ACME has three levels of improv training followed by three increasingly advanced performance companies, culminating in our top-level improv troupe, the Zebra Company. If we spend so much time on it, it must be important. So...what is Improv?

Well, in a nutshell it's the act of making stuff up. Sure there are all kinds of complex ways that you can go about making up said stuff, but at the end of the day, improv is just using your imagination to create a character or tell a story in the moment.

In BASIC IMPROV, we focus on two main things. One, we try to loosen you up and teach you how to relax enough so that you can actually use your imagination without sweating yourself to death. Two, we introduce you to the basic tools that improvisers use to make up all that stuff. Sound simple? It is.

Removing Fear

In a poll, people were asked to list, in order, the five things they were most afraid of. DEATH was second. SPEAKING IN PUBLIC was number one. Think about that. Most people consider getting up in front of a crowd and talking more painful than getting hit by a MACK TRUCK.

Here at the ACME we’ve been hit by trucks, aaaand we’ve done some pretty silly stuff in front of a crowd, and although full body traction will get you a lot of SPONGE BATHS from that pretty nurse on Ward 5, we still think that performing is a little easier on the body than getting run over.

In BASIC IMPROV our goal is to show you how to get rid of the fear that stops you from doing the FUN parts of life. Along the way we also teach you many of the fundamentals of IMPROV COMEDY such as space work, how to come up with information, making strong choices and why you should never say no if someone labels you a 6-FOOT FRENCH IMPERIALIST CHICKEN. Number five by the way? Dating.

No Audition Required

While we regularly hold free placement classes to see where interested students might fit in the ACME family, neither attendance at the placement class nor an audition is required to enroll in the Level 1: Basic class. We welcome both actors and non-actors alike. Many business professionals have taken Level 1: Basic over the years to help perfect their presentational and public speaking skills—only to enjoy the art of improv so much, they continue with Level 2 and beyond!

Basic Classes for 2008

Classes start every Quarter with a maximum size of 18 students.

Tuition

The tuition for Level 1: Basic is $375.

Half of your tuition is due as a deposit, the other half is due at your first class. School tuition is non-refundable. As a student of ACME Comedy School, you receive the following benefits:

• Free Admission to any ACME Production for your guest when you pay full price.
• 20% off all food purchases at Amalfi Restaurant next door.
• 30% off ACME merchandise.

Join ACME Today!

To enroll in the Level 1: Basic Improv class, please complete registration at register.acmecomedy.com.  A credit card (or Visa/MC-enabled check card) is required for this process, and payment of either half the tuition (deposit) or full tuition is required to reserve your place in the class.

• A NON-REFUNDABLE DEPOSIT OF HALF THE TUITION is required to reserve a spot in a course. The deposit is applied toward the total amount of the tuition. You
will not be guaranteed a place in the class until the deposit or the full tuition has been received. Spaces are reserved on a first-come, first-served basis.

• If you paid only the deposit amount at registration, then the balance of the full amount for the course must be paid by the first day of the class. No exceptions.

• ACME Comedy Theatre reserves the right to cancel a course due to insufficient enrollment. In such an instance, your entire deposit/tuition payment will be refunded. If you have a need to withdraw from the class after you have already registered, please call (323) 525-0202 for more information.