CAMP IMPROV UTOPIA East
WHEN
September 1 - 4, 2023 (Labor Day Weekend)
WHERE
WHAT
Stroudsburg, PA at Camp Trout Lake
Our annual camp is a 3 night retreat for adults 21 and over and takes place at Camp Trout Lake, hidden away in the beautiful Pocono Mountains near Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. Improvisers from all over the world come together and learn improv from nationally renowned teachers. This three-night camping experience includes improv workshops from top instructors, camp activities like archery, lake swimming and kayaking. Your accommodations are great too with cabin camping with private showers and bathrooms, all your meals and much more. Camp is a relaxed environment to learn while experiencing camaraderie, community and nature.
Registration is Closed
- $525 Registration Price - Includes food, lodging, education and more!
- $535 Payment Plan Available - 2 Pay Plan
- ($250 USD first payment the rest in 30 days.) *Payment Plan available up to 30 days before camp.
There is a one time non-refundable 2.3% + $0.30 fee added to each transaction.
*COVID-19 Update: Improv Utopia will follow all CDC, State and City COVID19 Guidelines and will update campers of any changes or restrictions that will be enforced during the time of camp. Vaccines are required at camp.
See our 2022 Diversity Initiative and Early Registration Discount Offer
CAMP TUITION INCLUDES
Tuition is All-Inclusive! You get:
- Workshops: 10 hours of workshops from master improv teachers! Performances: Improv jams and shows with your cabinmates!
- Camp Activities: Archery, kayaking, swimming, campfires, volleyball, basketball and so much more!
- Lodging: Shared cabins with private bathrooms, showers and electricity.
- Food: All meals are included and prepared by professional kitchen staff. Special dietary and allergy-friendly meals are available, too!
- Community: Meet improvisors from all over the world... community and camaraderie in nature!
- More Camp FAQ
Workshop: Characters
with Blue Cavell-Allette
Workshop
There is nothing more fun and invigorating than when we surprise ourselves with new characters. But oftentimes we get stuck in a rut with a cast of default characters. In this workshop we will learn exercises that help us to create new characters and breathe life into our old ones.
About Blue
Blue Cavell-Allette is a comedian, producer and director of both traditional and improv theater. Blue is an adjunct professor at Morgan State University where she teaches foundational and applied improv. As a passionate advocate for equity in improv, Blue serves as the Director of Community Outreach for the international organization Black Improv Alliance. She is a founding member of the renowned, all black, award winning improv troupes Cakewalk and Casually Dope. She is the creator and producer of several long-running, monthly shows with all black casts including The Tastemakers Improv Series and The Blockparty. Blue has been a featured performer and instructor with theaters and festivals across the U.S. and abroad.
Workshop: So you want to walk on a scene
with Ti Malik Coleman
Workshop
The art of adding to a scene! Scene edits (tags, walk ons, scene painting, voice overs etc) should contribute and heighten the main idea or game of a scene. Even advanced improvisers occasionally edit scenes with their idea of funny instead of the scene’s idea of funny. In this workshop we will focus on enriching and advancing scenes in lieu of a wipe or redirect.
About Ti
Ti Malik Coleman fell into the cult of improv over ten years ago and has not been seen in the regular world since. He is a Black trans performer with heavy experience of making space for himself and others on stage. As a performer with Baltimore Improv Group, he was in several house troupes before co-founding Casually Dope. Casually Dope (first Minority Re’port) has performed and featured in many cities, including Chicago, New York, Toronto and Calgary; and has been a very loud voice for the underheard and underrepresented on stage.
Ti Malik is also a sought after teacher and performer. He has taught core and advanced classes with Baltimore Improv Group and Maryland Improv Group. He is a frequent guest instructor for Bad Dog Theater, winning Favorite Guest Instructor in 2020. They have taught classes and workshops to a number of theaters around the country, and in Canada and London. He also teaches applied improv to corporations and foundations. His deepest love is working with young people, he has taught improv in many schools and works with organizations to bring improv to youth of all access levels.
Also has a special affinity for short form. His first house troupe for BIG was Plan B improv, a storied short form group in Baltimore. There, he developed his love of game and speed and still applies it to his current long form performance. As a part of The Fam, he won Toronto’s 2021 Globehead competition and in 2019 was a 13 time Deathmatch champ with Three The Hard Way.
The joy is in the journey, he looks forward to meeting you on the way!
Workshop: Jump Start Your Scene
with Jamie Rivera
Workshop
If you’ve improvised, you’ve been in some bad scenes. You may have even realized, “I’m in a bad scene right now.” In this workshop we’ll get under the hood and explore some techniques to go from a stalled scene to one that’s running on all cylinders.
About Jamie
Jamie Rivera is a performer, instructor, and director at the Magnet Theater in NYC. He can currently be seen in The Armando Diaz Experience and heard on Brothers From Another Planet podcast. Some of his past credits include The Colbert Report, The Second City BoatCo, and The Truth podcast. He’s also performed in dozens of comedy festivals across the US and Canada with The Magnet Theater Touring Company and his since retired ensemble, Junior Varsity.
Workshop: Sell It!
with Craig Cackowski
Workshop
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.
