A free space to hang out, meet folks, work or relax! And where you can peruse the display table of publications by GII26 Authors with various purchase options.
Dr. Larry Sherman will explore the purpose of humor, how the brain responds to humor, and the neuroscience of creating comedy and other humorous content compared to what the brain does when engaging with improv. Using a combination of discussion, live examples, and visuals, the presentation will also explore ways that the brain engages in empathy, collaboration, and creativity when teaching, learning, practicing, performing and responding to comedy. Audiences will gain insights about how to approach the different aspects of creating comedy.
Dr. Troy Campbell will dive into the many related sciences relevant to improv—from psychology, neuroscience, and behavioral science—to map how improvisation activates effects such as neural familiarity, present focus, flow, momentum, belonging, and more.
Dr. Larry S. Sherman is a Professor of Neuroscience at the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) where he heads a laboratory focused on finding ways to repair brain damage linked to multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, and other neurodegenerative diseases. He is also the... Read More →
Dr. Troy Hiduke Campbell is a behavioral scientist with an artistic
heart. He holds a PhD in consumer and organizational psychology from
Duke University. He has served as a marketing professor at the
University of Oregon and as a researcher at Walt Disney Imagineering and
Netflix. His work includes frequent... Read More →
Friday July 10, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am PDT 225 ClassroomLincoln Hall PSU, 1620 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR 97231
From trauma recovery with veterans in Ukraine to AI-driven collaboration and boundary-pushing performance, this panel explores how improvisation is activating new possibilities around the world—for resilience, connection, creativity, and transformation.
Faculty | Co-Founder/Creative Team, University of California, Irvine | Global Improvisation Initiative (GII)
Joel Veenstra teaches improvisation, stage management, and collaborative production at the University of California, Irvine. He is active in the improvisation and applied improvisation world and serves on the Board of AIN and as the co-director of Global Improvisation Initiative... Read More →
Friday July 10, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am PDT 221 - Zoom RoomLincoln Hall PSU, 1620 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR 97215
Improvising Wellness invites improvisers, educators, and peacebuilders to reimagine improvisation not only as an art form, but as a practice of collective healing and transformation. In spaces marked by grief and uncertainty, play becomes a radical act of resilience—and improvisation a rehearsal for possibility.
International Improv Artist, Playback Nigeria, CEO
Oluwadamilola Apotieri-Abdulai (NG) is the CEO of Playback Nigeria and a member of the board of Centre for Playback Theatre (USA). He is a confidence coach and communication skills trainer dedicated to bringing effective change to individuals and organizations through theatre and improv. He is Nigeria’s first Applied... Read More →
Friday July 10, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am PDT 319 ClassroomLincoln Hall PSU, 1620 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR 97231
Research shows that applied improv training increases our capacity to make psychological shifts more rapidly, and expand and experiment when faced with the unknown rather than contract into survival mode. Its emphasis on collaboration, social bonding, and creative experience, with a side of joy, makes improv uniquely essential for building psychological resilience that sustains engagement in shaping conditions in the social world.
This workshop offers a deep dive into how improvisation can activate emotional connection. Participants will explore the development of intimate, emotionally grounded, truthful relationships, both on stage and off.
Friday July 10, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am PDT 7 Acting StudioLincoln Hall PSU, 1620 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR 97230
Improvisation given back to the intuitive improviser, wrestling it from the hands of the intellectual and creative. Improv that puts content over comedy.
Randy Dixon (USA) is regarded as one of the most experienced improvisational artists in the Pacific Northwest and around the world. He was a founding member of Unexpected Productions and has served as the Artistic Director since 1988. Randy founded The Orcas Island Project, an international... Read More →
Friday July 10, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am PDT 55 Boiler RoomLincoln Hall PSU, 1620 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR 97231
As safety nets and protections in our communities and country constrict, and many groups come increasingly under attack, it can be tougher than ever to find ways to speak up and resist-- while also guarding against exhaustion and burnout-- on limited life energy budgets. This presentation will explore the ways in which the practice of improv might accomplish both. We’ll look together at evidence supporting the importance of playfulness in adult life, and then take a closer look at improv in particular, as seen through the lens of "Playful Subversions." Participants will be invited to join the conversation about the ways in which improv has the potential to be a powerful strategy for pushing back against authoritarianism and oppression.
