Improv Community Guidelines
Jersey Creative Lab wants every workshop to feel welcoming, playful, and supportive. By participating in a JCL class, workshop, performance, social event, or related communication, students agree to follow these guidelines.
Respect Others and Their Boundaries
Treat fellow students, instructors, staff, venue partners, and guests with kindness and respect. Improv requires people to take risks, make mistakes, and trust one another, so listen generously and support your scene partners. Everyone has different physical, emotional, and conversational boundaries. Physical contact should never be assumed, and students may decline or modify an exercise without having to explain why.
Do not pressure anyone to participate in a scene, activity, topic, social gathering, photo, recording, or conversation that makes them uncomfortable. Friendships and connections often develop naturally in our workshops, and that is part of what makes the community special. However, students should not make others feel pursued, pressured, or uncomfortable. Repeated romantic or sexual advances after someone has declined or shown a lack of interest are not acceptable.
Harassment, discrimination, bullying, intimidation, threats, targeted humiliation, or intentionally dangerous conduct are not permitted.
Support the Learning Environment
Arrive on time, participate to the best of your ability, and allow the instructor to facilitate the class.
Avoid dominating discussions, repeatedly interrupting, disrupting exercises, mocking or criticizing classmates, or otherwise behaving in a way that prevents others from learning or participating comfortably.
Unless invited by the instructor as part of an exercise, students should not coach or give unsolicited feedback to classmates.
Follow the instructor’s safety directions and the venue’s rules, and do not attend or participate while impaired in a way that affects your ability to behave safely and respectfully.
Do not copy, distribute, teach, sell, record, or publicly post JCL curriculum or class materials without permission.
These expectations apply during classes, rehearsals, showcases, post-workshop gatherings, and other JCL-related activities.
Respect JCL’s Curriculum and Community
JCL invests significant time and resources in developing its workshops, curriculum, instructor relationships, partnerships, and community. Students are welcome to take what they learn and use those skills in their own creative work, but may not copy, reproduce, distribute, sell, or represent JCL curriculum, lesson plans, class materials, or workshop formats as their own.
Students may not use JCL classes, student rosters, communication channels, events, or other JCL resources to recruit students, instructors, staff, venue partners, or collaborators for another business, class, workshop, or competing program without JCL’s permission.
Nothing in these guidelines is intended to prevent students from independently performing, creating, teaching, collaborating, or participating in the broader comedy and performing arts community.
Protect Privacy and Communication Channels
Do not share another student’s personal stories, contact information, photos, videos, social media accounts, or other private information without permission.
Do not use student contact information or class communication channels for unsolicited sales, recruiting, self-promotion, or repeated personal outreach.
Do not photograph, film, or record students, instructors, classes, exercises, or performances without approval.
JCL may occasionally take approved promotional photos or videos. Students will have an opportunity to communicate if they do not wish to appear.
Students may create their own unofficial group chats, but participation must be voluntary. JCL is not responsible for unofficial student-created groups, although conduct within those groups may be addressed if it affects the workshop or community.
Level 2 Attendance & Graduation Show
Level 2 is designed as a progressive workshop, with later classes building on material developed earlier in the course and preparing students to perform together in the graduation show.
To participate in the Level 2 graduation show:
Students must attend at least 4 of the 6 classes.
Students must attend at least 2 of the final 3 classes, as these sessions include important preparation for the graduation show.
Arriving 20 or more minutes after the scheduled start time will count as an absence for that class.
Students who do not meet these attendance requirements are welcome to attend classes but will not be eligible to perform in the graduation show.
Raising Concerns
Students may bring concerns to their instructor or contact JCL directly.
Reports will be handled as thoughtfully and discreetly as reasonably possible. Retaliation against anyone who raises a good-faith concern is prohibited.
Depending on the circumstances, JCL may respond with redirection, a private conversation, a warning, removal from an activity, or dismissal from a workshop or the JCL community.
Serious conduct may result in immediate removal. Refunds or credits are not guaranteed when a student is removed for violating these guidelines.
Our goal is to maintain a community where people can learn, connect, take creative risks, and have fun together.