Home of the Silverbacks Improv Theatre, Lafayette, Louisiana
Come to the 2nd Stage at Cité des Arts on Friday, May 10th, at 8:30pm, for SuperCollider: Acadiana’s Improv Showcase brought to you by Silverbacks Improv Theatre!
Featuring Improv by:
Marvelous Misfits (Lafayette, LA)
The OverEducated (Baton Rouge & Lafayette, LA)
and Ghost Balloon (Houston, TX).
Hosted by your favorite comic’s favorite comic: Mike Honore.
Tickets are $10, and are available online at silverbacks-improv-theatre.square.site
Improv Level 2, taught by Elaine Kibodeaux Paramore (Assistant Instructor TBA).
8 Saturdays, January 13-March 9 (with a break for Mardi Gras) from 10am-Noon at Cite des Arts.
Class size: 6 students minimum; 12 students maximum.
$200 for 8 days of class.
Register online at https://silverbacks-improv-theatre.square.site/
Elaine Kibodeaux Paramore has been acting for 26 years and improvising for 22. She is a founding member of Silverbacks Improv Theatre, having just finished her term as the 2022-2023 Artistic Director. She is a proud Cult of the Stage Monkey (UL-Lafayette) Alumna (’01-’08) and has studied and performed improv in Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Washington, D.C., and Chicago. Elaine began teaching Improv Fundamentals for Beginners in 2009 and has since added Improv Acting Techniques for Dancers and Movement for the Actor to her instruction repertoire. She is a belly dancer with Habibi Hips and Bal Amira, celebrating 16 at Oasis Bellydance Studio, where she leads a Bellydance Fit class and instructs new dancers in Bellydance Basics. She regularly uses her improv and acting experience to enhance her stage presence when dancing. She can also be found on your favorite podcast app, alongside her creative partner, Mads Manuel, on Storybroke: Miserably Ever After, returning in 2024.
Are you improv-curious? Come see what all the fuss is about.
Taken classes? Come practice the skills you’ve learned.
Like donuts & coffee? Come and get it!
Silverbacks Improv Theatre is hosting an Improv Breakfast Jam to play improv games and hang out with other cool people. It will be a mixer with a fun, relaxed atmosphere. You can participate at your comfort level, including being in the audience.
Join us on Saturday, December 2nd at 10am (until noon) at Cite des Arts.
You bring yourself, we’ll bring the donuts (and coffee).
Tickets to the May 12th SuperCollider, featuring Silverbacks Improv Theatre and Two Friends Improv Theater from New Orleans, are available in our online store!
It’s nearly that time of year again! On Friday, December 16th, Silverbacks Improv Theatre will interpret their signature improvisations through the lens of a brand new, completely made up Holiday! This year, we’ll be welcoming more of our extended improv family to the party, with The Weaning Process helping us to create our newest holiday traditions on the SuperCollider stage!
For this show, each of the performers will be wearing a Holiday Sweater and invite the audience to do the same. ANY Holiday themed items are welcome – the audience is invited to wear their finest Christmas, Easter, Mardi Gras, or even Groundhog Day sweaters to add to the fun.
Our 9 previously invented holidays are “Paper-Clip Appreciation Day” (2012), “Garden Gnome Day” (2013), “Leonardo DaVinci’s Mother’s Birthday” (2014), “Picasso-Palooza” (2015), “St. Lampshades Day” (2016), “Structural Support Day” (2017), and “Snowpocalypse: The Anniversary of that One Day It Snowed in Louisiana” (2018), “Aggressive Yoga Day” (2019), and “Don’t Fit Day” (2020). Since we weren’t able to get together in 2021, we really can’t wait to celebrate a Brand New Holiday and its many wonderful traditions with you.
9:00 pm at Cite des Arts, 2nd Stage Tickets are $10 at the door!
Come to the 2nd Stage at Cité des Arts on Friday, November 11th at 9pm for a very special SuperCollider: Acadiana’s Improv Showcase brought to you by Silverbacks Improv Theatre!
This month, we are pleased to welcome:
-Rag Tag Improv (Lafayette, LA)
-Two for the Road (Houston, TX/Lafayette, LA)
-The Overeducated (Baton Rouge, LA)
We are also pleased to announce that we are fulfilling the grand SuperCollider! vision by incorporating SKETCH COMEDY into the roster! This month’s show will feature sketches by Renee Barry, Sarah Mikayla Brown, and Trevor Chapman.
Hosted by Lafayette’s own Charles Thomas Vidrine
That’s Sketch, Improv, AND Stand-up Comedy, all for just $10!
Come to the 2nd Stage at Cité des Arts on Friday, October 21st at 9pm for SuperCollider: Acadiana’s Improv Showcase brought to you by Silverbacks Improv Theatre!
This month, we are pleased to welcome:
-The Weaning Process
-Your Spooky Friends
-Silverbacks Improv Theatre
This month’s SuperCollider is especially exciting for us as we welcome our newest castmates to the stage! Help us cheer on Claudia, Jamie, Kristen, Leslie, Pete, and (our newest addition) Renee for their debut as Silverbacks!
Improv Comedy Classes starting October 4 with Silverbacks Improv Theatre!
