Improv Conference New Orleans: A Festival of Ideas

Eschewing form, making your own way—improvisation is at the heart of New Orleans' music as well as its literature, theatre, food, visual art, and storytelling. And it's the core of the Improvisation Conference New Orleans. For three days, speakers from various mediums will explore patterns and effects in New Orleans' ongoing pressure on the rest of the world to just let loose. Direct inspiration for the conference comes from Randy Fertel, scholar/philanthropist/founder of the Fertel Foundation and author of A Taste for Chaos: The Art of Literary Improvisation as well as the conference's organizer.

Head to the Louis J. Roussel Performance Hall at Loyola on Friday evening for a special guest presentation by the celebrated environmental journalist and New York Times bestselling author Michael Pollan and Mark Plotkin, President of the Amazon Conservation Team. Moderated by author Randy Fertel, the two will present a discussion on "Improvisation and Creativity." 

 The Jazz Museum hosts Saturday's full day of sessions, discussions, and performances, with a Saturday night interview of illustrator Jules Feiffer by New Orleans author Michael Tiesserand at Tulane's Freeman Auditorium. Sunday, don't miss film screenings, live music, and youth workshops at the New Orleans Museum of Art and the Louisiana Children's Museum.

$15 for special presentations; conference keynote and Saturday sessions are free, with first-come, first served seating. Pre-registration is strongly recommended for most events at improvconferencenola.com.