This article is about the California comedy club. For the 17th century theatergoer, see groundling.
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The Groundlings
The Groundlings building on Melrose Avenue
Genre
Sketch comedy Improvisation
Date of premiere
1974; 50 years ago (1974)
Location
Los Angeles, California, United States
Official website
The Groundlings is an American improvisational and sketch comedy troupe and school based in Los Angeles, California. The troupe was formed by Gary Austin in 1974 and uses an improv format influenced by Viola Spolin, whose improv techniques were taught by Del Close and other members of the Second City, located in Chicago and later St. Louis.[1] They used these techniques to produce sketches and improvised scenes.[2] Its name is taken from Shakespeare's Hamlet, Act III, Scene II: "...to split the ears of the groundlings, who for the most part are capable of nothing but inexplicable dumbshows and noise."[3] In 1975 the troupe purchased and moved into its location on Melrose Avenue.
The Groundlings School holds sessions every six weeks with over 300 students per session, with more than 2,000 students per year going through the program. The competitive program, with admission by audition, consists of five levels (Basic, Intermediate, Advanced Improv, Writing Lab, and Advanced Writing Lab). Participants must satisfy instructors' requirements in order to advance from the first three levels. For Writing Lab and Advanced Writing Lab, students are voted on by then-current members of the Main Company as to whether they will move on. This vote is based on the students writing and performing Groundlings style sketch shows.
The program can take several years to complete. Students may be asked to repeat Basic and Intermediate classes multiple times. Upon completion of Advanced Writing Lab, students may be voted into the Sunday Company, where they may remain for no more than 18 months. (Sunday Company members are cast for six months at a time, and can be voted into Sunday Company for a maximum of three six-month periods.) Sunday Company members are eligible to be voted into Main Company (or "The Groundlings") at the end of each six month term of Sunday Company.
Many Groundlings performers appeared in movies and television, including several who have become cast members and writers on Saturday Night Live, MADtv, Reno 911!, and the G4 network while also being active on the internet, mainly YouTube.[4]
^"GARY AUSTIN WORKSHOPS – NEW YORK CITY". garyaustinworkshops.com.
^Fult, Josh (February 19, 2007). "Gary Austin – Part 1 – 2/19/07". Improv Interviews. Archived from the original on October 19, 2013. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
^"Shakespeare's Audience: The Groundlings". Shakespeare-online.com. August 20, 2000. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
for the next ten years. In 1989, theGroundlings began the enduring tradition of having Groundlings or Groundlings alumni direct each new revue. The Main...
the ears of thegroundlings". At the time, the word had entered the English language to mean a small type of fish with a gaping mouth—from the vantage point...
Guggenheim is an American comedian, writer and actress. A member of TheGroundlings comedy troupe, as an actress she is best known for her role as Madisynn...
station CTV Two Alberta. Groundling Marsh takes place in a magical swamp. Most of the mutant-like characters are "Groundlings" but look very different...
He is a main company member of TheGroundlings. Cavalero began acting in 2006. In 2014, he was cast as Dewey Finn on the Nickelodeon remake of School of...
a performer with the Los Angeles comedy troupe TheGroundlings, Kattan found wider success during his tenure as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy...
Wetpaint. Groundlings [@groundlings] (August 24, 2012). "Blake Jenner learned the importance of comedic timing from improv classes with TheGroundlings" (Tweet)...
various characters in theGroundling stage show Groundlings, In The Study, With The Candlestick in early 2009 and directed Groundlings Space Camp. Day wrote...
performing with the Los Angeles comedy troupe TheGroundlings, Watkins achieved widespread attention for her brief stint as a featured player on the NBC sketch...
through as a performer with the Los Angeles comedy troupe TheGroundlings, Wiig achieved stardom during her seven-season tenure on the NBC sketch comedy series...
community workshops to learn the basics of improvising. Once she was comfortable, Gardner auditioned into theGroundlings basic class and was accepted...
a performer with the Los Angeles comedy troupe TheGroundlings, Parnell found wider success during his tenure as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy...
movies, and as a member of the Main Company of TheGroundlings in Los Angeles. She is best known for her lengthy appearance in the role as "Jan" in a series...
She also performed at the American Repertory Theatre, Steppenwolf Garage, Court Theatre, Moscow Art Theatre, and theGroundlings. At Harvard's A.R.T Institute...
Angeles, where she performed in TheGroundlings troupe's Sunday Company. She also performed in "Characters Welcome" at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre...
College in 1997. Faxon is an alumnus of the Los Angeles-based improvisational and sketch comedy troupe TheGroundlings, where he began performing in 2001....
troupe TheGroundlings. In 1995, producers of Saturday Night Live (SNL) attended a performance with the intention of auditioning fellow Groundlings member...
and with TheGroundlings. Highlights of her screen career to date, have been regular roles in several TV series, including eleven episodes of The Underground...
and played Essie Karp in The Goldbergs. Courtney was a member of TheGroundlings, an improvisational and sketch comedy theater in Los Angeles, California...
theatre teacher, writer, and director who founded TheGroundlings theatre company in 1974. Austin grew up in the Nazarene Church and in Halliburton oil camps...
recurring role on the syndicated children's series Dusty's Treehouse. She later joined the L.A.-based comedy troupe TheGroundlings. Despite having starred...
as the Dunder Mifflin accountant Oscar Martinez on NBC's The Office. He was a member of TheGroundlings and later became a regular cast member on The Office...
improvisational group TheGroundlings. She was first hired by Lorne Michaels for a Lily Tomlin TV special in 1974. The next year Newman became one of the original...
journalist for the Los Angeles Daily News, Feimster began a seven-year career in entertainment journalism. In 2005, she joined TheGroundlings Theatre, studying...
Although he retired from the theatre's Main Company in the mid 1990s, Bagley still comes back regularly to perform in TheGroundlings’ all-improv show Cookin'...
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