Workshops
All of Avner’s trainings will be online for the foreseeable future.
See Schedule below for upcoming workshops.
The workshop was amazing. Now everything is different on stage, it is a new feeling…wonderful.
Peter Leonhard, Germany 2006
I found that I gained more directly applicable knowledge from working with you for three or four hours than in other places where I have spent years learning.
Benjamin Corey Feinblum, Motionfest 2003
I want to thank you yet again because there has truely been a before and after and I will never be the same on stage again.
Caroline Dream, Barcelona 2006
No other workshops have given me so many directly applicable techniques to fuel the development of my art. I will be back!
Henrik Rasmussen, Sweden 2015
I learned more from your class than most of the workshops and classes I have taken in the past five years combined!
Rick Osann, high school drama techer
Eccentric Principles Online Workshop
See Schedule below for upcoming online workshops.
The workshops meet online using Zoom for six weekly 2-hour sessions.
Each of the six sessions has four components:
- A presentation by Avner based on the Eccentric Principles
- Exercises, either in the group or with a partner in a breakout room
- An assignment to prepare a short, 1-2 minute, video on a theme to be viewed by the group at the next session
- A viewing of last week’s videos with notes and comments by Avner
Each session will be recorded and will be available for review for one week.
If you are thinking of registering for one of these workshops, please look at a few of my videos on YouTube. All of the principles are derived from my performing work and you can get a sense of my approach.
Our online workshops, organized by theater schools, festivals, and former students, have had participants from 36 countries.
Interested, not Interesting
Based on the Eccentric Principles, Eccentric Performing for theater professionals is a physical approach to acting and comedy.
The workshop addresses two areas: creating rapport with the audience in the first two seconds you are on stage, and problem solving as a method of creating material for performance. After this introduction, we will explore ways of creating material and finding character. The focus is on activating the internal emotional state of the audience and helping the actor to always be interested rather than interesting.
Avner is one of the world’s leading teachers of physical comedy. He is on the permanent faculty of the Celebration Barn Theater, Maine’s International School for the Performing Arts. He has taught Eccentric Performing and Clown workshops in the US, Switzerland, France, Germany, Finland, Spain, Mexico, and Japan. Avner graduated from École Jacques Lecoq in Paris. You may even recognize him as the Jewel from the movie, The Jewel of the Nile. Avner has been performing his one-man show, Exceptions to Gravity, for over 30 years.
This intriguing workshop will give participants a firm grounding in physical comedy techniques. For the working professional this is a unique opportunity to take a fresh look at old habits and hone advanced skills.
The workshop addresses two areas: creating rapport with the audience in the first two seconds you are on stage, and problem solving as a method of creating material for performance.Schedule
Magic convention in Guatemala City: Show and workshop
January 17-19, 2024
Weekend Workshop in Los Angeles
Presented by The Clown School LA
April 20-21, 2024
Email for details: administrator@theclownschool.com
Limited number of students
LA Intensive Workshop
Presented by JJ Gym
6232 Mary Ellen Ave. Van Nuys, CA 91401
April 15-18, 2024
Email for details: Jeri at JJ Gym: jeri@kalvan.net
Limited number of students