#greg philippi

The Fountain of Youth may be a legendary spring in St. Augustine Florida but on July 6th itʼs the “IMPROVAGANZA!” event at the Catskills Comedy Club in Fort Lauderdale, a day of Improv workshops for all levels!

At “IMPROVAGANZA” attendees will grow their Improv skills, make new friends and learn to welcome their inner child to the stage. Improvisers will speak from the many voices within while enjoying a day of play that stimulates the mind and body!

“IMPROVAGANZA!” unfolds July 6th 11am-6pm Catskills Comedy Club 840 East Oakland Park Blvd. in Fort Lauderdale. All levels! Basic coursework taught by instructors Gerald Owens and Sara Rogers with games directed by Comedian RJ Walker and advanced coursework taught by LA Improviser Greg Philippi. Full day only $25 in advance or $35 at the door!

Instructor Gerald Owens is an actor, writer, director, acting teacher, voiceover artist and filmmaker. His acting credits include network television and feature film appearances. Gerald’s Improv background includes having directed and produced South Florida’s Laughing Gas Comedy Improv Theater Company for many years. Currently Gerald performs with Sick Puppies Comedy troupe. Gerald will be working with Improvisers on sensory/observation exercises, building team work, inventing things, emotional involvement and character interaction.

Instructor Sara Rogers has worked in and around the South Florida film and Stage Industry for more than 20 years teaching, coaching, casting, writing and as stage management and talent. Sara currently teaches at the Acting School of South Florida and the Hollywood Playhouse. Sara will be working with Improvisers on creating characters, physicality, body language and helping Improvisers prepare for the evenings performance.

Instructor Greg Philippi is an Improviser, writer and actor as well as a former Network TV executive with experience on both sides of the camera. Gregʼs Improv background includes long and short form training and performances with numerous troupes. Greg is a graduate of the Second City Conservatory, has trained at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, Monkey Butler Comedy, the ImprovTrick and Ventura Comedy Sportz as well as having performed and trained with several iOWest based troupes. In Los Angeles Greg performs with The Sauce under the direction of Bill Chott (Disneyʼs Wizards of Waverly Place, Dana Carvey Show).

Greg will be teaching emotional Investment, advanced object work, building a scene from the inside out, characters dancing on the edge, and Improvised Shakespeare through games and scene work with tips and tricks to strengthen play.Instructor RJ Walker is an Improviser, Stand-up Comedian, musician and actor. Walker has been a mainstay of the South Florida Comedy scene for years and brings his expertise to the game aspect of “IMPROVAGANZA!”

Doors open 11:00am for onsite, day of event registration, July 6th. Discount advance registration availble at www.GotULaughing.weebly.com via Paypal or contact [email protected] or phone 954-873-9634.

Tickets for the entire day only $25 in advance, $35 at the door. Free parking in front of the club. NOTE: All attendees will have an opportunity to perform that evening following the workshops! Tickets for the evening show $10 for those not attending the workshops with a 2 drink minimum.

The dentist put photos of my teeth on a screen for me to study saying I could have filings or gum grafts. (In America we have choices, yeah right.) Anyhow, I replied that's expensive and grafts are quite painful so I pointed to a couple places on the film and asked if maybe he could just color in those spaces with crayon and leave it at that. He said Crayon wax wouldn't hold. 

Woke up this morning and my awareness was of a mardi gras mask with horns and hair at the foot of my bed and a poster for the latest installment of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre at the other end of the bed where I lay my head. The Chainsaw 3D poster, is an upscale glossy affair showcasing shelves of human faces made into masks. It is also signed by my friend, actor Dan Yeager, who portrays Leatherface, the human face mask fashion statement of the digital Chainsaw world, in the lastest Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D set to open in January and brought to you by our good friends at Lionsgate pictures. Now gruesome as these details may strike you I am by no means a horror fanatic. I actually abhor violence. Ah but what of the symbolism of these items. On the surface perhaps rather maudlin but beneath a playful spirit of the the theater in me that put them in place with no meaning whatsoever. The ominous horned Mardi Gras mask sits on a large stuffed leopard that’s actually a puppet. We converse often, well I stroke him and pretend he’s the perfect pet. His pen never needs cleaning and his food bill is exponentially low, actually non exhistent. 

An interesting choice to decorate the room of a middle aged man. I get that but the Symbolism of these Symbols is no more than to create an aura of life for the shelves and shelves of books I’ve filled the room with in which my den of sleep resides. 

Symbolism is all around us of the intended or unintended varieties. We dash about our everyday lives oblivious to some of the most in your face symbolism and then perhaps we read into other symbolism that is not in fact symbolic of what we think it might be. Symbolism pulls on our subconscious psyche. 

We ignore the unconscious but we’re not to blame for we ignore life itself until it shits on us or delivers the great Vegas payout. Keep in mind, there are gold dubloons other than what glitter and/or break our teeth when we bite down upon. A moment of satisfaction instilled is a frozen piece of time that exists in our heart to be called upon whenever we need to dive back into that piece of pie only in our daily dispair we often forget it’s there patiently waiting.  

Today I drove the hour or so outside the city to my storage and picked up a chair for my desk. I call it my blues chair. It came to live with me just before we moved so it’s spent most of it’s modern life in airconditioned storage. Built in 1923 (actually March 20, 1923 of heavy Birch) which I know to be fact cause the details are stenciled just under the seat.

This chair is solid as in rock solid. It was built when wood was wood. Back in the 20‘s it was merely an average office chair sans any wheels. Carry it down the hill in West Hollywood from my car to my apartment and you’d think it was anvil or at the very least built of petrified wood cause this chair is heavy!  I call it my blues chair cause I always pictured myself sitting in this well worn piece of Americana, acoustic guitar in hand, singin’ blues tunes.