About Craig
Craig Cackowski is an actor, improvisor and teacher based in Los Angeles. He was involved with the iO and iO West (RIP) theaters from 1992-2018, and was the three-time winner of the Del Close Award as Teacher of the Year at iO West. He has played numerous improv festivals around the US with his long-running three-man troupe Dasariski (with Bob Dassie and Rich Talarico) and his duo Orange Tuxedo (with his wife Carla!). While in Chicago, he appeared in and co-wrote 5 revues for The Second City, and helped create such improv forms as JTS Brown and Close Quarters. As an actor, he has been seen in recurring roles on such shows as Community, Veep, Drunk History, and Mindy Kaling’s Sex Lives Of College Girls (currently on HBOMax). He may be heard frequently on such podcasts as The Thrilling Adventure Hour, Kevin Pollak’s Alchemy This and his own podcast Craig’s List, in which he makes Carla watch his 100 favorite movies.
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Workshop: Love the One You're With
with Kelly Buttermore and Justin Peters
Workshop
Conflict and emotional distance can work their way into one’s play over time until they become dominant choices. But what if instead of choosing conflict, we choose love instead? Making a conscious decision to appreciate and collaborate with your scene partner can take your scenework in unexpected and wonderful directions. In this workshop, we will introduce techniques for finding meaningful connections with your scene partner, and explore the virtues of playing from a standpoint of total agreement. When you choose to embrace your scene partners rather than resist them, the possibilities for your scenework are truly limitless.
About Kelly & Justin
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Workshop: Environment As Character
with Marcely Jean-Pierre
Workshop
This workshop will help players create interactive settings for their scenes that are strong enough to serve as their own character. A big city, a library, a zoo, a newly discovered planet? All these environments have character and we'll bring them to life!"
About Marcely
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Elective Workshop: Driving Force
with Tisse Mallon
Workshop
About Tisse
Tisse Mallon is a quirky queer with a wild passion for understanding what makes humans tick. For the past 15 years, Tisse has been producing events and teaching classes in Orlando, FL centered on mindfulness, connection, and creativity. They are the founder and director of the Elar Institute, a nonprofit school focused on self-empowerment and communication. In their play time, Tisse performs with bestie, Jack Graham, in Living Room Theater, their improv project that has performed in over 150 living rooms in private homes to groups of friends, families, neighbors, and coworkers.
Elective Workshop: Instant Expert
with Jabari Dortch
Workshop
Have you ever been in a scene where your partner asked you to do a task, but you didn’t know how to do it? Then the scene ended up stalling out because you asked a bunch of questions? This workshop focuses on making the bold choice of “choosing to know” how to do anything that’s asked of us in the scene making you an instant expert.
About Jabari
Jabari is a Philadelphia based comedy writer, improviser & teacher. He was trained at the Philly Improv Theater and has performed with house teams Fan Club, Whiplash & NYTEshift. Jabari currently performs with the Crossroads Comedy Theater and The Lab in Ambler, PA. Jabari is also a member of ComedySportz Philadelphia and the creator of the comic strip Failures in Parenting.
Elective Workshop: Back in Your Body
with Deborah Lohse
Workshop
Press pause on your words and dive into the magic and wisdom of your own body. Instincts, vulnerability and joy lead you to the next right action while connecting to others through simple body language to improvised dance numbers.
About Deborah
DEBORAH LOHSE (comedian, dancer and choreographer) Select performances include DANCENOW, American Dance Festival, Chicago Contemporary Circus Festival, United Solo Theater Festival and The Stonewall Inn. Select commissions include Women In Motion, Mantra Percussion and SUNY Purchase and residencies from The Yard, Marble House Project, Djerassi Resident Artist Program, Acadia Summer Arts Program and SILO. As a performer, Lohse has worked with theater director Anne Kau man, visual artist Suzanne Bocanegra and choreographers Monica Bill Barnes, Doug Elkins and dance comedy crew LMnO3, Ballez, The Bang Group and currently performs with Bindlesti Family Cirkus and as her alter ego indefatigable cabaret persona TruDee.
Elective Workshop: Hardcore Emotion
with Nick Armstrong
Workshop
Emotion is the glue to any improv scene. It's the thing that will lead you to stronger scenes with great POV, characters and connection to your partner. Without it your scene will fall off the rails pretty fast. In this workshop, we will work on intense emotion in scenes. Having a strong emotion gets you out of your head and playing to the top of your abilities. You will also learn how emotion will keep you in the moment and help you follow your instincts more.
About Nick
Nick is an Actor, Improvisor and Writer. On TV, Nick has been on the Emmy-Award winning shows The Office and Grey's Anatomy. He has also made appearances on Jimmy Kimmel Live, New Girl, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Stan Against Evil and Parks and Recreation.
Nick trained in sketch and improv at the world famous Groundlings and iO West. His onstage performance credits include LA's critically acclaimed Harold Team King Ten, Kind Strangers and The Groundlings Sunday Company. He served as Artistic Director at M.I's Westside Comedy Theater and currently owns and is Managing Director of RISE Comedy in Denver, Colorado. Nick has also taught improv at iO West, The Groundlings, RISE Comedy, M.I's Westside Comedy Theater and has done workshops and headlined comedy festivals all over the world.
Nick is also the Camp Director and Founder of Camp Improv Utopia a 501(c) (3) Non Profit improv retreat for grown ups. He is also one of the founding members of the The Improv Network. For more information visit www.nickarmstrong.com, www.risecomedy.com.
Camp is one of the best improv experiences that I could have had. To be in a place where everyone loves improv as much as you do is such a rush. The teachers are supportive and are invested in your learning. The view is awe striking and I always wanted seconds at meal times. You truly do make amazing friends and memories there.
Christina L - Los Angeles, CA