ABOUT IMPROVOLUTION

 

Founded by GROUNDLING alumna Holly Mandel in 2001, IMPROVOLUTION! is an improv school, performing group and dare we say philosophy of how to live, create, and collaborate on and off stage...(yes, we dare!) We stand firmly behind our motto that improv IS for everyone. If you want to learn it, we can teach you. It's not about being funny or clever or aggressive. It's about getting behind the part of yourself that is fearless, creative, open, and likes working with others.

 

Improv is now more or less 50 years old.  So we're curious to find out what can improvisation and performance look like on the cutting-edge? How can it evolve from it's current format to express something new, something more real and more relevant?

That's why we're called IMPROVOLUTION.  Improv + Evolution/Revolution. (Get it?  Yes, we like it too.)  Interested in what's next. And interested in how to push the edge and help catalyze the next stage in improv comedy and performance.

How can improv unleash a new level of creativity within individuals and between people where cooperation, support, positivity, and not-knowing are the foundation?

Something that can inform who we are - individually and collectively - that can push us to grow, transform and expand what we are capable of?

And did we mention it's incredibly, undeniably-amazingly-almost-addictivly fun?!  Well...it is.

Come join us! you know you want to...c'mon, admit it. No, we all know you do...everyone's talking about how much you obsess about it...seriously...

>>Listen to an interview with Holly about this 'improv-olution'

 

 

ABOUT ME

(me being Holly)

August of 2002 I moved to New York from Los Angeles, where I lived for 13 years, started teaching and coaching, and very soon I had met a bunch of great, talented, enthused, and very cool people.  So I decided to start a school.  I wanted to create a place that reflected everything I had learned and thought was so paramount to good improv - total support, lack of competition, an emphasis on characters, honest feedback, playing together as a group of individuals who are giving everything but not for themselves but for the sake of the scene, and where the true and authentic direction is always encouraged.  I liked the name IMPROVOLUTION because it implies evolution and I think improv is all about change and development.  I've never seen so many people change and develop as I have in my improv classes...it's fantastic!  And I also think improv itself as a form of entertainment can evolve beyond where it has, in my opinion, gotten a little stuck.  The wacky, superficial, and not terriby collaborative at the end of the day.

 

I studied at THE GROUNDLINGS THEATER SCHOOL in Los Angeles under some of the best teachers there: Mindy Sterling (Austin Powers), Patrick Bristow (The Ellen Show), Jennifer Joyce (MAD TV writer), Mike McDonald (MAD TV) and Lisa Kudrow. After five years in the school, I joined the Main Company where I wrote and performed as a company member for six years. I also taught for six years in all levels at the GROUNDLINGS SCHOOL and directed several improv and sketch shows.

Other GROUNDLING alum that I have had the priviledge to watch and learn from include SNL's Will Ferrell, Cheri Oteri, Chris Kattan, Ana Gasteyer, Chris Parnell, Maya Rudolph, Will Forte, Kristen Wiig, Jon Lovitz, Phil Hartman, Julia Sweeny and Loraine Newman. Also Lisa Kudrow, Pee Wee Herman, Elvira, Kathy Griffin, "Curb Your Enthusiam"'s Cheryl Hines, "Gilmore Girls"'s Melissa McCarthy, "Austin Powers"'s Mindy Sterling, "Best in Show"'s Mike Hitchcock and Jennifer Coolidge, and MAD TV's Michael McDonald and Phil LaMarr.

I have also studied with:

- the fabulous Jeff Michalski of SECOND CITY CHICAGO, who was the resident director for many years before moving to LA.
•- Stan Wells, who created the critically acclaimed TRANSFORMERS and started his own school, THE EMPTY STAGE.

What has improv done for me...is that what you're asking? Well besides turning my life upside down in the best possible way and allowing me to meet some of my dearest friends, it has also helped my acting and writing immensely. I could barely audition before, now I tend to book commercials quite a bit - and I ususally improvise the majority of it. My recent ones have been EMBASSY SUITES, EARTHLINK, MORGAN STANLEY, SATURN, BROOKS PHARMACY, DUNKIN DONUTS, PANDA EXPRESS, SACRAMENTO KINGS, PAC BELL and HOTJOBS.COM.

I have also done some “funny bits” in film and TV such as SHOWTIME with Eddie Murphy and 'Bobby' DeNiro, SPIN CITY and a few pilots that never got picked up; was a recurring cast member in THE GROUNDLINGS’ improv show for FOX several years ago, "Instant Comedy with The Groundlings", and a shining moment was performing in an improv show with Mike Meyers and being totally frozen and utterly useless for the entire performance. I was also the official “sub” for the second season of Drew Carey’s “WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY?”

I have performed improv at THE CHICAGO IMPROV FESTIVAL, EDIMBURGH FRINGE FESTIVAL and THE SAN FRAN COMEDY FESTIVAL.

 

I also teach at HB Studio and have been hired by many individuals and groups looking to use improv in their acting, their auditoning, their work and their lives.  In a nutshell, improv RULES!  It is as much a way of living as it is a fun hobby to do once a week and meet cool people.

 

Come by and check us out...see a show, check out a class...you won't be sorry.  I've you've read this far, you obviously want to improvise.  So do it!!!  :)