Bring PIT Founder and Owner Ali Reza Farahnakian to your town to teach Improv Workshops, Sketch/SNL Writing Workshops, Corporate Team Building Workshops, or to Perform with your Improv group.

Email us to book Ali!

2-Day SNL Sketch Writing Workshop
(SNL, SC, IO, UCB Co-founder, PIT Founder)

This 2-day workshop is for ANYONE who has ever thought about writing sketch comedy for stage or television. If you've got the ideas and want to know how to build a sketch, this class is for you. This class will demystify what an SNL sketch looks like, what a "packet" for SNL or MAD TV consists of and what "readers" are looking for in a "packet." The class will focus on a commercial parody for the first day (which you will bring to the first class 1-3 pages) and a 2-person/5-page sketch for the second day. As one of the only former SNL writers teaching sketch in the country, I will give you a clear concise point of view of someone who has been there, in a fun and nurturing environment. I've taught this class to over 1,000 people. I'm ready, are you? Class limited to 12 people, 2 days-3hrs/day

2-Day Improv Workshop

This class is for ALL Improvisers who are looking to fine tune their work. We will take everything you have been working on in the world of longform Improvisation and solidify your learning thus far. We will work on drills and exercises that will reinforce the vernacular of Improvisation that works consistently. You'll learn how to cut to the chase and get to what the scene is really about while focusing on active listening and reacting while serving the entire piece. Discover how to cultivate your own personal Improv Samurai, so that you will trust that “Acting Like Yourself” works. As long as you are entertaining yourself, you will entertain others. Nothing suffices like the truth, that's where all the funny comes from. A pot of cold water boils faster than a pot of hot water, if you agree and understand this concept, this workshop is for you. Class limited to 16 people, 2 days-3hrs/day

ALI REZA FARAHNAKIAN (SAG, AEA, WGA, AFTRA) studied extensively with Charna Halpern and Del Close in the 1990s at the ImprovOlympic. He was also a founding member of the UCB. At the Improvolympic he was on the famed house team “The Family” for over four years, directed by Del Close. At The Second City he was part of the Jeff-nominated show “The Revelation Will Not Be Televised” (dir. Jeff Richmond) for which he received a Jeff nomination for Best Actor in a Revue. His one-man show “Word of Mouth” was an official selection to the US Comedy Arts Festival 2001 in Aspen. He was a writer on Saturday Night Live during its 25th anniversary season and received a Writers Guild Award nomination. Television credits include Law and Order, Criminal Intent, Special Victims Unit, All My Children, Third Watch, 30 Rock and Late Night with Conan O'Brien. In 2002 he founded The Peoples Improv Theater, aka THE PIT in New York City, where he teaches and performs.