Catherine Beckett LCSW, PhD has been improvising with Portland Comedy Theater (CSz Portland) since 2003. In her day job as a therapist in private practice and adjunct professor, she supports clients and students in the work of dismantling old patterns and systems that no longer serve... Read More →
Friday July 10, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am PDT 115 Studio TheaterLincoln Hall PSU, 1620 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR 97231
Jonathan Pitts is an award-winning international improv theatre artist and storyteller living in Chicago. He's performed and/or taught in 30 countries and over 100 cities. He's the former Executive Director of Chicago Improv Productions; Co-Founder/Producer Chicago Improv Festival... Read More →
Friday July 10, 2026 10:00am - 5:00pm PDT 205 ClassroomLincoln Hall PSU, 1620 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR 97222
Kickstand Comedy’s “Finding Your Voice in Comedy” explores how creating affinity spaces for strategically underrepresented communities transformed not only who gets to do comedy — but the comedy itself.
Through the development of our BIPOC Comedy Program, our nonprofit theater in Portland, Oregon examined long-standing barriers within improv and comedy education and reimagined what it means to create truly welcoming creative spaces. This panel shares the practical, cultural, and artistic lessons we learned — and the assumptions we had to unlearn — while building affinity-based programming.
We’ll discuss representation, authenticity in performance, and how centering marginalized voices has made our comedy stronger, fuller, more relevant, and more joyful.
Because improv is for everyone. Joy is for everyone. Comedy can save the world!
Eric Simons (he/him) is a writer, improviser, teacher, and producer originally from the Land of 10,000 Lakes, who has been swimming in Portland rivers since 2015. He has gathered over 20 years of comedy experience from all corners of the contiguous United States (and THREE CANADIAN... Read More →
Kristen Schier (she/her) is an actor, improviser,
teacher, and clown. She has extensive improv teaching, directing, and
performing experience. She holds a BFA in Theater Arts from the
University of the Arts where she also taught Acting for Non-Majors,
Improvisation for the Actor, and first-year... Read More →
Friday July 10, 2026 11:45am - 12:45pm PDT 115 Studio TheaterLincoln Hall PSU, 1620 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR 97231
Brad Robertson is a Partner at On Your Feet, where he brings decades of experience at the intersection of business, education, and improvisation. Known for his thoughtful, grounded approach, Brad helps leaders and teams navigate complexity, strengthen collaboration, and turn insight... Read More →
Mariah Muñoz is a Lead Facilitator with On Your Feet, bringing nearly two decades of experience in improvisation to the worlds of business, leadership, and collaboration. She is known for transforming how people show up, listen, lead, and connect under pressure and in uncertaint... Read More →
Friday July 10, 2026 11:45am - 12:45pm PDT 327 Acting StudioLincoln Hall PSU, 1620 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR 97225
How do we teach improv? How do we give notes? How do we make people learn who have different styles of growth? Learning how to be curious rather than demanding is not only the a great outlook as artists, but it is also imperative to great learning. Reprograming your mind to not say "that was bad" but ask "how do you think that went?" "Why did we make that choice?" "Where do you think it went wrong?" to lead people to the answers that they already know. This session will give teachers to the tools to become a great teacher and create the next generation of improvisors.
A native-born Seattleite, Kendall Uyeji (he/him) has been performing and producing in his home city for over six years now. He graduated from Western Washington University with a degree in Theatre and a Minor in English. He has acted and written for various plays and has worked in... Read More →
Friday July 10, 2026 11:45am - 12:45pm PDT 55 Boiler RoomLincoln Hall PSU, 1620 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR 97231
This workshop offers a deep dive into how improvisation can activate emotional connection. Participants will explore the development of intimate, emotionally grounded, truthful relationships, both on stage and off.
