Seriously, guys. This woman, Shannon O’Neill, is one of my favorite people ever and one of my favorite improv teachers/performers. I feel sorry for anyone who has never seen this fantastic woman perform. She did so much for me to get me out of my head and to love improv.
You are wonderful, Shanon O’Neill!
20 minutes from a Times Square performance with UCB Tour Co.
The following words are not allowed to be said: all the words I use.
I had Shannon for 201, 301, and 501 (aka the best class I’ve ever taken). She is amazing, and I’m surprised she was allowed to get on a headset and do improv in front of the general public (including tweens). Shannon O’Neill is the most dangerous improviser I’ve ever seen. She’s like Wolverine.
I had Shannon for 101, 301 and 501. To this day, I think my Shannon O’Neill’s 301 remains my favorite class ever. Classmates were a big part of it (Tegart, Martin, Cutsinger and Jacobson remain fan favorites and it was the first time I thought “Wow, these dudes are going to be really good.”) but you’re seriously doing yourself a disservice if you don’t take Shannon for an upper level class. 101 O’Neill and 501 O’Neill might have the same values but are completely different beasts. On stage she is maybe the ballsiest, most fearless player I’ve seen. A+++ WOULD LEARN FROM AGAIN!!
UGH I WANT TO KICK A BABY. I had a HUGE long post about my various awesome experiences in SPO’s classes (201, 501, In A World) and it got deleted and that stupid tumblr save drafts feature didn’t work AT ALL. fuck fuck fuck.
201: god I sucked, I didn’t ‘get’ anything.
501: awesome awesome awesome class, saved me from giving up on improv. Shannon teaches you how to play better and shows what a team should feel like.
In A World: I loved my team so much - Johnny McNulty, Caitlin Tegart, Ashely Ann Hale, Hallie Haglund, Abbi Jacobsen, Curtis Retherford, Dave Bluvband (first of 2 600s we did together, I am pissed our streak ended). We ruled (we had 2 awesome shows, one ok and 1 truly terrible show, not too bad). The class was full of awesome people I feel honored to have played with. Also the class where I trained myself to not break in scenes with Paul Welsh (took 6 weeks). Included such other greats as: Chris Scott (we both signed off gchat because we didn’t want to tell the other we’d gotten in, in case the other hadn’t), Sarah Claspell, Dan Black - so many greats. <3
Shannon is the smartest teacher at UCB right now.
YEAH I SAID IT YOU WANNA FIGHT ABOUT IT?
One of the smartest, bravest, and most fun performers out there, and the captain and cornerstone of some of the smartest, bravest and most fun ensembles I’ve ever seen. I used to feel enormously intimidated around Shannon (generally I am still hopelessly shy around the alumni of my five favorite teams) so it was a huge relief, when I finally took a class with her, to find that she was an incredibly cool and supportive teacher. Shannon’s laugh is also one of my favorites to earn, because her favorite moves aren’t the ones that are perfect, they’re the ones that are surprising. If you’ve delighted Shannon, odds are you’ve done something brave and brand new, and that’s a terrific way to feel about improv.
Shannon’s 501 was the first I took and changed how I played more than any other class. FACT.
