Rolland Lopez – Teacher, Coach, Surprisingly good dancer…
His core tenets when teaching is to fully encourage while helping to guide and push students one small step outside of their comfort zone. Students have to reach but it’s within their grasp and that way, learning and incorporation of concepts can be easily done.
The exercises in his workshops are created with the real world (or stage) in mind. Players walk away being able to immediately use the concepts introduced the next time they’re on stage.
He is currently a faculty member at the Westside Comedy Theatre and is based in Los Angeles. He’s available to coach throughout the city as well as online and can also come to your town!
Contact him at 310-310-0655 or rolland@rollininriches.com
Rolland is also available to coach teams privately, whether in-person or virtually.
He can coach based on what you want to work on, can teach one of the workshops listed here, or can assess at the beginning of the coaching session and base the exercises on that assessment.
Rolland travels and enjoys meeting improvisors all over the world. Contact for more info at 310-310-0655 or rolland@rollininriches.com
Click on the different workshops below for more detailed information on the individual classes.
- Keep Your Eyes OFF the Road!
- Those darn first 3 lines...
- Culture of Trust
- Improv for Voice Actors
- Salsa Dancing
What do I say or do next?
That’s a common question in improv, and often, we look at the road ahead to try and figure it out. But the road ahead isn’t written yet – so we end up inventing or focusing on plot. We don’t want to end up writing in our head and hoping our partners can read our minds!!! That takes the joy out of the collaboration and creation that makes improv so fulfilling! (not to mention, that it’s just hard!)
This workshop teaches students that to move forward in a scene it is EASIER TO LOOK BACK on what you and your partner have already created and pull from there. To be truly “in the moment” in a scene, you can’t look down the road and ask where it’s going…you can only create with your partner and when the scene is over look back and marvel at where you ended up. So, keep your eyes off the road!
“Excellent workshop for navigating with simplicity in the chaotic world of improv.”
– Jennine A.
Improvisor, Voodoo Comedy Playhouse
Ever watch experienced teams and from the very get-go they seem to be on the same page and playing together…(as opposed to trying to figure it out and hoping the scene eventually emerges)?
It is VERY possible to get on the same page as your scene partner in those first couple of lines and this workshop will give you the tools to be able to do that.
“The exercises helped me get out of my head and into the emotional truth of my character’s POV and the relationship with my scene partner.”
– Nicole S.
Improvisor, M.i’s Westside Comedy Theater
Rollin’ In Riches has no form when they perform. They Yes And everything and a form emerges. They’ve performed mono scenes, multiple disparate scenes, forms resembling Close Quarters, Harolds, Armandos, Wagon Wheels & anything else you could think of. In this workshop they will show you how to create a culture of trust, how to take Yes And to the next level, how to make rapid-fire moves and risks that are organic to the scene/show and how to ultimately follow the show wherever the SHOW goes without judgment, worry about making the wrong move or concern for laughs.
“I not only left the class feeling like I was a better Improviser, but that I am going to be a much better partner.”
– Elle B.
Improvisor, California Comedy Festival 2016
This workshop combines Rolland’s 10 years of professional voice-over (and even longer of study) and his 10 years of improv.
Improve your ad-libbing and feel confident knowing you can:
- add to the copy without detracting
- make dialogues and single-person copy seem more natural and conversational
- take patterns already written into the copy farther
- and improvise fully when only bare bones and bullet points are provided instead of a fleshed out script.
Note: This workshop can be taught virtually in addition to in-person and is taught often throughout the year. To receive information about the next virtual class, email Rolland at rolland@rollininriches.com
What? Why is this here?? You do an improv comedy show!
Yeah, that’s true. But, when I moved to Los Angeles just before the year 2000, I relocated for 3 reasons: 1) My 2 best friends lived in LA 2) To pursue a career in voiceover and 3) The salsa dancing was better in Los Angeles than San Francisco. That’s right…one of my main reasons of moving to LA was to salsa dance…
Once I was introduced to ballroom dance in college, I was hooked with dancing. I continued to study throughout all my years there and then, when I lived in Orange County for a brief time, studied ballroom and competed (amateur status). One day, I was invited to a salsa club with friends and the moment I saw people moving to the Latin beats, I said “well, there goes ballroom!”
Once I moved to Los Angeles, I became an obsessive salsa dancer: dancing 5 nights a week, taking as many classes in the same timeframe, scheduling my vacations around salsa events, travelling to Puerto Rico to dance at the Puerto Rico Salsa Congress, collecting as much salsa instructional media as I could. For the first 4 years in my apartment, I had NO FURNITURE in the living room so I could use the room only as a dance floor!
I’ve taught salsa to people at corporate events, to friends, to improv students and to other dancers.
If you want to learn how to dance salsa, or want to hold a salsa dance class event with friends or work or even a social event in your theatre, I would be glad to share my love of this partner dance with you.
Unlike a lot of other classes, this class can be for AS MANY PEOPLE AS CAN FIT (and move) IN THE VENUE!