Friday July 10, 2026 11:45am - 12:45pm PDT 7 Acting StudioLincoln Hall PSU, 1620 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR 97230
In the Power of 3 workshops we challenge the dominance of verbal communication and play with bringing together image, movement and words to inspire new ideas and connect with others.
I began my working life as a biophysicist and then made the rather unexpected move into advertising.
In the late 1980s I lived in Venice, California, working as a brand strategist while also studying improvisation and acting at the Beverly Hills Playhouse. I have a yoga therapy di... Read More →
Friday July 10, 2026 11:45am - 12:45pm PDT 221 - Zoom RoomLincoln Hall PSU, 1620 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR 97215
There is a distinct need for treatments in the areas of speech, language, and cognition that can address multiple goals and still keep the clinicians’ students/clients/patients engaged during the practice phase of learning. Improv meets those needs!
The history of theatre and comedy is extensive, while excluding people from the global majority, especially contributions from Black women. Predominantly white institutions within the arts and entertainment industry reinforce implicit biases and anti-Blackness through a lack of representation of Black women as performers and teachers. This is why the Black Improv Anthology Project (B.A.P.) was created: to uplift Black artistry and improvisation through documenting stories from Black improvisers around the world. B.A.P. was founded by Mary C. Parker, Blue Cavell-Allette, and Tashika Campbell, who connected through their shared experiences of being Black women performing Improv in predominantly white-led theater spaces. With a combined 21 years of performing experience, this multi-faceted group of movement builders has performed in over 500 in-person shows across 20+ cities in 6 countries, and has produced several independently produced shows with over 50k online streams. In this session, B.A.P. will share their three-pronged approach to partnering with local theaters to produce weekends of learning that offer high-energy, high-quality improv shows and expert teaching through workshops led by Black women veteran improvisers. In the session, participants will watch interviews and participate in in-session dialogue and reflection about identities in improv, drawing on research from B.A.P.’s 25+ interviews with Black improvisers in the PNW and the East Coast. Participants will leave better informed about the possibility and impact of intentionally creating more inclusive theater spaces.
Blue is an award-winning interdisciplinary artist from Baltimore who has been featured as a performer and teacher at theaters across North America. She is currently the lead facilitator for the Arts and Social Justice fellowship with Strathmore (Rockville, MD) and Woolly Mammoth... Read More →
Mary C. Parker has over ten years of improv comedy experience across Pittsburgh, London, Portland, and Seattle, performing at festivals in Edinburgh, Pittsburgh, and Richmond. She is a member of the Pro Team at CSz Seattle, serves as the Education Lead at Bandit Theater, and is founding... Read More →
Tashika is a veteran Improviser from North Carolina living in Baltimore, Maryland. Her Improv career started at the Baltimore Improv Group in 2017, where she was a member of the conservatory teams. Tashika is a sought-after facilitator, having worked with Bird City Improv, Improv... Read More →
Friday July 10, 2026 2:00pm - 3:30pm PDT 221 - Zoom RoomLincoln Hall PSU, 1620 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR 97215
This session discusses and demonstrates how to apply basic improv principles to help people with their dating and relationship experiences. The goal of such application is to make dating easier and more fun as well as to strengthen existing romantic relationships.
An introduction to Improvising in the style of Shakespeare, along with the cultural context, for performers who find the genre intimidating or foreign as well as those with experience.
