What We’re Up To!

After School Improv!

FoHi Improv is now running two successful after school programs in Forest Hills. At PS101Q and Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Academy, 3rd, 4th & 5th graders get together in after school classes to stretch their brains, play games, learn object and environment work, and perform for their parents. They are having so much fun being creative and silly!

Elmhurst Hospital Nurse’s Week Show!

Last year’s show for “Doctor’s Week” was so successful, that FoHi Improv was brought back for “Nurse’s Week”! These nurses are amazing humans and so much fun as performers and audience members!

New York City College of Technology Workshops

In these 90 minute workshops, CUNY Tech students in the Accelerated Study in Associate Program use improv techniques to enhance interview skills, learn to pivot during conversations, learn how their body language is important, learn how their to lower their anxiety, learn how to engage in active listening, and learn how to engage in group settings.

Queens Chronicle Article: “FoHi Improv calls all to the art of comedy”

https://www.qchron.com/qboro/stories/fohi-improv-calls-all-to-the-art-of-comedy/article_9662f897-ad24-5cf2-8053-1faed3a2fb94.html

by Michael Gannon, senior news editor Sep 1, 2022

Kate DeFeo already had an impressive resume when she decided to bring classes in improvisational comedy to her neighborhood by creating the group FoHi Improv in 2018.

And her mission statement also is the slogan near the top of the group’s webpage at fohiimprov.com: “Building Community, One Laugh at a Time.”

“What I’m teaching, long-form improv, is the art of storytelling,” DeFeo said. “It’s the art of listening to people talk, mining their lives for things that stand out as unique, which nobody sees in themselves. They’re all unique storytellers.”

Long-form involves multiple scenes tied in with each other, as opposed to short-form improv, which has been popularized by shows like ”Whose Line Is It Anyway?”

DeFeo said students need not necessarily have been class clown material.

“I like to work with anyone who shows up,” she said. “My beginner classes are literally for anybody, so you don’t have to have a desire or even an interest in comedy. The comedy comes from not trying to be funny. That’s the sort of art they are doing.

“I always hear the thought, ‘Oh, I have to be funny to do improv.’ And that is not true. I want anyone who wants to be in a class about conversation, or maybe just wants to meet someone in the neighborhood or just reach out and talk to someone. Because my classes foster the warmest environment of community.” The company has nearly a dozen teachers who are actors, writers, musicians and even a scientist.

DeFeo had performed, written and taught theater, improv and puppetry projects for about 20 years. She also is on the creative staff of the Garden Players and other groups in Forest Hills.

“I had tons of classes, tons of performances in Manhattan — and Manhattan theaters are exceptional, don’t get me wrong. My experience was that I was meeting people from all over the five boroughs, which was exciting in its own right, but when it came to social activity, once I had a full-time job, had a family, had other obligations it became quite hard for me to fulfill the social part of the improv requirement.”

She wanted to bring that sense of creation and community to Forest Hills.

“That’s how this started ... It doesn’t have to be actors and performers. That was my other big goal, which is exactly what I got.”

Martin Howell, a retired journalist living in Forest Hills, spent much of his 40-year career as a foreign correspondent and bureau chief in Asia. He decided he wanted to give improv a try.

“I think I went to two or maybe three live classes, and then of course, the pandemic hit,” Howell said. DeFeo, who has brought her shows to places like NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst, did some improvisation of her own.

“The great thing was we went online. We went on Zoom,” he said. “That was a real godsend for a lot of us because you know what it was like. We were all completely locked down and isolated from everyone. The Zoom classes were a lot of fun, a weekly highlight for those weeks when we were completely locked down.” As a journalist, he was always quick on his feet, though in news that could mean 30 seconds, as opposed to one second or even less required for improv. “It is hard work ... But it lets me get out of your more staid behavior and become the class clown for an hour. That’s fine with me.”

Some classes have limited capacity. Schedules and fees are available by email at FoHiImprov@gmail.com.

QueensChronicle.com

American Express Corporate Improv Training

This amazing team has two working members from a London office and one from a Miami office, and while they talk and email every day, they can only get together in person once a year. What better way to spend part of their annual visit to NYC than by playing some improv games and exercises! The team supported one another, laughed together and bonded. There is no doubt that improv helped them get on their feet and be creative in a whole new way!

P.S. 101 Parent Social

Improv games and exercises helped to break the ice at the Parent Social for P.S. 101Q. Improv fostered communication and fun at this 60-person social outing…..it forced all participants to talk and laugh! The room noticeably bonded after playing together.

Inclusion By Design Conference

The FoHi Team was honored to lead 60 participants at the Inclusion by Design Conference in Manhattan at the PWC Building. After a long day, the participants were asked to get on their feet and play! We taught the “yes, and” philosophy through exercises which showcased communication and interview skills, adaptability, spontaneity, how to deal with workplace stress and pressures and inclusion at all times.

Classes

FoHi Improv classes run from Absolute Beginner all the way through Advanced levels. These classes foster a sense of community and inclusion in neighborhoods where there are sometimes few opportunities for adults to connect and let loose. While improv is a theater activity, it really speaks to a philosophy of allowing “yes” positivity into your life.