MIXED LEVEL IMPROV: THE FOUR PILLARS WITH OTIS JAMES GATES

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Improv boosts creativity, confidence, flexibility and spontaneity. It promotes teamwork, and helps with communication and active listening. Improv helps you to get out of your head and trust your instincts.  Not only does this help with your acting and auditions, but it is also a great tool for business, other art mediums, and even as a way to better communicate with others in any aspect of your life. Improv is also very commonly used in commercial auditions and is one of the primary classes that agents and casting directors look for on an actor’s resume.  

 

This is a high-energy 4 session improv workshop built around the four essential pillars of great improvisation: Character, Relationships & Stakes, Location & Space Work, and Repetition in Service of Your Scene Partner.

This class is designed for all levels — from absolute beginners to seasoned improvisers. If you’re brand new, you’ll build strong foundations in stage presence, performance basics, and the core principle of “Yes, And…” If you’ve taken Otis’ classes before, you’ll go deeper into character specificity, heightened stakes, long-form beats, and advanced game play. Otis customizes in real time, meeting each student at their level and challenging them to grow.

 

Each class is a self-contained unit. We review fundamentals at the top of every session, then dive deep into one pillar through movement, space work, theater games, scene building, and ensemble collaboration. The final class culminates in a dynamic group project that highlights both emerging and experienced improvisers working together.

 

Improv is repetition, risk, and play. It sharpens instincts, strengthens listening, boosts confidence, and trains you to make bold, obvious choices that move scenes forward. Powerful for actors, invaluable for communication and creativity, and ideal for anyone ready to step out of their comfort zone.

 

Whether it’s your first improv class or your fifth with Otis — this one will stretch you.  Otis will customize the experience for each student, depending on their level.

 

CLASS SCHEDULE

 

This class will begin on Wednesday, April 8th and will meet every Wednesday for 4 sessions through Wednesday, April 29th. Classes will meet from 6:30pm to 9:30pm.  Tuition for this class is $350.

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​​​​​​​​​​​​​ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR

 

Otis James Gates is an entertainer. He started in Melodrama and Vaudeville in his teens in Campbell, CA (although his mother would say he started melodrama well before that). He performed with Festival Theater Ensemble, traveling to far off places like Humboldt, CA and Sunnyvale, CA, to perform in Shakespearean and contemporary outdoor theater. When he was in his 20’s Otis traveled to Oregon to join the Upside Sketch Comedy troupe and traveled the college and university circuit performing sketch comedy. 

 

Later Otis moved to LA and worked on various TV pilots and shows and also began studying at Groundlings. Otis took a break from acting to pursue a 10 year career at Sony Electronics, where he did some of the best acting and comedy of his life. He was finally let go in 2011 after 10 years, when it was discovered that someone had hired a Comedian with no MBA to work as a National Sales Trainer for an Artificial Intelligence Robotic Animal.

 

After leaving Sony, Otis co-founded the Heart On Comedy Group, a show that lasted for 5 years and had a revolving door of great talent. Otis’ day job at this same time was teaching children K-8 Theater and Theater Tech at Starting Arts, bringing after school theater to kids at a time when schools were cutting funding for performing arts programs.

 

Currently Otis is the adult and youth Improv instructor at Empowerhouse Acting Studio in Berkeley. He is a member of several acting groups, including Grand Artique, a group of artisans that create unique installations at festivals and then create live entertainment and interactive performances throughout the festivals and shows they attend. 

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