Rick Steadman is the Owner and General Manager of Portland Comedy Theater, home of ComedySportz. Previously, he was the Artistic Director of CSz Seattle, the Education Director and Rec League Coach of CSz Los Angeles, and the Associate Artistic Director of CSz Spokane. He’s been... Read More →
Friday July 10, 2026 2:00pm - 3:30pm PDT 55 Boiler RoomLincoln Hall PSU, 1620 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR 97231
This interactive workshop invites participants to explore cultural differences and creative collaboration through musical improvisation. Designed for performers, educators, and curious learners of all experience levels, the session uses playful musical improv games to uncover how culture, rhythm, language, and shared reference points shape our spontaneous artistic choices. The first portion of the workshop introduces foundational musical improv structures, including call-and-response, song-based short-form games, and audience-suggested prompts. Participants engage in collaborative exercises that emphasize listening, timing, and co-creation while having fun and building trust. In the second portion, we deepen exploration by experimenting with cultural reference, linguistic nuance, and rhythmic variation, highlighting how diverse perspectives and embodied experiences influence improvisation. Participants are encouraged to reflect on their assumptions, notice patterns of response, and adapt creatively to others’ ideas, cultivating sensitivity to cultural and social dynamics within musical performance. Through this workshop, participants leave with practical tools for applying musical improv in ensemble, educational, and cross-cultural contexts. The session demonstrates how improvisation can serve as a joyful, low-pressure space for discovery, connection, and playful engagement across difference, embodying the symposium’s ethos of activating new possibilities in performance and learning.
Xuan Zhao (they/she/he) is a multidisciplinary performer and storyteller based in NYC, exploring how we take up space through voice, body, and memory. Their work spans musical improv, sketch comedy, solo storytelling, and movement, with performances at The Magnet Theater, The Second... Read More →
Friday July 10, 2026 2:00pm - 3:30pm PDT 327 Acting StudioLincoln Hall PSU, 1620 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR 97225
This session explores the reciprocal relationship between kindness and improv—how improvisation can cultivate kinder humans, and how practicing kindness can fundamentally deepen and expand our improvisational work.
Dave and Stephanie Dennison are experienced improvisers whose gentle, joyful approach has endeared them to beginners and experienced improvisers alike. Dave has been with BATS Improv in San Francisco since 1993 as a student, a Company member, Teacher, Corporate Trainer, Artistic... Read More →
Dave and Stephanie Dennison are experienced improvisers whose gentle, joyful approach has endeared them to beginners and experienced improvisers alike. Dave has been with BATS Improv in San Francisco since 1993 as a student, a Company member, Teacher, Corporate Trainer, Artistic... Read More →
Friday July 10, 2026 2:00pm - 3:30pm PDT 115 Studio TheaterLincoln Hall PSU, 1620 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR 97231
Whatever the circumstances, teaching when we are afraid is a grueling endeavor. Part of the challenge is structural: most of us receive little training in how to teach in moments of crisis or distress. Another part is deeply personal: we struggle to understand who we need to be when the world feels unstable. As educators, we are obligated to consider what the world needs from us, and what kind of educator the world needs in this moment.
In this workshop, improv becomes a tool for relationship building. It gives us a way to practice and explore what we need from ourselves, and who we want to be for others. It offers a space to experiment with changing (and being changed), to move with, rather than against, the realities of disruption. Together, we will activate our imaginations and explore ways of teaching rooted in generosity, warmth, and collective care.
Brad has been performing, teaching, and directing improv since 1996. He has a unique interdisciplinary MA that combines anthropology and improvised theater. He has authored 2 books on the anthropology of improv, as well as a chapter in the first volume of Applied Improvisation bo... Read More →
Emareena Daniels is a master educator, field researcher, and public scholar. Emareena Daniels's formal education includes a Master’s of Science in Teaching from Portland State University, and a B.A. in Communications from the University of North Carolina – Charlotte. Emareena... Read More →
Friday July 10, 2026 2:00pm - 3:30pm PDT 319 ClassroomLincoln Hall PSU, 1620 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR 97231
What happens when you collide improvisation with visual art making? For over 30 years, Gary Hirsch has been creating in the zone between applied improvisation and art making. This hands-on, art-making workshop will explore improvisational art making, where the plan is thrown away and artists learn to embrace whatever emerges.
