Laughtrack RULES! What else do we need to say? Okay we’ll say some other stuff too…
Co-owners Kim Potter and Shannon Winpenny, good friends both originally from Hawaii, met up in Chicago in 2001. While Winpenny was studying at famed Chicago institutions such as the Second City and iO (Formerly Improv Olympic), and Potter at DePaul University for Communications and Marketing, they collaborated to bring an improv theater to Hawaii. They returned to their roots in Hawaii to share their passion for improvisational comedy. In February, they established Fundamentals of Improv with Shannon Winpenny (FISW), which has three levels of instruction: Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced. Classes are taken by people of all ages, in all professions, who find the art of improvisation enormously helpful in business and social situations. It also helps improve confidence and aplomb for those who go to casting sessions for theater, television shows and film.
Long-form improv performances made their Hawaiian debut at Laughtrack Theater and Training Center Friday, September 5, 2008. The long-form format is seen rarely in Hawaii. Students of the training center (established in February 2008) learn to master the format, which is essentially a one-act play based on a suggestion from the audience. The audience has a once-in-a-lifetime experience every “show night”, when two or more such performances take place. No two performances are ever the same.
Improv has gained national recognition this past year appearing on shows like MTV’s The Real World, Bravo’s Top Chef, TLC’s What Not To Wear, and NBC’s Thank God You’re Here, to name a few.
All FISW classes and performances now take place at the Laughtrack Theater, in the heart of the Art District in Downtown Honolulu across from the Hawaii Theatre Center.
What’s Impov?
Improv is a form of theatre in which the actors use improvisational acting techniques to perform spontaneously. Actors typically use audience suggestions to guide the performance as they create dialogue, setting, and plot extemporaneously.
What’s long-form improv?
In Long-form improv performers create shows in which scenes are often interrelated by story, characters, or themes. Long-form shows may take the form of existing type of theatre, for example, a full length play or Broadway-style musical. Long-form improvisation is especially performed in Chicago and New York City. *information obtained from wikipedia.org*
Our Mission…
Laughtrack Theater Company is dedicated to the instruction, performance, and development of improvisational comedic art forms. Laughtrack Theater Company strives to entertain and educate the community about the comedic arts in a safe, nurturing and non-judgemental environment through education and weekly live performances.
