About Me
Mike Morrell, B.S.B.A, has been acting, improvising and training others in the Greater Boston Area for over a decade. He has filmed over 100 commercials and training videos, with roles as varied and diverse as bad nurse, bad paper shredder and bad employee. You may have seen him recently next to Denzel Washington in 2014's The Equalizer or as the host of Waldentv.com. He has performed improv and standup all over Boston, NY and L.A. In addition to training comedians, Mike uses his business degree from Georgetown University and his years of sales experience to help business people connect better with their teams and their clients. Mike is working with a small agency to publish his first book. For other information, see below or ask!
Acting
Comedy
Second City
Improv Boston
ImprovAsylum
IOWEST
UCB
The PIT
Dublin Improv Festival
Alaska Improv Festival
And more...
Coaching
M'Dici
Short Shorts
Green Means Go
Ghost Logic
The Darlings
Danger Stranger
And also 1-on-1 Improv training if requested
Corporate Training
TESTIMONIALS
We brought in Mike Morrell to loosen up our sales staff and teach the fundamentals of improv (listening skills, conversational abilities, etc.), and boy did he deliver! Mike has an amazing ability to detect the mood and energy of the group and to tailor his drills and exercises to precisely what we need. He even turned our surliest employee into a smiling, laughing machine. His improv instruction each week provides us with the spark we need to get into the office and get our jobs done well. I highly recommend any business looking for a boost to look no further, and to hire Mike ASAP!
Dan Dropkin-Frank, Package Sales Manager
“Our entire team loved Mike’s improv workshop! Mike made everyone - even our shyest introverts! - feel completely comfortable from the moment we began. It was fast-paced, fun and very high energy, and a solid lesson or takeaway was highlighted after every exercise we did. We would highly recommend Mike’s workshops to any team!”
Maureen O'Grady Condon, Principal
Mike Morrell was my Improv 201 teacher a few years ago. I loved his style immediately as it was encouraging but also no nonsense. Today, I work with Mike in 2-3 person coaching sessions. Mike has a talent for walking the fine line between helpful, positive feedback but also giving it to you straight. As someone who values their time, I appreciate how little he sugar coats things. I also know he's working with a number of students at any given time but he always remembers the things I'm personally working on. By meeting with him regularly for workshops, he's able to see my progress and help me when I get stuck. Really, he's just the best. I've noticed a drastic improvement in my confidence and skills since working with him."
-Liz Roderick, Mainstage, TourCo, ImprovBoston
Mike Morrell has had a huge impact on my comedy career. Since meeting Mike in my Improv 201 class he has continually pushed me and supported me as a performer. His feedback is honest; he always told his classes that the feedback that he gives is the feedback he wishes he would have received back when he started. He is a very talented performer and an excellent director. He emphasizes the power of playing positive, establishing relationships, heightening, and finding the game. After a scene, he has instant feedback and always has ideas to improve the scene. He is very good at understanding his performers strengths and weaknesses and also tailors his communication style to each performer. He is constantly challenging you, but only because he genuinely cares; he's your number one fan. Lastly, he's eco-friendly and uses a small white board to take notes, so basically he not only cares about your future but the world's.
- Natalie Wadia, Ghost Logic, Short Shorts, ImprovBoston
Mike's teaching style is unlike that of any other improv coach or teacher I've had to date. I especially appreciate his critical feedback and positive attitude the combination of which helps to motivate as well as improve his students. His constructive criticism allows you to improve while his consistent praise helps to remind you of what you excel at. I greatly admire his focus on relationships, game, and positivity. I genuinely feel that I've become a better improviser by working with him.
- Rebecca Litwack, Student, Ghost Logic, ImprovBoston
Improv, in very general terms, is the art of creating something from nothing right on the spot right there in the moment. While that generalist statement may lead you to believe that there is little preparation in the art of improv, nothing could be further from the truth. Improv takes an incredible amount of preparation and there is no better person to coach you on how to prepare than Mike Morrell.
Every show I've been cast in, every "best show I've had", and every successful new chapter of my improv career has been immediately preceded by working with Mike on getting better at improv. As a coach who is just as hard on himself as he is on his students, the results of working with Mike are almost instantly visible and certainly quantifiable.
Very simply put, if you want to get better, he'll make you better. It will be challenging, rewarding, and pay dividends.
- Padraic O'Connor, Student, ImprovBoston
Mike is a fantastic coach. I worked under this direction for two years with my group, M'Dici. His style of teaching pushed a group of 7 improvisers all to the top of their game. We performed every Friday night and always had a consistently awesome Sunday rehearsal. Mike is a fun, honest and multitalented coach that I would highly recommend for anybody looking to get to the next level in improv.
- Katie Pentedemos, M'Dici, Viceroy, ImprovBoston
Mike is an exceptionally gifted teacher, coach, and director. I met Mike in an introductory improv class, ImprovBoston's level 201, where I was constantly thankful for his capacity to read the intent behind my clumsy improv moves, and then explain how to make stronger, clearer choices. He's the best kind of challenging teacher---the kind who pushes you to your limits, and then helps you see that those weren't really limits at all. My classmates and I were very happy to be able to take one of his more advanced classes later on (level 501), and I'm thrilled to be a member of an independent team that he directs, Green Means Go. Every class and every rehearsal bring something new to challenge us as a group and as individuals, and to help us have more fun on stage. I've been teaching at the college level for fifteen years, and in the two years I've known Mike, he's taught me more about being a great teacher than I'd learned in the previous ten. The first day I met Mike, he explained to our class that he likes teaching improv because students don't just get funnier--they get better at life. He's right, and I am incredibly grateful to have worked with him!
- Jay Bardham, Ph.D., Green Means Go, ImprovBoston
I first met Mike as my level 2 improv teacher at ImprovBoston. Although I had enjoyed my level 1 class, level 2 is what really got me into improv. Mike’s critical yet positive teaching style helped me to know explicitly what I needed to work on to improve without making me feel like I wasn’t good. As a coach, Mike really fights for you. It’s very clear that he wants to see you succeed and will do whatever he can to help you get where you want to be. He not only gives constructive feedback that you can directly apply to scenes, but also, he asks what you want to work on and whatyou think you need to improve upon. This combination of active feedback along with his encouragement of self-improvement makes for an awesome coaching
experience. Finally, this may go without saying but just to be clear, working with Mike is also insanely fun!
- Rachel Rubin, M.A., Student, GhostLogic, ImprovBoston
After taking a class with Mike at Improv Boston, I knew that playing positive, was the kind of Improv I wanted to do. He was very supportive when I approached him to start an independent improv group, which he took under his wing and personal hand picked students that he felt would play well together. The group had been together for a year and are in our second run at studio 40! Mike has personally invested in each of our group members growth and development, and is the most dedicated teacher I have ever had. Working with Mike has taught me how to play positive on stage, and apply that out look to my life as well!
- Ruth Green, Green Means Go, Family Show, ImprovBoston