Our one-week Improv and Sketch Comedy Intensive is a playful, rigorous, and genuinely exciting exploration of two of the most dynamic forms in contemporary theatre. This camp is designed for teens who want to sharpen their spontaneity, develop their comedic voice, and learn the craft behind the laughs.
The Intensive Explores:
- Ensemble building and the foundational agreements that make collaborative improvisation possible
- Improvisation games, techniques, and concepts in a fun, encouraging, and psychologically safe environment. Students learn to embrace spontaneity, develop sharper listening skills, and discover how creativity flourishes when you stop trying to control every outcome.
- Sketch comedy through the full creative process: studying classic sketches from the tradition, writing original material, and performing in front of the group. Students develop a real sense of comedic structure and timing.
No prerequisites or prior experience are required. Students arrive as they are, and the camp meets them there.
This intensive teaches The Barrow Group's specific approach to storytelling and spontaneous performance, rooted in a belief that acting is fundamentally about play. In our teen programs, students are expected to observe their fellow campers' work and offer objective, specific feedback on what they saw change after an adjustment. This disciplined kind of watching and articulating is essential to developing The Barrow Group's approach and sharpens each student's own performance instincts at the same time.
The Barrow Group School is distinguished in New York City by the depth and consistency of its faculty training. Every instructor in our programs has completed an intensive teacher training program at The Barrow Group, learning our specific methodology over years of study and practice. The teacher your child works with this week has not simply performed professionally. They have trained deeply in how to teach this approach, and that difference shows in every session.
Lunch and Logistics: The lunch break runs from 1:00 to 2:00 pm. Teen students ages fourteen to eighteen have the option to remain at The Barrow Group or leave the premises during lunch with parent approval. A full syllabus and all logistical details will be sent to registered families two to three weeks before the intensive begins.
