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LMA is thrilled to announce Jonathan Pitts will be running three special workshops at LMA Sydney in February 2018.

Don’t miss this chance to work with a true Chicago legend while he’s down under for the very first time.

Jonathan Pitts (Second City, Founder Chicago Improv Festival) Workshops at LMA The Home of Improv and Sketch Comedy in Australia
Jonathan has over 16 years teaching experience at The Second City in Chicago – the home of improv.

Jonathan Pitts is the Executive Director of the Chicago Improv Festival Productions and the co-founder of the prestigious Chicago Improv Festival, which he’s produced for the last 20 years. He’s the creator and producer of the College Improv Tournament, which he’s produced for the last 10 years. Last year he created and produced Chicago’s first ever Chicago Podcast Festival. Over-all, he’s been involved in improvisational theatre and scripted theatre for over 35 years.

As an improv teacher he taught for 16 years at The Second City Training Center, for 3 years at Piven Theatre Workshop, for 3 years at Chicago Academy for the Arts, and for 3 years at After School Matters. In the USA, he’s taught in Albuquerque, Atlanta, Champaign, Chapel Hill, Des Moines, Honolulu, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, St. Louis, Seattle, and San Francisco. Internationally, he’s taught in London and in Gjovik, Norway. He’s also the creator of The Marty, a unique teaching exercise he uses in his improv workshops.

He’s created and produced CIP’s improv programs: All-State Improv Team (7 years); Ridge Park Summer Theatre Camp (6 years); Teen Comedy Fest (8 years), and CIP’s outreach shows (12 years): The Make ‘Em Ups; Storybox For Kids; Viola Spolin – Visionary Woman of Play; and World Tales. He also directs and tours in CIP’s The Collage, which plays at many improv festivals.

Jonathan Pitts (Second City, Founder Chicago Improv Festival) Workshops at LMA The Home of Improv and Sketch Comedy in Australia
JP created and produced the CIP. Can you say “Legend!?”

He has improvised in over 1,200 shows in Chicago, nationally and internationally. He’s done everything from games to long-forms and one act plays to experimental works. He was a member of Improv Olympic’s first ever house team, Stone Soup. As a scripted actor, he’s appeared in over 30 plays and performance pieces with several Chicago area theatre companies.

He’s also a former company member of Chicago’s The Blue Rider Theater, which did original devised works. He’s the created/directed several theatre productions and performance pieces. He’s also created improvisation theatre productions including The Oracle; The Silent Movie; and the award winning Storybox Theatre (“Innovation Excellence” @ New York Unscripted Festival, 2015).

For 7 years, he was the theatre/performance art curator of the Around the Coyote. For 3 years he coordinated The Director’s Festival for Bailiwick Theatre. He also produced Naked I, a Chicago visual performance arts fest, and Art Attack, an arts festival in Michigan. He’s a former Artistic Associate of Bailiwick Theatre (Chicago), Duo Fest (Philadelphia), Out of Bounds Comedy Festival (Austin), and WNEP Theater (Chicago). He’s also a former Advisory Board Member of Director’s Lab Chicago, Chicago Fringe Festival, and the Windy City Burlesque Festival.

He appears in 4 documentary films about improvisation: The Compass – America’s First Improv Theatre; The Delmonic Interviews; Improv Legends; and Whether The Weather. He’s a contributing writer to Anne Libera’s book, The Second City’s Almanac of Improvisation. He wrote the foreword to Asaf Ronan’s book On Directing Improv, and he was interviewed in Tom Salinsky and Deborah Frances-White’s book The Improv Handbook, which was published in England and Europe. For 3 consecutive years he was selected by New City magazine as one of “Chicago’s Top 50 Theatre Players” and named a “Comedy Maven” by the Chicago Reader. He’s received awards from Chicago’s pH Productions and Honolulu’s Hawaii Festival of Improv.

Author: - LMA

Jonathan Pitts (Second City, Founder Chicago Improv Festival) Workshops at LMA The Home of Improv and Sketch Comedy in Australia

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