Biography
Joe Bill is widely regarded as one of the best teachers of Improvisation in America today.
He is one of the founding members of Annoyance Theater Chicago, was the Director of Corporate Training at iO Chicago for 15 years, and a Teacher & Guest Artist in Residence at The Second City Conservatory & Training Center for another 15 years. Joe first practiced improvisation in 1977 and studied and worked with Del Close from 1985 through the mid 90’s.
Joe is also a Senior Facilitator for The Ariel Group, specializing in Leadership & Personal Presence and Storytelling for Business People. He was the Master Facilitator of the Western U.S. for Ferrazzi Greenlight in their Trusted Advisor Initiative with General Motors from 2015-2016.
He has trained corporate clients in more than 80 Fortune 500 companies. Clients include NBC Universal, Disney, PepsiCo, Abbott Labs, Abbvie, GE, Leo Burnett, American Express, the CIA, and the Children's Miracle Network. He has taught in the Business Schools of the University of Chicago, Harvard, Yale, Northwestern, Duke, and The University of Virginia.
His clients range from C Level to new hires, in a number of vastly different industries. He is just as comfortable coaching Creative Teams, Corporate Leaders, and Television Stars as he is coaching Engineers, Analysts, and Actuaries.
Joe has also been touring internationally as an improvisational performer, teacher, and director for more than 20 years.
More information: integratedimprovisation.com
Joe’s Workshops
Intensive Armando (workshop to show)
In this workshop Joe teaches the ins and outs of the Armando format. We'll look at how to share an improvised personal story that inspires the audience as well as the cast of performers who will use your story as source material. We will also then work on extracting and deconstructing each other's stories scenically and approaches to a one act and 2 act presentation of Armando.
Improvised Storytelling
In this workshop we'll work on sharing both true personal stories and character stories in various kinds of shows and contexts. One of the keys is to be able to share the same personal story, organically in the moment, over both longer and shorter periods of time. Then we will infuse your character stories with elements of your personal truth to add both humor and depth in the moment.
Game brain, Story brain, Scene brain
Joe believes that our brains work optimally in slightly different ways when we are improvising in Games, Stories and Scenes. He'll help you integrate the engineer and jazz musician in your head in order to have you present and flowing in each context. By the time you leave you'll have an increased awareness of the sensations of each mode when you improvise in order to help you improve your consistency and presence in each mode of improvising.
Scenes & Feedback
Guess what You're going to do a bunch of scenes and Joe’s going to give you feedback, both general and personal, during and after those scenes!
The next 3 minutes
Once we get through the First 30 Seconds of a Scene, understanding how am I, how are you, how are we what do we now do in order to forward into the meat of the scene Joe will give you reps in mixing both circumstantial and interpersonal dialogue, understanding what the scene is about quickly and the differences between playing for game, playing for pattern and playing for truth.
Testimonials
"What makes Joe such fun to work with is his proficiency in all styles of improv. Joe has tremendous range as an improviser and he’s easy to work with because he always meets you where you’re at.”
Jimmy Carrane
Host, Improv Nerd Podcast
Author, The Inner Game of Improv
“I first met Joe Bill when Children's Miracle Network hired [him] to conduct training for a radio station and hospital partners. Joe immediately embraced our mission as though it was his own, and became our partner in achieving the goals we'd set forth for the session. The results were so successful, we brought Joe back for other projects. Each time Joe delivered focused training, excellent communication, and flexibility.”
Katie Cashin, Children’s Miracle Network
“I attribute my entire Improv career to three incredible teachers...and Joe Bill is one of them. Joe is one of those rare teachers that can boost your confidence and also provide specific and articulate critical feedback that makes you a better performer. Joe is also great and helping you understand the applications of improvisation beyond the stage. He helps you understand how improvisation can improve your own confidence and the way we function with one another in the real world. If you have the opportunity to hire Joe and bring him to your community - do it. He's one of the best there is.”
