Your browser is not optimized for viewing this website.

More information »

Allerton Park & Retreat Center

Filter by Subcategory



Allerton Programs

Improve Your Improv (Aug 28)

$25

with Kyle Tasch

Calendar Aug 28, 2025 at 6:30 pm

Experience Level: All Levels

Learn the skills of improvisation, including scene creation and team dynamics at Improve Your Improv on Thursdays, Aug 21 through Oct 2 in the Music Barn.

Kyle Tasch returns to The Farms to teach this popular course, which will be jam-packed with improvisational fun that will use both short-form games and long-form scenes in its sessions.

This will not be a place to sit down, hear lectures, and take notes, as students will be performing as much as possible! It will be a get-up-and-perform kind of class. The class will emphasize the mechanics needed to act out an entertaining and meaningful scene on the spot with no script.

Students who have already completed this class are welcome to join again. Beginners and those experienced in improv are all encouraged to join! 

$100/person for the series or $25/class. Register for the entire series by Aug 14 or one week before each subsequent class. All sales are final.

If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email Olivia Bunting at owarren@illinois.edu.

About the instructor

Kyle Tasch is an improvisor, improv teacher, filmmaker, writer, actor, comedian and musician from the Chicago suburbs. He started performing improv in 2004 and has been improvising in front of audiences regularly since 2015.

He has also taught classes both in-person and remotely at Westside Improv in Wheaton, Illinois. He performs live across the state in various comedy and music acts and has produced hundreds of videos and songs.

Improve Your Improv (Sep 4)

$25

with Kyle Tasch

Calendar Sep 4, 2025 at 6:30 pm

Experience Level: All Levels

Learn the skills of improvisation, including scene creation and team dynamics at Improve Your Improv on Thursdays, Aug 21 through Oct 2 in the Music Barn.

Kyle Tasch returns to The Farms to teach this popular course, which will be jam-packed with improvisational fun that will use both short-form games and long-form scenes in its sessions.

This will not be a place to sit down, hear lectures, and take notes, as students will be performing as much as possible! It will be a get-up-and-perform kind of class. The class will emphasize the mechanics needed to act out an entertaining and meaningful scene on the spot with no script.

Students who have already completed this class are welcome to join again. Beginners and those experienced in improv are all encouraged to join! 

$100/person for the series or $25/class. Register for the entire series by Aug 14 or one week before each subsequent class. All sales are final.

If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email Olivia Bunting at owarren@illinois.edu.

About the instructor

Kyle Tasch is an improvisor, improv teacher, filmmaker, writer, actor, comedian and musician from the Chicago suburbs. He started performing improv in 2004 and has been improvising in front of audiences regularly since 2015.

He has also taught classes both in-person and remotely at Westside Improv in Wheaton, Illinois. He performs live across the state in various comedy and music acts and has produced hundreds of videos and songs.

Improve Your Improv (Sep 11)

$25

with Kyle Tasch

Calendar Sep 11, 2025 at 6:30 pm

Experience Level: All Levels

Learn the skills of improvisation, including scene creation and team dynamics at Improve Your Improv on Thursdays, Aug 21 through Oct 2 in the Music Barn.

Kyle Tasch returns to The Farms to teach this popular course, which will be jam-packed with improvisational fun that will use both short-form games and long-form scenes in its sessions.

This will not be a place to sit down, hear lectures, and take notes, as students will be performing as much as possible! It will be a get-up-and-perform kind of class. The class will emphasize the mechanics needed to act out an entertaining and meaningful scene on the spot with no script.

Students who have already completed this class are welcome to join again. Beginners and those experienced in improv are all encouraged to join! 

$100/person for the series or $25/class. Register for the entire series by Aug 14 or one week before each subsequent class. All sales are final.

If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email Olivia Bunting at owarren@illinois.edu.

About the instructor

Kyle Tasch is an improvisor, improv teacher, filmmaker, writer, actor, comedian and musician from the Chicago suburbs. He started performing improv in 2004 and has been improvising in front of audiences regularly since 2015.

He has also taught classes both in-person and remotely at Westside Improv in Wheaton, Illinois. He performs live across the state in various comedy and music acts and has produced hundreds of videos and songs.

Improve Your Improv (Sep 18)

$25

with Kyle Tasch

Calendar Sep 18, 2025 at 6:30 pm

Experience Level: All Levels

Learn the skills of improvisation, including scene creation and team dynamics at Improve Your Improv on Thursdays, Aug 21 through Oct 2 in the Music Barn.

Kyle Tasch returns to The Farms to teach this popular course, which will be jam-packed with improvisational fun that will use both short-form games and long-form scenes in its sessions.

This will not be a place to sit down, hear lectures, and take notes, as students will be performing as much as possible! It will be a get-up-and-perform kind of class. The class will emphasize the mechanics needed to act out an entertaining and meaningful scene on the spot with no script.

Students who have already completed this class are welcome to join again. Beginners and those experienced in improv are all encouraged to join! 

$100/person for the series or $25/class. Register for the entire series by Aug 14 or one week before each subsequent class. All sales are final.

If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email Olivia Bunting at owarren@illinois.edu.

About the instructor

Kyle Tasch is an improvisor, improv teacher, filmmaker, writer, actor, comedian and musician from the Chicago suburbs. He started performing improv in 2004 and has been improvising in front of audiences regularly since 2015.

