Instructors teach Johnstone-style impro.
Instructors meet a majority the following criteria:
- minimum of 10 years teaching experience
- have a solid understanding of Keith Johnstone impro techniques and philosophies
- have an international reputation as recognized by their peers in teaching Johnstone-style impro
- have been reviewed by the ITI Education Committee
♦ If you are an experienced improviser who would like to be considered for the ITI Instructor List, you can find an outline of the application process in the RESOURCES FAQ section of the website.
Theatresports™ 
Maestro Impro™ 
Gorilla Theatre™CANADIAN INSTRUCTORS
EUROPEAN INSTRUCTORS
| NAME | CITY | EMAIL ADDRESS & WEBSITE |
BIO | other influences/expertise |
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Antonio Contartese
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Lendinara (RO), Italy |
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Antonio began his training in the field of improvisational theater in 1998, and in 2003 he began his career as an improv teacher. In 2007, he founded "Teatro a Molla", together with Antonio Vulpio and Luca Gnerucci. He teaches regularly at Teatro a Molla's and CambiScena's improv school. Since 2000 he has also collaborated with various companies in the field of corporate training using applied improvisation techniques. Since 2010 he has participated in various festivals in Germany, Slovenia, Switzerland, Finland and France. Since 2022, he has been artistic director (delegated by Teatro a Molla) of Cambiscena's Theatresports™ performances. |
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Antonio Vulpio
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Bologna, ITALY | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. www.teatroamolla.it |
Actor, director with training in theater and improvisation. Teacher and trainer in social and corporate area. In over 20 years of experience he has worked with many companies in the italian and international scene through different artistic collaborations. In 2007, together with a selection of actors of different nationalities, he created the international ensemble "Orcas Island Project" directed by Randy Dixon, to research and experiment on improvisation. In 2008 he founded the company "Teatro a Molla". In 2015 Antonio started to work on his personal "Saboteur" concept with whom he is still touring abroad. In 2017 has developed his solo show "Chi è di scena?" whose goal is to have audience improvise with him. |
Basic and advanced improv techniques, acting, mime, mask work, comedy. |
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Daniele Mazzacurati
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Bologna + Naples, Italy |
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Actor, director, and teacher specialized in improvisational theater. Trainer in corporate and social settings. He began his theatrical training at a very young age with the Belleville Company in Bologna, later becomes a student of Antonio Vulpio joining the Teatro a Molla Company permanently in 2012. Currently lives between Bologna and Naples and works as an actor and teacher in the most important Italian improvisational theater schools. He is the creator and director of several improvisation formats and leads the "Selfstory" where theatrical monologues are improvised starting from small personal anecdotes. In 2016, together with Antonio Contartese, he creates the long-form show "... E niente", which celebrates the figure of the passenger actor. |
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Ollie Rasini
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Bologna, Italy |
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Ollie (Olivia) Rasini is an Italian-American improviser and trained actress who loves movement. She is a member of Teatro a Molla improv company in Bologna and teaches theatre workshops aimed at adults, young adults, people with disabilities, and social workers. She also teaches workshops about the works of William Shakespeare with Teatro delle Due and performs in Shakespeare productions and other scripted theatre regularly. |
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Peppe Marchei
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Rome, Italy |
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Peppe has been performing impro since 2005 and co-founded the theater company i Bugiardini in 2008. He remains actively involved in production, training, and research. He has trained with impro masters like Shawn Kinley, Patti Stiles, Steve Jarand, Jun Imai, and Antonio Vulpio. Peppe has performed in many countries worldwide, including the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where i Bugiardini presented Shhh. An Improvised Silent Movie. Among the company’s ongoing projects is WELCOME!, an international festival that continues to bring together artists from around the world. |
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| Mark Jane | Paris, France | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. www.markjane.co.uk |
Mark has been an actor, director and teacher of improvised theatre since 1994. Originally from England he moved to Paris in 1996 where he now performs with the French group “Eux.”. He organised the first regular Maestro in French in Paris in 2010. In 2012 Mark supervised the French translation of « Impro » by Keith Johnstone. Mark teaches Trance Mask techniques which he develops with his group “Trance Mask France.” In 2018 he published his book “Jeux et Enjeux » in French. In 2021 he published the English version “Creating Improvised Theatre.” |
