Our 2007 Instructors (See who's taught at past MiniFests...)

Workshop Instructor: Tom Murphy
Tom Murphy was born in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. While pursuing a career as a professional acrobatic skier he began his stage performing. He co-founded two international touring comedy troupes: Mountain Mime and Klown Shoes. For the past 30 years he has performed and taught around the world. Some of his residencies include: Boston University, Aarhus Theater Academy, Denmark, Festival der Träume in Innsbruck and Comicodeon in Kapfenberg, Austria, Theater Haus in Stuttgart, Germany and Ecole Nationale du Circue in Paris. He was a winner at the Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain in Paris and twice awarded “Artist of the Year" by Künstler Magazine in Germany. He has appeared on Broadway in his solo production called MetaMURPHosis. For the past 14 years he has been touring in Europe where he was dubbed “The Chaos Poet.” His present show is knock ‘em down, drag “em out, laugh till you cry slapstick sketch comedy. Think of Buster Keaton meets Robin Williams.

"The Innate Comedian" - Tom Murphy's course will offer an opportunity to explore and experiment with what is innately funny about ourselves. Through the use of improvisation exercises in a safe and supportive atmosphere we will use up and burn through all our familiar habits to find the idiosyncratic quirks that make for good character development and solid original material.

Workshop Instructor: Randy Judkins
Randy Judkins is a unique motivational speaker, facilitator and performer. He offers original, interactive presentations on humor in our lives, change, stress, self concept, and teamwork for numerous professional groups. Randy has presented in over 20 U.S. states, Canada, and Europe. He has instructed at the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Clown College in Florida. Randy has served as a character consultant for Tri-Star Pictures and a Circus of the Stars trainer in Hollywood, CA. The Julliard School in New York City hired Randy to teach a series of master classes in character and physical theater for their drama division in November of 1994.

"Comedy with Character" - Lily Tomlin said, "I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific." Participants in Randy's course will explore the many personalities of play and how they influence our choices for developing specific and engaging characters. We will also employ an original technique called "Recipe Characters" to 'cook up' more alter egos for us all to play with as we develop and even dust off our own material. Generally speaking, we'll get more specific.

Workshop Instructor: Arsene Dupin
Arsene has been performing magic, juggling and comedy for almost 30 years around the world. You can see his work and resume here.

"ALIVE!" - Workshop Information Coming Soon