CANCELED: Living Gallery: Don Waisanen

After careful consideration of the news regarding Coronavirus (COVID-19), Gibney has decided to cancel this event. This is a difficult decision to make, but during this time we need to prioritize the health and safety of our community and our staff. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Improv Comedy for Democracy

This highly-interactive, improvised comedy performance will construct an entertaining space for exploring new theatrical applications. With several improvisers from across NYC, and a prelude to the forthcoming book, Improv for Democracy, it will also surface a deeper theme—given the social and political crises of our time, improv offers some new approaches for bridging differences, crafting connections, and improving communities from the ground up. Improv is now being used around the world to train people to engage with one another in ways that promote empathy and understanding—all skills our world urgently needs.

ABOUT DON WAISANEN

Don Waisanen is a professor at the City University of New York, and has been researching, teaching, and performing about new forms of civic engagement and public communication for nearly two decades. In Los Angeles and New York, he trained and performed in improv and sketch comedy, and is currently a cast member of the National Comedy Theater and Comedysportz in New York City. He is the author of three books, including the forthcoming Improv for Democracy: How to Bridge Differences and Develop the Communication and Leadership Skills Our World Needs. He is also the Founder and President of Communication Upward (www.commupward.com), an adjunct lecturer at Columbia University and New York University, and received a Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School.

Living Gallery, a monthly program curated by Eva Yaa Asantewaa and produced in the Gibney Gallery, presents live performance of storytelling, monologues, spoken word, stand-up, or creative talks.

Each performance—free and open to the public—runs 30-45 minutes, usually scheduled within the hour before a dance concert presented in Gibney’s Theater. We welcome you to attend both events and enjoy a wide range of expressive artists.

ACCESSIBILITY

Gibney 280 Broadway is accessible via elevator from the main entrance at 53A Chambers Street.

We welcome the opportunity to make this event more accessible. Please refrain from wearing scented products, so that people with chemical sensitivities can join us. Please request ASL interpreting, audio description, or open captioning 30 days before the event or submit other requests by completing our Access Requests and Inquiries Form or calling 646.837.6809 (Voice only).