Stephen has been studying and working in improvisation since 2001 when he was introduced to the theater games of Viola Spolin. From 2006 to 2018 he continued his improv education, while living in New York City, taking classes at The Peoples Improv Theater (PIT) and studying with some of the great improv teachers from around the country: Michael Gellman (The Second City), Gary Austin (Founder of the Groundlings), David Razowsky (David Razowsky Workshops), Scotty Watson (The Second City), Jeff Michalski (The Second City), Jeff Wirth (Interactive Play Lab) and many others.

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He is a former member of “The Panel” for The Armory House Teams at The Tank and was the Artistic Director of Workshop Facilities for the AND Theatre Company. In 2019 he founded Stephen Thornton Improv.

 

As an improviser he has performed on many NYC stages including: The PIT (Striker & Underground), PIT Loft, Magnet, UCB, UCBeast, The Tank, Creek and Cave and others. And in Improv Festivals: The Del Close Marathon, NYC Improv Fest, IF Cincy, We’re Trying Here Fest, and others.

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Since 2010, he has been coaching improv teams and teaching Improvisational Theatre workshops in NYC and abroad in Lisbon, Portugal. Aside from his own independent workshops he has taught improvisation workshops for: The Armory (NYC), AND Theater Company (NYC), The Treehouse Theater (NYC), Teens PACT (NYC), Community Healthcare Network (NYC), Wix (NYC), ACT: Escola de Actores (PT) and Unbabel (PT).  

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In 2019, he taught and performed at his first European Improv Festival "BIG IF 6" in Barcelona.

 

Since the beginning of the craziness of 2020 he has been teaching online improvisation workshops to students on 5 continents. He currently lives in Lisbon, Portugal with his wife Inês.