With over 35 years of improv experience in the city, Houston School of Improv's mission is to create and cultivate the next generation of well-rounded improvisers, comedians, and performers.
Our classes improve public speaking skills, confidence, memory, and awareness - all within a safe and supportive environment. Improv isn't about being funny - it's about being you.
Why take an improv class?
The Houston School of Improv is here to help those who have never been on stage learn how to do comedy like the professionals! If you're looking for a hobby, trying to improve inter-personal relations skills or even hone your acting chops; the Houston School of Improv is right for you.
Core Track
Start here. Grow fast. Our Core Track is where you learn to trust your instincts, support your scene partners, and turn bold choices into unforgettable moments on stage.
Level One: Intro to Improv
This class teaches the basic skills needed to be successful in improvisational comedy through games, exercises, and workshops focusing on communication, confidence, commitment, listening, focus, story-telling, and spontaneity.
Level Two: Characters & Scenes
In this class, students will learn the next steps necessary to becoming a successful improviser on stage. We will focus more on high-energy commitment to scenes, building unique characters, and exploring themes and patterns in a comedic way.
Level Three: Intermediate Scene Work
Not all improv scenes are created equally, but that doesn't mean you can't be confidence about being in them. Level Three is all about attacking any and every kind of scene that comes your way.
Level Four: Advanced Short Form
Every lesson, game and activity moves towards the goal of performing at a professional level. Students in Level Four will learn how to perform in the context of a full show.
01
Say Yes-and
02
After the `and` add new information
03
Don't Block
04
Avoid Questions
05
Focus on the Here and Now
06
Establish the Location
07
Be Specific: Provide Details
08
Change, Change, Change
09
For serious and emotional scenes, focus on characters and relationships
10
For humor, commit and take choices to the nth degree or focus on actions/objects
Every Level Ends with a Showcase that your friends and family can attend
Meet the Instructors
Benji Cooksey
Exective Director, and overall fun guy
Benji is the owner and general manager of CSz Houston. He has been a player on the team for 5 years and is the head of corporate entertainment bookings. Benji's production credits include the founding of Improv! The Musical - Houston's first completely improvised musical, making its way into its second year of running, (713) - An original Houston late night Comedy Show and Beer Babies - An improvised drinking show.
“Wow. Just wow. Best instructor ever.”
Connor Woods
Instructor and beard extraordinare
Connor has been performing in ComedySportz since 2013 and is a longstanding coach for the High School League program (including three championship teams). In addition, he has been teaching with the Houston School of Improv since 2018. He is also the Artistic Director of The Good Friend Theater and can be found either performing in or helping produce most of the shows at the theater, Houston School of Improv including Improv! the Musical, The Bard's Bounty, and our Unscripted series. He graduated from the University of Houston School of Theatre and Dance with a BFA in Theatre with a focus in playwriting and dramaturgy. Go Coogs!
Samir Mojaddedi
Instructor and 3 time ComedySportz MVP
Samir has been a proud member of CSz Houston since 2010. You can see him in ComedySportz matches (as a referee, player, announcer, or scoreboard operator.) He has represented CSz Houston at the CSz Worldwide Championships since 2013, including playing for Houston in the championship match in 2017. Samir has also taken part in a variety of other productions at CSz Houston, including the Unscripted series, Improv! The Musical, The EaDo Comedy Show, and The Live Improvised Movie. Samir has been an corporate/educational trainer for CSz since 2012, and coach in the ComedySportz High School League® since 2013.
Manny Jawa
Instructor and Space Enthusist
Manny stumbled across the world of improv in 2018 and is an alumni of the Houston School of Improv, having completed levels one, two, three, three (yes, twice), and four. He credits these classes for profoundly and positively changing how he communicates and interacts with the world. Sincerely believing in the importance of play in our lives, he is proud to be a player on the CSz Houston pro team. Manny is a graduate of Sam Houston State University’s College of Arts & Media with a focus in mass communication and photography. He likely wrote this while biking around the Space City or while hiking in the forest.
Emily Clay
Instructor and voice like an angel
Emily Clay holds a Masters degree in Education from Louisiana State University. She began her teaching career in Baton Rouge in 2005 before moving to Houston and joining ComedySportz as a player in 2008. In the summer of 2017, she was a proud member of the finalist Houston team at the CSz Worldwide Championship. Beyond regular ComedySportz matches, she has performed in a wide variety of CSz productions, including numerous Unscripted shows, Improv! The Musical!, and The Live Improvised Movie at our home theater, as well as at Comicpalooza and The Houston Improv Festival. She is married with two young children, both of whom exhibit impeccable comedic timing, and works as the Intervention Specialist at their school.
5 Reasons to Take an Improv Class
One of the most common reasons for people not taking improv classes is because they believe they are not funny or they don’t want to be funny. In truth, becoming funny is probably one of the last reasons to take an improv class.
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1. To get outside of your comfort zoneYou are guaranteed to be pushed outside of you comfort zone in an improv class. We refer to your comfort zone as the saboteur, the things that tells you that you can’t do something, or that you are not good enough. One of our goals in an improv class is to get you to ignore your saboteur and get yourself to live up to your true potential!
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2. Public speakingPeople would rather die then speak in public? How about doing a scene with a character, emotion and dialog in front of a group of people, with out any knowledge of what you are going to say a head of time? We will teach you how to be comfortable on stage, how to act instead of react and how to say things with purpose. One of the biggest aspects of principles of improv is trust, you will learn to trust those in your class and be trusted by them!
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3. To discover a lot about yourselfOne of the principles of improv is characters. You will need to perform as a character on stage, a character different from yourself… amazingly enough you will learn a lot about yourself by playing a character with a point of view or opinion that is different from your own. Another HUGE part of improv is to have emotions… you will be asked to express realistic emotions, through those emotions you will be able to learn a lot about yourself.
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4. To become a Yes Person!Improv classes will teach you that the fun is on the other side of Yes! Saying yes to things that you would normally say no to because your saboteur tells you that your not good enough, will help you believe in yourself and you own ability.
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5. To become a better listenerIf you don’t listen while doing improv you won’t know how to respond. How often do you talk to someone that is just waiting for you to finish talking so they can say what they already are planning on saying? Improv will teach you to listen attentively… not just for words but for emotion, intention, point of view and so much more.