Team Building in Phoenix:
What two hours of improv does to a team
Two movie executives loved everything. Every idea, every page, every pitch: loved it. They also had no plan to buy any of it. Jamie D. and Sarah D. played those execs at a Main Street Comedy Show this spring, and the audience laughed the way people laugh at a meeting they sat through last Tuesday.
It is early November, which is when the search for team building in Phoenix picks up. Year-end parties, January kickoffs, the offsite somebody promised in August. Most of those plans share one weak spot: the agreement is fake. Everyone nods, nobody builds. Improv trains the real version, and it has a name you may have heard. It is called “Yes, And”: you accept what your partner offers, then add something of your own. A private workshop at the Neighborhood Comedy Theatre in downtown Mesa, AZ puts your team through that habit for 60, 90 or 180 minutes. Nobody performs for an audience. Nobody has to be funny.
Team Building in Phoenix, Minus the Trust Falls
The workshops are built from games, and the games are built so that listening is the only way to win. Here is a common one.
Two coworkers plan a fictional company party, one sentence at a time. Every sentence has to begin with “Yes, and.” You cannot ignore your partner’s sentence, and you cannot quietly replace it with your own plan. The room gets silly in about forty seconds, which is the point.
Silly is useful. Once a team has built a ridiculous party together, a real planning meeting feels less loaded. People hear a half-formed idea as material instead of a mistake. The loudest voice and the quietest voice get the same job: make the other person’s sentence better.
What you notice afterward is who waited for a turn to talk and who built on what was said. The movie execs in that Main Street scene were the opposite game: all “yes,” no “and.” A good workshop lets a team feel the difference in their own hands, then keeps playing until the “and” becomes the default.
Plan It Now, Hold It When You Are Ready
Booking early is the practical move for a year-end or January date. A workshop can run at our theatre or at your office anywhere in the East Valley or the greater Phoenix area, sized to your group and what you want out of it: sharper communication, tighter collaboration, or an offsite people do not dread. We covered the two-hour format in our July team-building post. The rules there still apply: nobody performs, nobody has to be funny, and everybody goes back to work a little better at hearing each other.
Want a low-pressure test first? Nobody on your team has to commit to a full day to find out whether improv suits them. Join a one-day workshop on the calendar, or spend a Friday evening at a show. Then bring the team that you would otherwise drag to a trivia night. Browse everything open to the public on our classes page.
THIS WEEK AT NCT — Downtown Mesa, AZ
Tickets → (shows) · Sign up → (classes and jams)
ON STAGE
Thu, Nov 5 · 7:00 PM — The Bucket of Doom — Zac Landis (box), Abbey Prochaska (voice), with Bob Caplan, Nate McWhortor, Sarah Christman, Dorian Lenz, Anna-Maria Hernandez, Ninnetia Woodward and Thomas Arnold. Tonight.
Fri, Nov 6 · 6:00 PM — The Musical Improv Jam — pay-what-you-want jam, hosted by Sarah Christman.
Fri, Nov 6 · 7:30 PM — The Improvised Musical w/ Shulie Cowen — Jordan Collier, Mallory Roeder, Sarah Christman, Jordan Blanton, Dorian Lenz, Chad Lawson and JC Carlson.
Sat, Nov 7 · 6:00 PM — Scene Lab — pay-what-you-want jam, hosted by Jenna Jacobsen.
Sat, Nov 7 · 7:30 PM — The Main Street Comedy Show with Shulie Cowen — Jenna Jacobsen, Kevin Reagan, Kristina Lenz, Dorian Lenz, Joe Malone, JC Carlson, Chad Lawson and Bonnie Hawkes.
Sat, Nov 7 · 9:30 PM — Indie Team Night — Steve & Molly, Irish Goodbye and Two Hops This Time, hosted by Jenna Jacobsen.
Thu, Nov 12 · 7:00 PM — Teachers Show — Nate McWhortor, Jenna Jacobsen, Mallory Roeder, Kevin Reagan and Dorian Lenz.
Fri, Nov 13 · 6:00 PM — Genre Jam — pay-what-you-want jam, hosted by Dorian Lenz.
Fri, Nov 13 · 7:30 PM — The Main Street Comedy Show featuring singer-songwriter Dani — Jenna Jacobsen, Kevin Reagan, Kristina Lenz, Nate McWhortor, Dorian Lenz, Robert Fata, Heather Morton and Derrick Tesson.
Fri, Nov 13 · 9:30 PM — One Knight Adventure — JC Carlson, Derrick Tesson, David Westlake, Dorian Lenz and Shea Ingram.
Sat, Nov 14 · 6:00 PM — The Neighborhood Improv Jam — pay-what-you-want jam, hosted by Joe Malone.
Sat, Nov 14 · 7:30 PM — The Competitive Comedy Show — Izzy Schreck, Amy Wegner, Joe Malone, David Gilmore, Don Jamesen, Jordan Collier, Thomas Arnold and Mallory Roeder.
Sat, Nov 14 · 9:30 PM — Half Written — an 18-person cast including Bonnie Hawkes, Dorian Lenz, Shannon Mauck, Jenna Jacobsen, Joe Malone and Mallory Roeder.
IN THE CLASSROOM
Characters head to toe w/ Shulie Cowen — Sunday, November 8, 10:00 AM. A one-day workshop in downtown Mesa.
Advanced Musical Improv with Shulie Cowen — Saturday, November 7, 10:00 AM. One-day workshop.
Intro to Improv (Level One) — starts Tuesday, December 15, 7:00 PM, taught by Jenna Jacobsen.
For your team: private improv workshops, 60, 90 or 180 minutes, at the theatre or your office. Ask about a date
Where is NCT located?
NCT shares a space with The Sacred Pint Taproom in Downtown Mesa.
When head in and look for the secret door marked with our logo.
You’re exactly where you need to be!”
Can we get tickets at the door?
Yup, but its always way faster to buy them online.
Is there a drink minimum?
Nope, there is no drink minimum but supporting the sacred pint would be cool.
Where do we park?
There are over 5,000 FREE parking spaces available in Downtown Mesa every day!
Is there places to eat downtown?
Heck Ya! Here are some awesome restaurants in our Neighborhood.
Wanna learn more about NCT?
Check out all the cool live shows and Improv classes we do.