No-Mind Improv: Get Out Of Your Head!

Stop thinking. Start reacting. After years of learning the "rules," it’s time to trust your training enough to let it go. Join veteran improviser Chad O’Bara for a 3-hour specialty class designed to help you bypass the internal critic and return to the pure joy of spontaneous, high-stakes play.

This workshop is inspired by the philosophy of No-Mind championed by Bruce Lee, a state of peak performance where the mind does not think, it merely reacts. Using Chad’s signature "from-the-gut" approach, you’ll explore exercises and techniques designed to help you stop "working" the scene and start living it. This is the ultimate opportunity for experienced students and program graduates to shed conscious habits and rediscover the thrill of free-falling.

Elevate Your Craft:

• Intuitive Reactivity: Move beyond "calculating" your next move and learn to trust your immediate, raw instincts.
• Break the Patterns: Identify and shed the cerebral habits that keep your scenes "safe," moving instead toward bold, authentic choices.
• Radical Presence: Silence the mental chatter to become more deeply connected to your partner and the environment.

Ready to get out of your head? Reclaim the freedom of the gut reaction in a high-energy, anxiety-free environment.

About the Teacher: Chad O’Bara is an actor, educator, and filmmaker with over twenty years of experience in the craft. A graduate of Cornish College of the Arts and The Second City Conservatory, Chad officially joined the Unexpected Productions ensemble in 2009. Since 2013, he has been a staple of the UP faculty, helping students find their footing in improvisational theater.

Beyond the stage, Chad is an award-winning filmmaker. His production company, RagTag Pictures, has garnered accolades from festivals across the country, including Chicago, Bleedingham, and Oregon Screams. Whether he’s behind a camera or under the stage lights, Chad is driven by a "from the gut" approach to storytelling.

Chad’s teaching philosophy is rooted in the wisdom of Bruce Lee: "Empty your mind." He believes that by stripping away overthinking and trusting our raw instincts and impulses, we discover our truest, most authentic artistic voices. He’s ready to help you find yours.

Location: 650 S Orcas St, Suite 101, Seattle, WA, 98108

Maximum Students: 16

Cost: Ticket price $95.00

Prerequisite: Recommended (but not required): Improv 300 or other on-stage performance experience

Age: 18 and above

**Cancellation policy: If you must cancel before the first class, we can only offer credit towards the same level class next quarter. We are unable to offer refunds. If you cancel after the first class we cannot offer credit towards a future class. Again, we are unable to offer refunds.