You are invited to let the hilarious unpredictability of improv crack you up and crack open your treasure trove of creativity. This is an experiential workshop for people willing to jump in and play with words, sounds, songs, and each other!

The “playshop” will start with warm-up activities to engage your voice, connect you with the group, and electrify the wordplay and rhyming centers of your brain. Then we will move into group performance-oriented games, which will afford you the opportunity to learn from watching your highly entertaining classmates, as well as to experience the thrill of public improvisation (it’s safer than sky diving).

Veteran and beginning improvisers are equally welcome. Come prepared to laugh and to experience the unexpected. Take home ideas that no single human mind could ever hatch. Fellow MudLark Ray Frank will serve as the staff accompanist—no need to bring instruments.

Laura Sandage

Laura Sandage’s work ranges from the ridiculous to the sublime. On any given day, she might be found singing about nose hairs with preschoolers, or leading a congregation or grief support group in a traditional spiritual. In the past eight years, she has taught “Silly Songwriting” for kids at the Davis Art Center, directed Spin Cycle, an adult improv theater group in Davis, created original scores for youth Shakespeare productions, written theme songs for peace groups, and produced two CDs of her original songs, including her newest disc, created in collaboration with Yolo Hospice and funded in part by the City of Davis. She is currently revising two novel manuscripts, singing in two choirs, performing and speaking at churches, volunteering with Yolo Hospice, teaching preschool music and drama, and performing on string bass and vocals with folk roots trio MudLark. She credits her years of improv with giving her a body of experiential trust-training that continues to fuel all her creative processes, musical and otherwise.

Katie Henry

Katie Henry is an award-winning songwriter, performer, and teacher now based in Davis, California. She spent years living and performing in the Northwest with a slew of interesting folks, put out a sweet little pile of cd’s, and even got a little radio airplay. She founded Laughing Tree Music while living in the Northeast, seeking to encourage joyful primary musical development in children and their families through hands-on musical experience and play. Since moving to California, Katie has focused on using the song experience games and process of Education Through Music with children ages 0-16 in Davis schools and at the Davis Art Center. In 2008, Katie finished an arts in education masters degree at Sacramento State. She is fascinated with the powerful role that play has in the learning process, and she plays as much as she can with the folk roots trio, MudLark. What about her songs? Sing Out! magazine finds that Katie’s “highly poetic songs captivate the listener and take them on a remarkable journey of discovery.” The “Improv for Songwriters” workshop with MudLark promises to be a remarkable trip too!