Liz Allen!

If This Is True with Chris Hall

Liz has been coaching, directing and performing improv for the last 25 years. Liz coached the long-running IO (Improv Olympic) house teams Valhalla, Deep Schwa and Mission Improvable (founders of the Westside Comedy Theater in Santa Monica). Liz was IO’s Training Center Director for 3 years, and an ensemble level teacher for 10 years. A founding member of The IO Roadshow, Liz has taught hundreds of workshops at colleges and corporations nationwide. In 1999, 2000 & 2001 Liz won the Del Close Coach of the Year Award at IO, now called the Liz Allen Excellence in Teaching Award. In 2006, with Jimmy Carrane, Liz co-wrote the book Improvising Better (Heinemann) and co-created their popular Individual Assessment Workshop.

Liz was honored to coach The Commune, the improv ensemble in Mike Birbiglia’s 2016 feature film Don’t Think Twice. Liz mentors improv coaches at The Improv Shop in St Louis, and thanks to Skype, coaches faraway improv teams around the globe.

In 2017 Liz and her family moved back to Chicago where she continues to write and teach. She is happy to return to her alma mater, The IO Chicago, where she currently teaches Advanced Harold.

Liz is a national treasure! Give it a listen.