Weekend Of Love at The Magnetic Theatre, Feb. 14-15

The Magnetic Theatre’s Weekend Of Love will premiere February 14th and 15th, featuring The Great American Strip Off: Valentine’s Edition and The Heartbreak Armando: Improv Workshops + Show!

Half-price champagne all-weekend long for this chance to kick back, relax and fall in love with these funny and risky performers.

The Great American Strip-Off: Valentine’s Edition will feature two back-to-back burlesque/pole dancing/improv shows on February 14th conceived and directed by the sensationally talented Boo Velvet and co-hosted with acclaimed improvisor and performer, George Awad. Boo Velvet, alter ego Kathleen Hahn, owner of Danceclub Asheville, is a seasoned dancer and comedic burlesque performer in love with improv and exciting an audience. She will tease and tantalize as she shows off her beautiful and talented cast. George Awad can be found on many stages in the Asheville area performing improv and sketch comedy. It’s burlesque! It’s improv! It’s loads of laughs! It’s fierce competition! It’s sexy, ridiculousness like you’ve never seen before. It’s The Great American Strip-Off: Valentine’s Day Edition!

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Shows at 7 pm and 10 pm. Tickets are $20.00, with a $3.00 service fee, and can be purchased at www.themagnetictheatre.org

The Heartbreak Armando: Improv Workshops + Show! features four events throughout the day on February 15th. The day begins with three workshop offerings taught by area improv instructors Jillian Burfete (teaching Getting to the <3 of the Matter), Family Dinner members Katie Jones, Kelsey Rosen and Marlene Thompson (teaching Relationship 101 or How to Work as an Ensemble), and Harrison Brookie (teaching Using True Stories to Created Improvised Comedy) of Alchemy Comedy. The evening will culminate in an improv show featuring local troupes Secret Handshake and Family Dinner, followed by the The Heartbreak Armando, featuring the improvised stories of audience members’ failed attempts at love.

Workshop tickets are $27.00 each, plus a $3.00 service fee.

Show tickets are $12.00 each, plus a $3.00 service fee. A pass for all three workshops and the show is only $80.00!

Tickets for all events can be purchased at www.themagnetictheatre.org

Workshop Information

Getting to the <3 of the Matter: Using true listening and gift giving through the Meisner technique to endow your scenes with immediate meaning and urgency. Dave Pasquesi says, “True listening is the ability to be changed.” In Getting to the Heart of the Matter we focus on the most obvious, and perhaps the most intricate tenet of improv: listening. Using Meisner technique, we will get a little deeper, right away. Let’s figure out how to endow your scenes with immediate meaning and urgency so that you’ve got somewhere to go! By listening with all your energy, being present and giving gifts, you will find your scenes full of information, with having had to create nothing. This is the truth in comedy that you hear people talking about. It’s easier than you think and more powerful than you thought! See you there, young grasshopper. Instructor: Jillian Burfete

2:30–4:30 p.m. Relationship 101: Working As An Ensemble
Come work with the members of Family Dinner, Asheville’s only all-female improv troupe, to learn techniques for deeper listening and cultivating trust within group scenework. Learn scene forms that accommodate larger group scenes, without losing intimacy and connection between its members. Learn to incorporate subtext, character asides, and pattern recognition, all while making your fellow players look good. A team is more than just a sum of its members: it’s about the dynamic they build that is unique to that ensemble. Instructors: Katie Jones, Kelsey Rosen and Marlene Thompson

5:30–7:30 p.m. Using True Stories to Created Improvised Comedy
The term ‘alchemy’ means to create something special out of nothing. In this workshop Alchemy Comedy Theater founder Harrison Brookie will keep you on your feet as you walk through the steps of using true personal stories to create improv comedy. We’ll go through the basic Harold skills needed, then apply them to the well-known Armando Diaz form. For almost a decade Harrison has been performing in some version of a storytelling inspired improv show. He is currently on the cast of Alchemy’s longest running show, Local Legends. After the workshop, you can catch Harrison and a crew of local improvisers putting this form on stage right here at The Magnetic Theatre! Instructor: Harrison Brookie

9 p.m. The Magnetic Theatre Presents: The Heartbreak Armando
Join renowned founder of Greenville’s Alchemy Theatre, Harrison Brookie, as he hosts The Heartbreak Armando, a theatrical form where audience members tell stories of love lost, heartache or just bad dates which will inspire made-up-on-the-spot scenes by some of the area’s best improvisors. Don’t miss out on this fun night of comedy because, as is often true of love, it will be fleeting. Opening the show will be Asheville’s ONLY all-female improv troupe, Family Dinner, and local improv dynamos, Secret Handshake. Don’t let heartbreak pass you by!