Gary's work is a mash-up of visual arts, improvisation and business. He is the co-founder of On Your Feet, a pioneer in the field of applied improvisation helping organizations such as Nike, Disney, Apple and others generate new ideas, collaborate, engage audiences and walk their... Read More →
Friday July 10, 2026 2:00pm - 3:30pm PDT 307 Design StudioLincoln Hall PSU, 1620 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR 97209
To activate the possible, we must first attend to ourselves and others in the here and now. This workshop proposes that awareness of well-being can serve as a pathway to realizing the latent possibilities of individuals and communities. Research on well-being has established that happiness is subjective and multidimensional. Diener's work on subjective well-being demonstrated that happiness depends on individual evaluation rather than objective conditions. Seligman's PERMA theory further articulated well-being as comprising Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Achievement. These findings suggest that well-being varies among individuals and is shaped through relationships. Yet articulating one's own well-being and imagining that of others remains challenging. To address this, our research team developed "Super Happy Birthday," a card game created as part of a JST RISTEX project in Japan（https://www.jst.go.jp/ristex/hite/en/index.html）. The game builds upon "Our Well-being Cards（https://socialwellbeing.ilab.ntt.co.jp/document/wellbeingcard_2024_26en.pdf）" a tool emerging from Japanese well-being research. In the game, one participant becomes the "protagonist" and selects cards representing their well-being factors. Other participants, with limited clues, improvisationally create and narrate a birthday plan intended to bring joy to the protagonist. This process requires empathic imagination toward others and the improvisational capacity to respond creatively under uncertainty. In this workshop, participants will learn the theoretical background, experience the game firsthand, and engage in reflection and discussion. Through this practice, we will explore how improvisation can function not merely as a performance technique but as a social practice that fosters mutual understanding and activates relational possibilities.
Erika Lowe created this hit show from the ground up, with music by David Gordon. It’s now expanded to Portland and other cities. Learn about their approach, and how their focus on cultural awareness, intimacy and consent helped create a wonderful performance experience.
David "Gordon" Gordon is an improvisor, composer, playwright, and producer from Seattle. He is the director of Sound & Fury: an improvised Shakespeareance, and the co-director/co-creator of the improvised Vision Euro Söng Cöntest, for which he is also makes the music. His most... Read More →
Erika Lowe is the Managing Owner and Artistic Director of CSz Seattle - Home of ComedySportz. She's performed and taught short form, long form and musical improv in multiple states from coast to coast over the last 30+ years. Her director and producer credits include Vision Euro... Read More →
A gaggle of fat-positive, gay witches traveling realms to share magic through musical improv! Celebrating audiences and creating community, these witches create a space of joy where all can feel welcome to engage with their imagination.
Friday July 10, 2026 3:45pm - 5:15pm PDT 115 Studio TheaterLincoln Hall PSU, 1620 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR 97231
These days, uncertainty about the future has grown into anxiety and dread for many people.. Applied improv training can teach business people to be more flexible and agile in decision-making. Improv games teach helpful skills for coping with anxiety and navigating the ever-changing landscape. Amidst the epidemics of isolation and loneliness, we are also seeing a frightening increase of hate .and hostility. We need improvisation to help us at a deeper level than business planning. Viola Spolin and Paul Sills were both inspired by the way Martin Buber's philosophy intersected with improvisation. Buber describes genuine dialogue in terms that sound very like an ideal exchange between improvisers. Then, Buber urges that, rather than being afraid of the unknown, we can embrace the "Holy Insecurity" of being totally open, positive and curious about encountering the other. Feeling a connection to the spiritual quality of Buber's vision of human interaction, Sills left Second City frustrated that a commercial comedy focus now overshadowed Spolin's teachings there. When Sills later developed the Story Theatre, he encouraged his players to embrace the "Holy Insecurity" of improvising classic folk tales. This hybrid of theatre and philosophy created a magical piece of theatre that played to rave reviews in Chicago and then on Broadway. In this session, I using Story Theatre techniques and new exercises that blend Buber's genuine dialogue with Spolin's game structures to explore the potential of Buber-inflected improv to create the improvisation we need to face our futures together.
