of the most respected performers in the field.
Participatory Q&A w/Real-Time Exercises
with Mick Napier
10am - 1pm (3 hrs.)
For: All levels
Story Parlor
227 Haywood Rd, Asheville, NC 28806
Mick Napier, founder of Chicago’s Annoyance Theatre, takes questions about any aspect of improv from the audience and creates participatory exercises on the spot to address them. Don’t miss out on this rare opportunity for an improv legend to help you work on what’s got you stuck!
Writing for Late Night
with John Thibodeaux of 3Peat
10am - 12pm (2 hrs.)
For: All levels
Attic Salt Theatre Company
2002 Riverside Dr studio 42-o, Asheville, NC 28804
If you are writing a Late Night-style show, working on a writing packet or have thought about it, then this workshop is for you! Students will bring in a newspaper of choice and together we will craft jokes and monologues that would work on a late night show.
Playing Fast and Fun
with Patrick Rowland of 3Peat
10am - 12pm (2 hrs.)
For: Intermediate and above
NC Stage Company
15 Stage Lane, Asheville, NC 28801
This workshop teaches folks how to play for quicker pacing, just like the award winning group 3Peat. How tight can you be as an ensemble? We’ll work on techniques to improve trust and play harder that will improve the dynamics and add much needed energy to any show.
Hodgepodge: Singular to Plural
with Hodgepodge
1:30pm - 3:30pm (2 hrs.)
For: All levels
Misfit Improv & Acting School
573 Fairview Rd Unit 21A, Asheville, NC 28803
This workshop explores how a group takes singular monologues — honest revelations about oneself — and transforms them into group scenes. We’ll focus on listening to personal monologues for:
relationships
specifics
parallel ideas
connections
satire opportunities
The teachers will address the common pitfalls of improv-from- monologues:
re-enacting the monologue
sinking into plot
ignoring theme
The transformation from singular to plural is the cornerstone of Hodge Podge’s form.
More on Hodgepodge.
Vapapo: Character Toolkit
with Jill Bernard
1:30pm - 3:30pm (2 hrs.)
For: All levels
Wortham Center for the Performing Arts
18 Biltmore Ave, Asheville, NC 28801
Jill Bernard offers a character toolkit to give participants the ability to create strong, compelling characters that they can hang onto through the whole scene. This session will focus on using Voice, Attitude or Posture, and Animal, Prop or Obsession to build instant characters. Participants will use these tools to fearlessly initiate scenes, create relationships and find agreement. Please wear close-toed shoes to this workshop.
Creating Characters From the Outside In
with Jennifer Estlin
1:30pm - 4:30pm (3 hrs.)
For: All levels
Story Parlor
227 Haywood Rd, Asheville, NC 28806
Join talented actor and co-owner and Executive Producer of the Annoyance Theatre, Jennifer Estlin, as she uses Laban technique and improvisation, to work on creating and sustaining characters.
Sell It!
with Craig Cackowski
3pm - 6pm (3 hrs.)
For: All levels
Attic Salt Theatre Company
2002 Riverside Dr studio 42-o, Asheville, NC 28804
Energy, confidence and decisiveness are 90% of the battle in improv, i.e. it's not so much what you say as when you say it and how you say it. How comfortable you are on stage will have a huge impact on how you're perceived by the audience. Whether you're a veteran improvisor or new to the artform, this is the perfect workshop for the performer who needs to practice owning their impulses and delivering them with confidence right away.