What’s my blog about?

Hi! I’m Lauren. And I do improv. In a small city.

This blog is about doing just that: sharing what I’ve learned from teaching and performing improv, creating a place for new conversations, and connecting people who are working to grow improv communities where they live. Big city. Small city. No city.

I’ve been performing improv since 2009. Currently, I teach and perform with the Syracuse Improv Collective in New York and Scranton Improv in Pennsylvania.

I’ve studied at Magnet Theater, UCB Theatre, and Improv Utopia. Through these experiences, I’ve worked with improvisers and instructors from major improv cities (Chicago, NYC, L.A., the D.C. area, and Toronto), and from places less known for improv, but with a lot to offer (Central Florida, Indiana, Utah, and Pennsylvania).

I’ve performed at improv festivals in NYC, Central NY, and the Northeast, as well as odd-ball locations like art spaces, bars, backyards, libraries, coffee shops, and warehouses.

I teach intro and advanced improv classes, and offer corporate and educational workshops to audiences new to improv.

Through improv, I’ve made lifelong friends. I perform with two improv teams: an all-women team, Susan Be Anything, and Heavy Metal Heat Wave, one of the longest-running teams at the Syracuse Improv Collective.

While improv may have led me to places and cities less well known for this art form, it has introduced me to people passionate about improv who are working hard to bring it to new audiences.

When you find something that works in your own life, it’s hard not to want to share it with others. 

Thank you to anyone who expresses interest in this blog and posts comments that help move the scene—and the conversation—forward.

*Lauren also teaches writing to college students and uses improv to help writers connect with audiences and develop confidence in their ideas. She studied at Stony Brook University, where she trained with instructors at the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science. She’s also written about improv and writing. You can access her blog post at Teachers, Profs, Parents: Writers Who Care and her English Journal article about improv and teaching.