Biography
Jason has been improvising for 30 years. He has studied with some of the most influential Improvisation teachers in the world, including Randy Dixon and Keith Johnstone. Jason was a founding member of Impro Melbourne and after 17 years with the company became the Artistic Director for three years before departing to pursue his goal of teaching and performing improv around the world. He has been a guest Director and Artist In Residence at theatres in Stockholm, Milan and Portland, Oregon where he directed seasons with those companies and produced new improvised works.
Jason has been invited to teach and perform at improv festivals in Cape Town, Berlin, Paris, Wurzberg, Hamburg, Stockholm, Los Angeles, Seattle, Barcelona, Reunion Island, Wellington and Amsterdam. His original interpretation of the craft and his pursuit of pushing the boundaries of how audiences perceive improvised theatre, see him held in high regard in the improvisation community in Australia and around the world. You may recognize him from his iSelect ads, Utopia (ABC) or as an ensemble member of the 2023 season of the hit series Thank God You’re Here (Network 10).
Jason’s Workshops
Playing From The Heart: A Workshop In Empathy
A workshop inspired by shows like Ted Lasso and Shrinking. Where the characters have empathy as a priority. This creates grounded scenes that come from the heart, not the head. It changes the way you listen and engage with your scene partner and the scenes that result.
Additional benefits for participants in this workshop also being a workshop/rehearsal for the show Love.
Skills: Given that this form is, at its core, about love, There will be conversations about intimacy, consent, boundaries, and types of love that we can present in the form. Participants will be encouraged to create a safe performing environment for all to explore and play in this genre.
The show will require improvisers to draw on a wide variety of character skills and will push people to do so. This journey will naturally be supported by me as director. The type of work I’m going for here is connected and grounded, this is not something that all improvisers get to explore from week to week in putting on their regular weekly comedy-focused shows. The type of truth and joy I’m aiming for in the show will require improvisers to drop their usual crutches and challenge themselves to be present in the scene. While we want to make the audience laugh, we want it to come from the friction between grounded, truthful characters. Those who can do this well will be considered to play in the show, a part of the cast may be cherry-picked from the workshop.
For the astute improviser, there will be many lessons one should take from doing the work and being part of the process.
