The Instructor
Linda Kellogg Fulton
In
1973, Linda
Fulton
discovered her love of improv when she was 14 years old in her home town
of
San Francisco
.
Improv was still a new art
form, but Linda intensified her studies and by the time she was 16 she
began producing shows and teaching children and people with disabilities.
In 1984, Linda was accepted to
the prestigious
American
Academy
of Dramatic Arts where she graduated in 1987 and went directly back to her
first love; improvisation, performing and teaching in
Los Angeles
. Since then, her desire to teach improv to children lead her to study
with some of the world's foremost improvisation masters including;
Paul Sills – Founder of
Second City and Son of Viola Spolin creator of improvisation based on
suggestion or Improv as we know it today.
Keith Johnstone – Founder of
the revered international improv school Theatresports, author of Impro and
Impro for Storytellers and Viola Spolin’s counterpart in
Europe
. Keith is largely responsible for reintroducing improvisation to the 20th
Century, teaching such greats as Peter O’Tool, and Albert Finney.
Avery Schreiber – Improv
great and ˝ of the comedy team Burns and Schreiber who had their own
Primetime show the Burns and Schreiber Comedy Hour, as well as
being regulars on the Tonight Show, the Smothers Brothers, Ed Sullivan
Show, Flip Wilson Show, and many others.
Charna Halpern – Founder of
Improv Olympics.
Mick Napier – Founder of
Annoyance Theater
Chicago
.
Linda was proud to have been a
friend of the late Schreiber and it was during an invitation only improv
workout at Schreiber’s house that Avery recognized Linda talent, and her
passion for teaching improv to children. It was he who suggested that she
start a school for kids and with his guidance helped her to realize her
dream when Linda opened Total Improv for Kids in 1999. Since that time
Total Improv for Kids has become LA's premier improv school specifically
for kids, and in 2003 Linda founded a permanent home for Total Improv for
Kids and named it the Avery Schreiber Theater in honor of her late
friend and mentor.
Total
Improv for Kids is thrilled to be a recipient of a California Arts
Council "Artists in Schools Program Planning Grant." We will
be planning a residency for the children at the Vaughn Charter Middle
School.