TURBINE WORKSHOPS
Our goal is to have many artists sharing what they do, in a wide variety of creative arts. We hold many different creativity workshops through the year. Check out our TURBINE IMPROVISATION WORKSHOPS below, and get on our email list to stay in touch!
Contact form for Workshops - Fill out and we'll get back to you!
Join our email list for up-to-date info on our workshops.
NEXT ONE-NIGHT INTRO-TO-TURBINE IMPROVISATION IS APR. 29th, 7:30pm!
RECENT ONE-NIGHT WORKSHOPS:
EVERYONE'S GOT A STORY, with 9-time winner of Moth Story Slam, BILL RATNER
PROCESS OUT LOUD, with award-winning
writer/performer, JOSHUA SILVERSTEIN
PUPPETRY AND LIFE: A Creativity Workshop,
with KATE KATZ of ALL HANDS IN
MASK WORKSHOP, with veteran mask maker and performer JOHN APICELLA
DRAWING FOR EVERYONE,
with artist PAMELA KNOLL.
TURBINE IMPROVISATION WORKSHOPS, created by ROB WATZKE
"Rob Watzke is one my favorite improvisers in the world. One of the very, very best. At the top of his game, he brings to his teaching all the stunning qualities he possesses as an improviser. Disciplined but wild, steeped in tradition and wildly innovative. Anyone lucky enough to work with him will learn and delight in his vast experience and utterly unique style."
​
~HELEN HUNT
​
"Rob Watzke has more or less taught me the art of improvisation. By getting up with him, watching and playing with him, I have learned about freeing the imagination and the instincts, about acceptance and conflict within a scene, about character and language, and much about the exciting and humbling experience it is to create spontaneously in front of people. It is a privilege, and one I highly recommend."
~JASON ALEXANDER
​
"Rob Watzke is hands down one of the best improvisers I’ve ever worked with. He is as insightful as he is hilarious. You couldn’t ask for a better person to teach you the art form.”
~PAUL FEIG
(director of Bridemaids, Ghostbusters)
"Rob Watzke's skills as an improviser and as a teacher go to the core of what good scene work is about: finding the human truth in each scene and gracefully bringing it to light."
~JAY KOGEN
(Emmy-winning producer/writer/actor)
“Rob Watzke is the Meryl Streep of improvisation. He's amazing and makes it look so easy. Watching him, you forget he's discovering as he goes, and improvising with him causes you to be braver than ever because you know he's there with you, one of the best.”
​
~DAPHNE ZUNIGA
(actor/activist, daphnezuniga.net)
​
“Rob has shared his gift for teaching improvisation to my USC students over the past several years. His ability to work across students' ages (early twenty's to mid fifty's) and backgrounds (quantitative finance to dance) is unparalleled. The students leave his class able to grasp the possibility of responding to the moment. And they always want more of Rob."
~PROF. JOSEPH PRIESTER
(USC Marshall School of Business)
Improvisation should be fun, enlightening, and a release for anyone who chooses to play. As the art form has evolved into “Improv Comedy”, with the emphasis on being funny and rewards given to those who are good at thinking on their feet, we’ve lost some of the simplicity of where it started: Human beings using the work to make discoveries about themselves and the world around them.
This is the basis for Improvisational Theatre. It can be funny and poignant, silly and moving, as long as the actors are in discovery and in the moment.
Not everyone explores or responds to improvisation in the same way. In this workshop, we help bring who you are into the work, and we'll keep an eye on achieving your goal – whether it’s creating theatre through improvisation, or just getting comfortable in front of people.
​
Rob calls this approach SEE-REACT-CHANGE.
​
For actors, you will get a chance to work in a way that takes the pressure off of you to "make something up" onstage, and practice discovering your scenes and characters through your reactions and impulses. And for non-actors and those who are just starting, you will be introduced to the work in a way that is fun, playful, and supportive. As a group, we will learn by watching and playing with people who may be in different places along their improvisational paths, but are joined by the simple exercise of human beings at play. (continued below)
This workshop IS for you if you are: Curious, supportive, open, and ready to try something new – even if you’ve been improvising for a while.
This workshop is NOT for you if you are: Judgmental, self-centered, or already consider yourself an “Improv Expert” who just wants to perform.
When/Where: The Zephyr Theatre, Thymele Arts, and various other venues. We currently have our long-running Monday Night Workshop, and our One-Night-Intro-to-Turbine Workshop. Contact us for availability.
Cost: We strive to keep prices reasonable. Our average cost is $25/meeting. All workshops are 18-years-old and over. WE ASK ALL NEW STUDENTS TO ATTEND OUR LOW-COST ONE-NIGHT INTRO WORKSHOP, which is held once-a-month.
ROB WATZKE has been performing and teaching improvisation for 30 years, and has applied those principles of improvisation to all facets of his work. He is co-founder and director of the absurdist improvisational troupe, THE BUBALAIRES, and he created SHPLOTZ!, an evening of improvisational theatre with guests like Helen Hunt, Jason Alexander, James Corden, and Dave Foley.
He has written, directed, edited, and acted in theatre, films, television, and web series, winning awards from the National Educational Media Association, the Telly Awards, Clio Awards, and numerous film festivals. Rob has taught improvisation workshops at the American Conservatory Theatre, Walt Disney Studios, USC Marshall School of Business, JPL/NASA, SAG-AFTRA, UCLA Performing Arts Intensive, and many others. He also teaches creative practices to businesses and corporations. Member of SAG-AFTRA and AEA. Click here for IMDB
