In late 2003 at the Playground Theater in Chicago, Sammy Tamimi (The Geek Productions) and International Stinger came up with an idea of a longform jam. We rented out the Playground Theater on an off night (Thursday nights at 10pm) and began to run one of the most successful improv jams ever. The idea was simple - Not everyone has longform improv experience. Most people who get into improv comedy go through shortform games first. In Chicago there are something like 300 new improv students annually. All these students want to learn everything, want stage time and want to be seen, so we gave them a small opportunity for all those things at Open Court. It quickly took off and has continued to be the best improv jam around.
Now I've brought it here to Portland in our beautiful Curious Comedy Theater. Thursday nights at 8pm will be our Open Court night. The night where all our friends and students can come together and experiment with longform exercises in a comfortable and supportive environment.
At every Open Court we will do our best to support each and every player. All we ask is that two simple rules are followed: 1 - Agreement. improv is nothing without agreement. You must do your best to be on the same page as your team (and scene partner) all the time. It makes for better scenework and better energy.
2 - Positivity. While we are using Open Court as a learning format, it's also a jam. A lot of times a Jam can feel unfair to people who aren't open to new ideas. All we're asking for is that our participants feel the welcoming and positive feeling of the OC and feed it right back.
I hope to see you at the Open Court some thursday night.