Amy is a director, playwright, improviser and author of Whose Improv Is It, Anyway? Beyond Second City (2001) a ground-breaking (and still quite relevant) study of gender, race, and power in Chicago improv comedy. Her new book, Improv for the 21st Century, is forthcoming from Rou... Read More →
Friday July 10, 2026 3:45pm - 5:15pm PDT 327 Acting StudioLincoln Hall PSU, 1620 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR 97225
Students and teachers can often feel in conflict with each other, taking on unhealthy "Win / Lose" strategies that are not ideal for teamwork or collaboration goals. Thankfully, improvisation teaches us better ways to negotiate.
Brooke Oehme is an Assistant Professor of Communication Studies at Eastern Iowa Community Colleges, and the Education Director for ComedySportz Quad Cities. Her workshop will explore how improv-based negotiation strategies transfer into the classroom to help support both students... Read More →
Friday July 10, 2026 3:45pm - 5:15pm PDT 225 ClassroomLincoln Hall PSU, 1620 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR 97231
Across professional environments, people of marginalized genders often navigate communication barriers—being interrupted, overlooked, spoken over, second-guessed, or expected to shrink their voice to maintain harmony. The Power of You is an applied improv workshop designed to help participants reclaim space, authority, and authenticity in the face of these dynamics. Using the principles of improvisation, this workshop creates a supportive environment where participants explore how gendered expectations shape communication habits—talking too little, over-explaining, apologizing, or minimizing ideas. Through embodied exercises, participants practice grounding their voice, expressing clearer boundaries, and using presence, breath, and physicality to reinforce confidence and self-trust. The Power of You emphasizes the unique communication rhythm each person carries—the natural cadence, emotional intelligence, and lived experience they bring into every interaction. Participants learn how to leverage that rhythm to stay connected, assertive, and adaptable, even in moments of pressure or imbalance. Improv tools help reframe missteps and interruptions as opportunities to reset, re-enter, and re-claim personal agency. This session highlights collaborative empowerment: supporting one another, amplifying voices, and disrupting patterns that silence or diminish. Through creative play and relational exercises, participants strengthen resilience, practice equitable communication, and cultivate presence that is calm, confident, and deeply grounded.
PSU Impro Ensemble (P.I.E.), an advanced student troupe directed by Theresa Robbins Dudeck and housed in Portland State University's Theater program, presents "slices" of narrative impro & Mask work!
The PSU Impro Ensemble, composed primarily of Theater Arts majors, focuses on theatrical improvisation. They perform several times a quarter for different events and festivals, and as part of outreach initiatives across campus and for the greater Portland community. Auditions are... Read More →
Friday July 10, 2026 7:00pm - 8:00pm PDT 55 Boiler RoomLincoln Hall PSU, 1620 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR 97231
Stacey Hallal is the creator of Ruby Rocket, Inside Improv, Founder and Artistic Director of Curious Comedy Theater, All Jane Comedy Fest. Lover of dogs and adventures.
Friday July 10, 2026 7:00pm - 8:00pm PDT 115 Studio TheaterLincoln Hall PSU, 1620 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR 97231
Vision🖤Euro Söng Cöntest, created by Erika Lowe and David Gordon, debuted in late 2023 and has run for 3 sold-out seasons at Seattle Comedy Theater (CSz Seattle). In May, 2025, Portland Comedy Theater debuted their company’s version of the show, with music and direction by Patrick Short, and the show has... Read More →
Friday July 10, 2026 8:15pm - 9:45pm PDT 75 Recital HallLincoln Hall PSU, 1620 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR 97266
