“Laughter is the glue to loving life.” -- unknown author
FUN Institute Improv Workshop
Sunday, September 13th, 2026
10:00am-12:30pm
More info to come!
Broadway Playhouse, 526 Broadway, Santa Cruz
Register at topdog@funinstitute.com
Previous Master Series Workshops
Regina Saisi
Characters and Space Objects AKA: The Magic of Improv
with Regina Saisi
We’ll work on creating characters from kids to aliens and everything in between! Through dynamic exercises and scene work we’ll bring these characters to life and explore the worlds they inhabit Get ready to move because we’ll be bouncing back and forth building as we go along. And as always there will be plenty of feedback along the way to sink your teeth into.
About Regina:
A favorite with the Fun Institute, and former dean of BATS school of improv, Regina Saisi is a San Francisco-based actor and improviser. She is an instructor at the Studio A.C.T. and Marin School District where she also directs. She has taught at Stanford University, UC Santa Cruz ,California Institute of the Art and KAUST in Saudi Arabia. She has has taught internationally in Belgium, Holland, Italy, Finland, France, Sweden, Lebanon, and most recently China. A pioneer in the development of long-form improv, she is a founding member of the improvisational theatre companies True Fiction Magazine and Pulp Playhouse, and is a Company member of BATS Improv.
Rafe Chase
Rafe Chase – Acting Long Form
Be “other people” and have their feelings as you explore the style and depth of acting needed to sustain an extended narrative. Through exercises and longform scenes, Rafe will help you learn to inhabit the moment your character is living, while staying open to the joys and surprises that improv can bring.
Tim Orr
We’ve asked Tim Orr to come down to teach again! Tim is an International Improv Performer and Teacher. Known in the Bay Area for his work at BATS, Improv Playhouse of San Francisco, and the Improv troupe of “3 for All“. He’s a great teacher too.
Esalen Institute
Improv: Expanding Yourself with Laughter
Taught by Dixie Cox and Clifford Henderson
We taught for eleven years at Esalen in Big Sur and it was always an amazing five day Improv retreat!
Work your wit; activate your imagination, creativity, and spontaneity.
Improv is all the rage these days. Actress Emma Stone says: “You know how sports teach kids teamwork and how to be strong and brave and confident? Improv was my sport. I learned how to not waffle and how to hold a conversation, how to take risks and actually be excited to fail.”
In this positive workshop, participants are guided through simple improv exercises aimed at personal expansion. Using the tenants of improv, such as trust and spontaneity, participants are encouraged to say “Yes” to situations offered to them by the group. We will also explore one of improv’s most compelling tools: status, the human pecking order. Participants familiarize themselves with the subtle clues they send and receive defining their status, and have a chance to try new body language and status choices.
It’s trying news ways of being without real-life consequences. It’s hilarious. It’s deep. It’s getting to the truth via the funny bone.
Rejuvenate your spirit through experiential play and laughter.
What past participants have said:
“It’s helped me become more of me.”
“It’s more fun than a ride on a fire truck!”
Check out Esalen Institute and all the possibilities.
Pamper yourself at this beautiful location on the edge of the Pacific Ocean, with hot mineral bathes, gourmet food, and our 5-day Improv workshop. It doesn’t get any better than this! Rejuvenate yourself with fun and laughter at this world class Retreat Center.