Trance Mask, Mask Making, Audience participation, Genres, Long form, Bilingual English/French |
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Nadine Antler |
(In the middle of) Germany |
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Nadine Antler is an actor, improviser, facilitator and teacher. She lives in Germany and has been involved with improvisation since 1998. Nadine has taught and performed around the world. Keith Johnstone has been one of her biggest artistic influences, but she is a curious human being and has studied with many improvisation schools worldwide as well as clown and melodrama. Nadine has founded and directed the Wuerzburgean Improfestival as well as the TÖRN festival in Hamburg. She worked with “Der Kaktus” in Würzburg and “Steife Brise” in Hamburg and now lives in the countryside in the middle if Germany. There she runs a school for improvisation and acting – the NowHere-Academy (www.nowhere-akademie.de) and is on stage with “Schwestern in der Überzahl” (www.schwesterninderueberzahl.de). |
Clown, creating show concepts both long and short form, cultural manager of Improvisation Festivals and events, direction and Emcee work |
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Jacob Banigan |
Graz, Austria |
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Jacob Banigan started improvising in 1990, playing THEATRESPORTS at Rapid Fire Theatre in Edmonton, Canada. Jacob served as Artistic Director at RFT from 1995 to 2004. In his tenure at RFT, he headed up the creation of IMPROVAGANZA, The Nose Bowl, and the long form show CHiMPROV. Banigan lives in Austria, where he is a member of English Lovers (Vienna), Rocket Sugar Factory, and Theater im Bahnhof (Graz). Jacob’s solo improv show Game of Death is played at TiB, monthly since 2012. Banigan is Senior Lecturer for Improvisation at the Graz University for the Performing Arts. |
AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND INSTRUCTORS
| NAME | CITY | EMAIL ADDRESS & WEBSITE | BIO | other influences/expertise |
| Jenny Lovell | Melbourne, AUS |
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Jenny has been performing on stage, screen and TV for over 30 years in Sydney and Melbourne, including Picnic At Hanging Rock and Gallipoli and Prisoner (Cell Block H). On stage she has appeared in scripted plays in Sydney and Melbourne. Jenny has been performing as an improvisor since 1987 in Sydney, Melbourne and at international festivals in San Francisco, Seattle, Hong Kong, Wellington and Edmonton, Canada. She is a founding member of Impro Melbourne and current General Manager. She has done masterclasses with Keith Johnstone and was an International Fellow at the Globe Theatre. | Voice work, acting and audition technique and preparation, corporate presentation training. I teach long form genre styles: Shakespeare, Poe, Austen, Dickens |
| Sarah Kinsella | Melbourne, AUS |
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Sarah Kinsella is one of the most exciting Improvisational teachers you will ever find. She has over 20 year’s experience as an improviser, actor, business trainer and teacher and will bring to each class a uniquely Australian perspective of technical skill and energy. Sarah is a founding member of Impro Melbourne Australia who has created shows for theatre, corporate groups and schools. Sarah’s workshops create a positive hive mind, where taking risks is supported and trust is fostered. You will have fun, laugh you ass off and leave her workshops on a high and with knowledge in your Impro tool belt. | TV, traditional stage acting, long form, improvised plays, genre work, singing, corporate entertainment and training, character actor, comedian, mc. |
UK INSTRUCTORS
US INSTRUCTORS
| NAME | CITY | EMAIL ADDRESS & WEBSITE | BIO | other influences/expertise |
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Dan O’Connor
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Los Angeles, CA |
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Dan O’Connor is a multi-faceted actor, improviser, writer and director. Dan is the founder of the critically acclaimed Impro Theatre in LA. He is a co-founder of BATS Improv in San Francisco and LA Theatresports. Dan’s workshops vary from specific skill training to tackling entire forms and genres. Classes are experiential with students engaging in the work on their feet as much as possible. Dan’s pedagogy is influenced by his classical theatre training in London, studying with Keith Johnstone and creating his own form of unscripted theatre. His goal is help improvisers become better actors and actors to become improvisers. |
I have directed television and produced/created improvisation shows for television. I have directed hundreds of full-length narrative genre improvisation production using the world’s greatest writers as inspiration. I have helped to create 4 different Theatresports companies and can offer help and advice to anyone seeking to do Keith’s work. |
| Kat Koppet | Upstate, New York |
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Kat Koppett is the co-director of the Mopco Improv Theatre (https://mopco.org) in Schenectady, NY, USA. She has performed, directed and taught with three ITI organizations including Mopco, BATS Improv in San Francisco, where Kat had the opportunity to study with Keith Johnstone directly, and Freestyle Repertory Theatre in New York City. TheatreWeek Magazine named Kat one of their “Unsung Heroes” for her creation of the musical format “Spontaneous Broadway” with Freestyle Rep. Her book "Training to Imagine: Practical Improvisational Theatre Techniques to Enhance Creativity, Teamwork Leadership and Learning" is considered a seminal work in the field of applied improvisation. |