Quick Details:
Improv 1 – A Silverbacks Improv Class (Teachers: Aren Chaisson & Renee Barry)
Dates: Tuesdays – October 4, 11, 18, 25, Nov 1, Nov 8
Time: 6-8pm CST
Where: Cité des Arts
Ages: 16+
Cost: $120 – scholarships available
Register online here:
https://checkout.square.site/buy/VR4MXJQOSZQZQH5TJMSZIZGA
Students may also message the Silverbacks Facebook page, www.Facebook.com/SilverbacksImprov, or email with questions at silverbacksimprov@gmail.com.
Since 2015, Silverbacks Improv Theatre has offered Improv classes in Lafayette. As a result, the improv scene has blossomed and continues to grow. A new round of classes is starting on October 4 with Improv 1. This six week course is designed for the complete novice to improv and/or performing arts. Teachers focus on creating a friendly environment for even the most demure wall flower to be able to participate. Improv is excellent for growing skills in communication, team work, and public speaking. Students will be eligible to progress to Improv 2 and 3 following this course, should they choose to continue studying.
Silverbacks believe that the price should not be a barrier for the study of improv, and will not turn away any students for lack of a traditional fee. Payment plans, scholarships, and barters are all available.
Teacher Bios:
Renee Barry is thrilled to be teaching with her pal Aren! Renee moved back home to Lafayette in 2020 after spending eight years in Chicago, IL performing improv and writing sketch comedy shows. In Chicago, Renee wrote and performed at The Second City in such productions as Thank You Five, Out Damn Spotlight, Ready Player: Won, and 1984-Play. Renee will be performing in CCT’s The Real Inspector Hound in November at Cité des Artes. Renee teaches improv and sketch writing to teens at CYT, and she teaches Talented Theatre in St. Martin Parish schools. Renee is so grateful to be a part of the Lafayette comedy community!
Aren Chaisson is an actor and improvisor with over 25 years experience on stage. He is from Lafayette, Louisiana and teaches Talented Theatre in Iberia Parish. Aren has performed in many productions, including John Proctor in The Crucible, Huey P. Long in The Kingfish, Dale Pittman in The North Plan, Harry “Jazzbo” Haywood in It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, Lenny in Of Mice and Men, Foreman in Twelve Angry Men, Cliff in Cabaret, Officer Lockstock in Urinetown and William Shakespeare in William and Judith. In 2018 he was in his first CCT production as Jud in Oklahoma! Most recently he was seen as Max Bialystock in The Producers. Since graduating from University of Louisiana at Lafayette with a BFA in Performing Arts, he has performed in NYC, Chicago, Syracuse, Alabama, Indiana, on regional and national tours, and in short films and commercials. He studied improv with Armando Diaz at the Magnet Theatre in NYC and performs with Silverbacks Improv troupe.
Silverbacks Improv Theatre, will begin another round of improv classes starting in January. Silverbacks began offering improv classes in the summer of 2015, and has had great success and fun with their students. Improv troupes Weaning Process, The Plural Noun, and recent grad troupe Lively Banter even found their beginnings in Silverbacks improv classes.
The Silverbacks will begin by offering Improv 1. Students will then have the option to continue to Improv 2 and 3 if they choose.
IMPROV LEVEL ONE is an entry-level journey into the joys and thrills of improvisation, or improv. Students will learn and practice the application of “group mind” and the all-important “yes, and” – and other improv concepts and vocabulary. Students will practice new skills, perform and play in a safe, low-stakes and friendly atmosphere.
LEVEL ONE is perfect for the super fan of comedy or improv who has yet to perform, the curious introvert wanting to try something new or someone looking to improve their public speaking or quick decision making skills. At the conclusion, you can move on to Level Two or continue to take LEVEL ONE again – as many times as you’d like. You’re sure to get something new out of it each time!
Registration is available online at https://squareup.com/store/silverbacks-improv-theatre
IMPROV ONE Class Details:
Improv 1 – A Silverbacks Improv Class (Teacher Elaine Kibodeaux)
Dates: Saturdays – January 11, 18, 25, February 1, 8, 15.
Time: 2:00pm-4:00pm
Where: Cite Des Arts – 109 Vine St, Lafayette, LA 70501
Ages: 16+
Registration : $120
Still on the fence? Hear from a former student!
“Silverbacks Improv Theatre classes were a great experience. I felt like I was in a slump, and these classes lifted me up. I made friends, gained confidence, and had the opportunity to play. The teachers miraculously offer a relaxed yet rigorous environment where challenge is welcome, but never judgment.” -Leslie Tidwell, founding member of The Weaning Process – Improv Troupe
Level One students will also have the perk of free entry to all Silverbacks produced improv shows while they are taking classes!
Good News, Everyone!
Improv: Level 1 and Improv: Level 3 are currently open for registration at our Store! Not only is registration ready for you, but from now until December 28th, both classes fall under the Early Bird Discount umbrella!
Improv: Level 1, a 6 week introductory course, is only $110! ($10 off!)
Improv: Level 3, our 8 week advanced course, is only $135! ($25 off!)
Don’t miss your chance to start something new with Elaine or to brush up on your scene work with Sarah Mikayla! Register for one of our super-fun, super-affordable improv classes today!
