Nerdist Industries is ready to go head-to-head with such Los Angeles comedy-training institutions as The Groundlings School and The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre.
The L.A.-based content creator founded by Chris Hardwick will celebrate the opening of the Nerdist School with a marathon of laughs this Saturday, March 28. The Nerdist Stage, located at 7518 W. Sunset Blvd., will host a 12-hour comedy showcase called the “1st Annual School Assembly.”
The free event runs from noon until midnight and will be followed by a DJ dance party for all guests and performers. The showcase also will have multiple food trucks to fuel attendees throughout the day.
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“This 12-hour improv marathon is many kinds of exciting, mixing some of the all-time greats with amazing new talents taking their first steps into a long journey of improv,” says Nerdist School workshop leader and Veep actor Ptolemy Slocum.
The event marks the grand opening of the Nerdist School, which will offer classes in improv, sketch writing and storytelling. Instructors include various actors, writers, and directors, such as Derek Miller (Scrubs, Drunk History), Rebekka Johnson (director of Paul F. Tompkins‘ Speakeasy Web series) and Monika Smith (Comedy Bang! Bang!, Starz’s Blunt Talks).
“I’ve taught improv for over a decade, and I have never been as inspired or liberated as with what we have built at Nerdist School,” says Miller. “We created an environment to focus on individual voices and tailor each class to the timbre of its students’ talent. ”
Unlike many other comedy training centers, the Nerdist School was created in Los Angeles and is currently exclusive to the area.
Said Hardwick, “The Nerdist Showroom has spent the last several years cultivating a wonderful community of performers and comedy fans to become one of the top venues in Los Angeles. The goal of the school will be to broaden that community to give young comedy minds the tools they need to leap from audience to stage!”
Hardwick founded Nerdist Industries as a multi-platform creator of genre and pop culture content.
It has a strong online presence at Nerdist.com, a popular YouTube channel, and a podcast network that often produces live shows based on the Nerdist Stage.
Nerdist has created content for television including @midnight with Chris Hardwick on Comedy Central and All Star Celebrity Bowling.
The organization has also developed the Nerdist Alliance, a community of partnerships with talented YouTube stars. The Nerdist School is the most recent expansion of the Nerdist brand.
