Free weekly workshops · Shows · Events
Give and receive the gifts of improv
Open Hand Improv is a welcoming community where people laugh, connect, take creative risks, and grow together. No experience needed. Just show up with an open hand.
What we're about
Say yes. Play together. Grow together.
We empower people through improv comedy, build meaningful community through connection and collaboration, and create welcoming spaces to give and receive the gifts of improv.
Improv teaches us to listen, to trust, and to build on each other's ideas. Those lessons don't stay on stage. They show up in our friendships, our families, our work, and our faith.
Authenticity
We embrace honesty, vulnerability, and genuine connection.
Generosity
We give and receive ideas, encouragement, and the gifts of improv.
Community
We create welcoming spaces where everyone belongs and grows together.
Creativity
We embrace imagination, spontaneity, play, and possibility.
Growth
We encourage courage, collaboration, and personal development.
Free weekly workshops
Come play with us
Our weekly workshops are free and open to first-timers and seasoned performers alike. If you've ever been nervous about speaking up, meeting new people, or being "funny," you're in exactly the right place.
- No experience needed. We start with simple games and build from there.
- A safe, judgment-free space. Mistakes are gifts, and everyone gets cheered on.
- Real-life skills. Listening, confidence, and thinking on your feet.
- Friendships that last. You'll laugh a lot and leave with a community.
Workshop details
- When
- Tuesdays at 7:00 pm
- Where
- North Hills Church
1717 N Mountain Ave.
Claremont, CA 91711
Get directions - Who
- Everyone. No experience needed.
- Cost
- Free
Please check our Meetup page to confirm there's a workshop that week before you come out.
See this week on MeetupTuesday nights
This is what it looks like
Shows & Workshops
Bring Open Hand Improv to your group
Churches, schools, businesses, and nonprofits invite us for a night of laughter or a hands-on session that brings people closer. Every event is shaped around your people and your goals.
An improv show
A fully improvised performance built on your audience's suggestions. Great for fundraisers, youth nights, banquets, retreats, and community events. Clean, family-friendly, and different every time.
A hands-on workshop
Your group learns by playing. Improv games that build communication, trust, and collaboration, with time to reflect on what it means for your team, ministry, or classroom.
Meet your guide
Tim Cress
Tim has been performing improv since 2002, when he started with Bay Area Theatersports in San Francisco. Two years later he became a pastor, and he has been bringing the two together ever since.
Today Tim is the Lead Pastor of North Hills Church in Claremont, California, where Open Hand Improv began. He believes the heart of improv (listening well, saying "yes, and," and making your partner look good) is also a beautiful picture of how we're meant to live and love one another.