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Rebecca Stockley
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San Francisco, CA |
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CO-founder of BATS Improv in San Francisco, Rebecca has been teaching and performing impro since 1984. Originally a player with Unexpected Productions in Seattle, Rebecca moved to San Francisco in 1989 where she held the position of Dean of BATS School of Improv for 11 years, and continues to teach and perform. Over the years, Rebecca has performed and taught all over the world. Since meeting him in 1985, Rebecca studied with Keith as often as she's been able, following him to Australia, traveling to Canada and hosting his workshops in San Francisco. She has directed and performed in Theatresports™, Gorilla Theatre™, Maestro™ Impro and has performed in The Lifegame™. | Applied Improvisation |
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William Hall |
San Francisco, CA |
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William Hall is an actor, director, and co-founder of BATS Improv in San Francisco, where he continues to teach and perform. Inspired by Keith Johnstone’s Impro, William has performed and taught improv worldwide, specializing in Theatresports, Gorilla Theatre, Maestro, and The Life Game. His Commedia Dell’Arte company, Fratelli Bologna, created original comedies and brought interactive performances to Silicon Valley business theater. He was part of the teaching team at Stanford Graduate School of Business, focusing on power and status. William’s book, The Playbook: Improv Games for Performers, is a key resource for teachers and performers. |
Effortless Storytelling: Things I have learned from Keith Johnstone. Masks and Character. Status and Power: the secret language of impro. Games. Games. Games. Games and activities for teachers and facilitators. Games and activities for business |
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Randy Dixon |
Seattle, WA |
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Randy Dixon was long time Artistic Director & founding member of Unexpected Productions, Seattle’s longest running improvisational theater and the first TheatreSports™ in the US starting in 1983. UP established a reputation of high-quality shows, classes and workshops under Randy. In 2006, Randy founded Orcas Island Project an international performance group. Randy has taught all over the world, influenced by his studies and friendships with Del Close, Paul Sills, David Shepherd, and Keith Johnstone. His book, Being Present: Spontaneous Storytelling and the Art of Improvisation was published in 2000. He has worked in many styles and created many forms. | Directing, acting, devising plays and materials, mythology, and Jungian Depth Psychology |
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Paul Killam |
San Francisco, USA |
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Paul Killam is an internationally known teacher and performer of improvisational theatre. He has been teaching Improvisation for the Theatre at the College of Marin for 20+ years. Paul started improvising with Seattle Theatresports/Unexpected Productions, and continues to be an active Main Stage Company member and teacher at BATS Improv, where he served as the first Artistic Director. He was a performer with Pulp Playhouse and helped found True Fiction Magazine. Theatresports has taken Paul to Seattle, Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, New York, Los Angeles, Helsinki, Melbourne and Sydney, Australia. Paul is also a film, voice and commercial actor, has toured several productions of Shakespeare, and has toured with the San Francisco Mime Troupe. |
NORDIC REGION INSTRUCTORS
SOUTH AMERICA INSTRUCTORS
ASIAN INSTRUCTORS
| NAME | CITY | EMAIL ADDRESS & WEBSITE | BIO | OTHER INFLUENCES/EXPERTISE |
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Chris Wells |
Tokyo, Japan |
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Chris directs the TCS Impro Dojo and the Improvazilla Show, which he helped found in 1994. His ground-breaking Punching Up workshop proactively explores minority and ethnicity humor with improv troupes. (He’s gay, btw.) He’s taught in English, Spanish and Japanese internationally. As a narrator his voice is thoroughly inescapable in Tokyo, since he’s the voice of Japan Rail East and a Shinkansen. Ditto the Kyoto National Museum, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, and Ultramen. He has a psych degree and does corporate cosplay as a senior advisor at EY Tokyo wavespace, leading a design thinking innovation workshop team. It’s surprisingly fun. |
Voice work, long form, improvised musicals, and cross-cultural improv techniques. |
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Jun Imai |
Tokyo, Japan |
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Instagram: @improjun, @improws.junimai |
Jun Imai lived in California for 8 years and started his acting career there. Coaching and directing improv since 1995, he has published five books on impro, including the long-selling “It’s Tough to be Free”, followed by the three-volume “Japanese Who’ve Begun to Improvise: Keith Johnstone’s Impro”, and “Keith Johnstone in Japan”. He has interpreted for method acting and improv workshops led by many wonderful teachers including Keith Johnstone, who told him “Impro is like Zen”, causing Jun to study Zen in Japan. He has taught “Zen and Impro” in the US, Canada, Germany, Italy, China and Hong Kong, Dubai, Netherlands, and Costa Rica. |
Zen Impro, method acting, directing, improvisation, and cross-cultural performance. |