(ASBURY PARK, NJ) -- Improv Jam is on the move!!! Weekly shows and classes will begin this spring, kicking off with improv comedy Saturday, March 7th! They will be performing at "Where Music Lives", 708 Cookman Avenue, in beautiful downtown Asbury Park. There will be an 8pm family friendly show, and then a 9:30 PG-13 "ish" show. Both with their signature "Whose Line is it Anyway" style format, and some of the area’s best stand-ups in between. The cost for each show is $5 for students and $10 for adults. Go to www.asburyparkmusiclives.org to purchase advance tickets.
For 23 + years, Improv Jam has been a leader in the underground movement to cultivate New Jersey comedy for the masses, creating a unique performance environment that includes every aspect of comedy. Throughout that time their weekly shows have highlighted sketch, improvisation and stand-up comedy giving our audience the opportunity to experience multiple forms of comedy in one evening.
It is this mixture of the various forms of comedy that makes the Improv Jam Comedy Lab unique. Gaps between the various styles of comedy are bridged for performer and audience member alike. Performers from within Improv Jam’s ranks and from the community at large have the rare opportunity to stretch their talents across multiple forms of entertainment in a nurturing environment while audiences are challenged to expand their horizons and educated in forms of comedy they may be less familiar with. ImprovJam alums include Nathan Fillion ( star of ABC's "Castle" ), Lou Taylor Pucci ( star of "Evil Dead", "The Story of Luke" and the newly released "Spring" ), and Lorene Scafaria ( writer, "Nick and Nora's Infinate Playlist" and "Seeking a Friend for the End of the World" ).
Mike O'Keeffe has been performing and teaching improv comedy professionally for over 25 years. After graduating from Villanova University in 1989, he worked in Orlando, Florida with the Sak Theatre Comedy Lab, where troupe-mates included cast members of "Whose Line is it Anyway?", "Castle" and "The Office" . He received his MA in Education from Monmouth University in 1996, and before leaving the classroom to pursue other opportunities, he had been a public school teacher for 20 years. He has done regional improv touring shows with former troupe-mate Wayne Brady, and has traveled across the country performing corporate comedy and teambuilding.
He has developed programs to assist medical, education, and corporate professionals in their communication and leadership skills. He even developed a new program for corporations that deals with recruiting and keeping millennials in the workplace. He also works with many schools to help eradicate bullying, and to become better leaders. Recently, he presented a TED Talk on the concept of "Play" called "Using Improv to Become a Better Human". He is an Adjunct Professor at Monmouth University, where he teaches Critical Discourse. This spring, he will be a keynote speaker at the National Youth Leadership Council’s, "More Powerful Together" conference. He now also works for TED Ed as a facilitator, hired by school districts such as Lacey Township to teach students to develop their own TED talks. http://www.tedxnavesink.com/project/mike-okeeffe/
www.tedxnavesink.com/2014/12/teaching-beyond-the-classroom/
