Connection.
Collaboration.
Learning through Laughter.

Principles of Improv

At Nerd Improv we pride ourselves in offering workshops that push the collective comfort boundary while simultaneously maintaining an emotionally safe environment for each participant. We drive reflective learning as much as stomach-wrenching laughter. Learning alongside laughter. Learning through Laughter.

We leverage playful activities as an opportunity for staff development. Sushi making and drunk bowling are fun! What makes Nerd Improv different is that we make sure each participant is fully engaged, and that colleagues leave feeling that they know each other better. Takeaways are framed around our guiding Principles of Improv.

Active Listening

Listening, actually, without thinking of what to say next. It’s harder than you think

Creative Thinking

Recognizing structures that prevent innovation. Thinking outside the box.

Permission to Take Risks

Creating emotionally safe environments. Celebrating mistakes. Learning from them.

Group Support

Sharing responsibility of the final product. Accountability meets camaraderie.

Partial Client List

"A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new."

— Albert Einstein

Our Locations

2012

The sky was filled with heavy fog. San Francisco. Nerd Improv was born.

Coast to Coast

We’ve grown rapidly since our founding. Nerd Improv now has coaches based out of three cities - San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York. Whether you’re looking to do a workshop for 5 people or a group of 150, we have the coaches to make it happen. Mountain View or Palo Alto? We’ll be right over. Washington DC? We were there a couple months ago! We haven’t made it to rural Nebraska yet, but we’ll get there. Let us know where you’re thinking to do a workshop.

Where, exactly?

For our in-person workshops, we come to you. No props, no prob! All we ask for is an open space large enough to accommodate your full group standing in a circle. We can even do workshops outside. If you need to book a venue, we’ll be happy to put you in touch with a handful of our favorites. And when the place is booked...all you have to do is show up.

If you are a distributed team working remotely, join us and your colleagues over Zoom or other online remote meeting platform from your home, office, or favorite coffee shop.

Hybrid, you say? Oh, we've got you covered, too.

Testimonials

Linzi Breckenridge
Vertical Response

Dedicating an afternoon to practicing improv was such a great experience for our team. Everyone (everyone!) had a blast. Josh was excellent at guiding us into a space that was safe and playful. He clearly knew exactly what was needed at the time. Would highly recommend it.

Jen Pi
Lyft

Danny and the team's energy was infectious and they were able to moderate effectively despite there being 100 of us. They were able to organize the activities in a way where we would change up the group dynamics and size to keep it dynamic, and personal. The activities were unique, and helped to build new interaction patterns based on openness, respect, and an awesome shared experience. It was really exciting to see colleagues come out of their shell, and step outside the routine of the heads down, day-to-day that can affect us all. The team really enjoyed the takeaways in being better active listeners, pushing ourselves to be uncomfortable, taking risks, and developing more empathy for one another. The activities and learnings will be valuable tools to take with us to our everyday that I believe will help increase our presence and engagement with each other, and ultimately boost productivity, personal/professional fulfillment, and fun factor :)