For improvisers, aspiring sketch writers, screenwriters looking for punch-ups — anyone hoping to unlock creativity through the written word.

The premise is the DNA of any sketch.

Learn the secrets of how to pitch in a writer’s room, what makes a premise hit, how to re-improvise a scene, and how to transform improv into polished “written” pieces.

This is a workshop for improvisers, aspiring sketch writers, screenwriters looking for punch-ups, and anyone who is hoping to unlock creativity through the written word.

About the Instructors

Adam Cawley is an alumnus of The Second City Mainstage, The Just for Laughs Festival and is a three-time Canadian Comedy Award Winner, including: Best Male Improviser in Canada. Adam has been an actor and writer on Workin’ Moms (Netflix) and a regular on Baroness Von Sketch Show (IFC). Recently Adam appeared on Ghosts (CBS) and performs sketch comedy for The NFL on FOX (FOX). Juuuust before the pandemic Adam was cast in a new improv television pilot project from the creators of Whose Line is it Anyway? Currently Adam performs in 7 minutes in Heaven at The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre as well as The Pack and The Westside Comedy Theatre.

Rob Norman is a Canadian Screen Award-winning actor, Second City alumni, and author of Improvising Now: A Practical Guide to Modern Improv. Along with his co-host of the Backline, Adam Cawley, Rob tours the world teaching modern improvisation. He can be heard frequently on Canadian public radio and is the producer of CBC's Personal Best, which Time Magazine calls "easily one of the funniest podcasts on air".

Together, they host The Backline Podcast and perform as RN & Cawls.