undefended improvisation
A pioneering new workshop for more rewarding, heartfelt improv
Some of us long for improv that’s slower and more relational - improv that feels easy, natural and true to the here-and-now, with greater range - comedy and drama.
Yet free from overthinking, tension and any pressure to be clever, fast or funny - otherwise known as being ‘up in your head’.
Undefended Improv is an immersive, day-long workshop with a small group where we’ll explore this, by being more open in heart and body. We’ll get curious about what it’s like to be fully you in-the-moment, more deeply connected to yourself and your scene partners.
Introducing: Undefended Improv
This workshop is for you, if you've ever felt:
- Your mind (or heart) racing before or during performance.
- Spaced-out, detached or otherwise not very present when improvising.
- Dissatisfied or puzzled with who or what just emerged on stage, like you held back or didn’t really express your true self.
- Frustrated that scenes end up as two characters talking at each other, lacking chemistry, depth or truth.
- Isolated, alone or unsupported while improvising.
If you relate to any of these, and you’ve given yourself a hard time (because you ought to know better by now…), then this workshop’s for you.
Undefended Improvisation
What to expect from the workshop
This isn’t your typical workshop for improvisers because our focus isn’t teaching new improv skills. It’ll be deeper and more immersive than a typical class. Our starting point is the hypothesis that you’ve already got everything you need to relax into improvising undefended - no need to try.
You’re invited to exercises that explore and reveal your experience, in your heart and body, and in-tune with others. Plus improvise too - discover through practice, with plenty of supportive group reflection to share what comes up.
Expect all the playfulness of improv games, with a heartfelt hippy-vibe from holistic practices like Authentic Relating and embodied coaching. Like body movement, and deeper-than-usual communication between humans.
You’ll experience games and techniques to help you walk in and out of scenes feeling more comfortable and satisfied by the improv you love. When you’re more attuned to what’s happening in the moment, around and within you.
What could change if you welcome everything and reveal a little more of who you really are?
How would your improv change if you felt really comfortable and supported?
Chris Kenworthy
Transformative coach & improviser
Hello. I created and host this workshop. It's for improvisers like us to explore conditions that inspire the kind of blissful improv we love.
For me, that’s rich, rewarding and spacious scenes where we experience a fuller range of what it is to be a human being - with laughs as well as lows, silence, space and everything in-between.
Our aim is improv that’s unafraid to venture where intuition leads. Where you feel comfortable to play with more of you - without trying, or hiding your experience of who you are right now.
I'm an enthusiastic and curious improviser myself. I host Leeds Improv Co-Lab - a friendly community for improvisers of comedy and drama in West Yorkshire, UK.
Join my mailing list and I'll keep you in the loop
If you long for more rewarding, heartfelt improv, full of genuine, curious and playful connection when you improvise - join the mailing list for Undefended Improv. I’ll share information and dates of upcoming workshops.