He has also taught classes both in-person and remotely at Westside Improv in Wheaton, Illinois. He performs live across the state in various comedy and music acts and has produced hundreds of videos and songs.

Trees, Shrubs, and Vines at Allerton

$45

with Fran Harty

Calendar Sep 20, 2025 at 10 am, runs for 2 weeks

Experience Level: Beginner

Learn to identify trees and other woody plants in the forest at Trees, Shrubs, and Vines of Allerton on Saturdays, Sept. 20 (in The Studio) and Sept. 27 (at the McDonald Family Trailhead) from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

In the first class of this two-part course, instructor Fran Harty of the Land Conservation Foundation will teach students how to use leaf, twig, fruit and bark characteristics to identify trees, shrubs and woody vines at the Park. Students will also spend time outside to apply what was learned.

Class on Sept. 27 will be spent outside on the McDonald Family Trailsidentifying trees, shrubs and woody vines. (In case of rain the class will be held in the Music Barn.)

$45/person*. Registration will close Sept. 12 or when capacity is reached. All sales are final.

*Students should dress for hiking/the weather and bring a water bottle, bug spray and snacks. Binoculars are encouraged.

If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email owarren@illinois.edu.

By attending, you consent to your image being used in Allerton marketing, social media and publications. Please alert the photographer or videographer if you do not want your image taken.

About the instructor

Fran Harty has taught dendrology at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale and similar classes for Allerton Park Corps of Discovery in 2009 and the Illinois Audubon Society in 2015. He currently works with the Land Conservation Foundation.

Improve Your Improv (Sep 25)

$25

with Kyle Tasch

Calendar Sep 25, 2025 at 6:30 pm

Experience Level: All Levels

Learn the skills of improvisation, including scene creation and team dynamics at Improve Your Improv on Thursdays, Aug 21 through Oct 2 in the Music Barn.

Kyle Tasch returns to The Farms to teach this popular course, which will be jam-packed with improvisational fun that will use both short-form games and long-form scenes in its sessions.

This will not be a place to sit down, hear lectures, and take notes, as students will be performing as much as possible! It will be a get-up-and-perform kind of class. The class will emphasize the mechanics needed to act out an entertaining and meaningful scene on the spot with no script.

Students who have already completed this class are welcome to join again. Beginners and those experienced in improv are all encouraged to join! 

$100/person for the series or $25/class. Register for the entire series by Aug 14 or one week before each subsequent class. All sales are final.

If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email Olivia Bunting at owarren@illinois.edu.

About the instructor

Kyle Tasch is an improvisor, improv teacher, filmmaker, writer, actor, comedian and musician from the Chicago suburbs. He started performing improv in 2004 and has been improvising in front of audiences regularly since 2015.

He has also taught classes both in-person and remotely at Westside Improv in Wheaton, Illinois. He performs live across the state in various comedy and music acts and has produced hundreds of videos and songs.

Basket Weaving: Lunch Tote

$90

with Bonnie Rideout

Calendar Sep 26, 2025 at 10 am

Experience Level: Any

Learn to weave a special basket at Basket Weaving: Lunch Tote on Friday, September 26 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Studio.

Instructor Bonnie Rideout will share information about twining, how to start and stop a weave and weaving with round reed as students create their own unique basket!

$90/person*, Register by Sept 12. All sales are final.

Learn more about the space where your course will take place here. If you will need disability-related accommodations in order to participate, please email owarren@illinois.edu.

By attending, you consent to your image being used in Allerton marketing, social media and publications. Please alert the photographer or videographer if you do not want your image taken.

About the instructor

Bonnie Rideout wover her first basket in 1994 and quickly caught the "basket bug." She created a business--Bonnie's Baskets in Decatur--in 2006 to teach others to weave. She is also a traveling instructor and has taught weaving in 18 states. Find out more about Bonnie on her website, Facebook, Instagram and Etsy pages. 

Improve Your Improv (Oct 2)

$25

with Kyle Tasch

Calendar Oct 2, 2025 at 6:30 pm

Experience Level: All Levels

Learn the skills of improvisation, including scene creation and team dynamics at Improve Your Improv on Thursdays, Aug 21 through Oct 2 in the Music Barn.

Kyle Tasch returns to The Farms to teach this popular course, which will be jam-packed with improvisational fun that will use both short-form games and long-form scenes in its sessions.

This will not be a place to sit down, hear lectures, and take notes, as students will be performing as much as possible! It will be a get-up-and-perform kind of class. The class will emphasize the mechanics needed to act out an entertaining and meaningful scene on the spot with no script.

Students who have already completed this class are welcome to join again. Beginners and those experienced in improv are all encouraged to join! 

$100/person for the series or $25/class. Register for the entire series by Aug 14 or one week before each subsequent class. All sales are final.

If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email Olivia Bunting at owarren@illinois.edu.

About the instructor

Kyle Tasch is an improvisor, improv teacher, filmmaker, writer, actor, comedian and musician from the Chicago suburbs. He started performing improv in 2004 and has been improvising in front of audiences regularly since 2015.

He has also taught classes both in-person and remotely at Westside Improv in Wheaton, Illinois. He performs live across the state in various comedy and music acts and has produced hundreds of videos and songs.





Forgot password?
Staff Log In