The CoHo Improv Accelerator
Billy Soco+Holly Mandel
An entirely curated CoHo-sted program to take your improv community, theater, or ensemble to the next level!
We’ll work with you to combine the elements that best serve your needs
Focused skill-building workshops
Performance & Analysis
Personalized coaching for individuals and groups
Teacher Development Training
Facilitated discussions for Ensemble Development
Running-a-School Toolkit
Directing Improv
Short-Form & Longform Structures
Some of the Respected Institutions Where We Have Trained, Taught….Even Founded
Billy and Holly are also the FOUNDING FACULTY of the Uptown Theater’s Improv Academy
Who This Is For:
If you run an improv school or are building a community and want to offer something deeper, more focused, and actually developmental…this is for you.
If you’re an ensemble that knows there’s another level—more connection, more clarity, more consistency—and you’re ready to get there…this is for you.
If you’re in a region without consistent access to experienced training and want to bring in outside perspective that sharpens the work…this is for you.
If you’re teaching or coaching and want better tools, clearer language, and a way to help people actually improve…this is for you.
Weekend, multi-day and recurring programs
We come to you—wherever you are.
What You Do
We help you strengthen what you’re already building. From training to performance, we support your community in doing more connected, intentional, and elevated work.
How You Do It
We help ensembles and groups of improvisers — whether they train together or come from across a region — strengthen what they’re building. Through targeted workshops, clear notes on areas for growth, new structures, and personalized coaching, participants develop more awareness, make stronger choices, and create more connected, elevated work.
How You Teach It
We help those who teach—or want to teach—do it more effectively. Participants explore how to structure exercises, give notes that land, and guide students toward stronger work. We also address side coaching, common pitfalls, and how to handle challenging moments in the room.
How You Grow It
We help your community build momentum that lasts. Participants leave with shared language, stronger habits, and a clearer standard, plus practical tools for building your school, growing your audience, and increasing engagement—so the work continues beyond the training.
Our Program Supports & Develops:
About Us
Holly Mandel
Holly has been teaching, performing, and directing improvisation and sketch comedy writing in both Los Angeles and New York City for many-a-decade. She performed as a Groundlings Main Company member for over 6 years in LA. Before leaving, she proudly created the longest-running long-form show in LA, “The Crazy Uncle Joe Show”, which you can see any Wednesday night there.
She then founded the first woman-owned and operated improv school in 2001 in New York City (Improvolution) which she ran for 23 years before selling.
Holly performs with Drew Droege in an improvised show with wigs that they cleverly called, “WigProv”. She also started THE LOWBAR improv studio in LA from 2015-2017.
She studied with the wonderful SECOND CITY director Jeff Michalski for many years and Aretha Sills (Viola Spolin’s granddaughter). She’s appeared on TV, film and countless commercials (2 of them award-winning in fact!) - all of them using a LOT of improv. She was also on the rotating sub team of improvisers for WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY? (for the one ‘girl’ slot.)
She teaches Improvisation and Sketch at PACE UNIVERSITY in NYC, creating the BFA Comedy Studies program there. She has taught at USC and UCLA, and has traveled to London, Bristol, Sydney and Melbourne to teach as well. She also started her own corporate improv training company in 2011 called iMergence.
Nerd out on Holly at hollymandel.com
Billy Soco
Billy Soco is a NYC–based actor, improv teacher, facilitator, and voice artist of Chilean and Filipino descent. He teaches in The Second City Conservatory and serves as artistic director of the Megawatt house team program at Magnet Theater, where he also teaches improv and musical improv.
Billy began performing poetry and freestyle rap in the Southeast in the early 2000s before moving to NYC, where he trained at Magnet Theater, Upright Citizens Brigade, The Second City Conservatory, and Freestyle Love Supreme Academy. His performance credits include The Armando Diaz Experience, North Coast, Baby Wants Candy, Shamilton, ComedySportz, Big Whoop, Kittyhawk, and SaltPepperKetchup. He can also be heard on the Smash Boom Best podcast and the award-winning Story Pirates Podcast.
He has taught and performed at festivals and theaters in the U.S. and internationally, including the Vancouver Improv Festival, Out of Bounds (Austin), Robin Hood International Improv Festival (UK), Teatro Lospleimovil (Chile), Improv Utopia, and Last Word Comedy Festival (VA), where he was an inaugural academy instructor. Billy is also the founding producer of Shoes Off, an all-Asian improv comedy show, and a facilitator with The Second City Works, bringing applied improv offstage to teams and organizations.
Billy aims to bring forward diverse voices in improv and his teaching emphasizes authenticity, playful exploration, and a strong ensemble mindset. More at billysoco.com
WANT TO LEARN MORE?
Fill out this form. We will be in touch pronto and get the party started!
Sample Weekend Program
UPTOWN ACADEMY
Friday Night Discussion, Show and Q &A
Kick off the weekend with a relaxed improv performance by the instructors for Academy participants, followed by a post-show Q&A discussion exploring the choices and techniques behind the work.
Saturday Intensive Training Sessions
Spend the day working in small cohorts with Billy Soco and Holly Mandel, focusing on scene work, character development, and ensemble responsiveness.
Saturday Night Performance
Participants and instructors take the stage with Billy and Holly for a public performance at the Uptown, giving students a chance to apply what they’ve been exploring in the workshops.
Sunday Teacher Training Workshop
A special session focused on the craft of teaching improv. Participants explore how to structure exercises, give effective notes, and guide students toward stronger scene work.
Sunday Coaching and Ensemble Work
The weekend concludes with focused coaching sessions designed to deepen the work from Saturday and help participants strengthen their instincts, habits, and collaborative skills as improvisers.
Sunday Uptown Ensemble Workshop
This session is for Uptown students who are interested in committing to regular performance at the Uptown as part of a Flagship Ensemble or Development Team. Participants will work together in a focused rehearsal setting, building on the weekend’s training while emphasizing consistency, group awareness, and long-form structure. This workshop also serves as an opportunity for us to identify and shape ensembles moving forward, with an expectation of ongoing rehearsal and performance commitment.