The person behind Impro Supreme
Caspar Schjelbred
Caspar Schjelbred (b. 1979, Denmark) grew up in Sweden and moved to Paris in 1999. What followed was more than twenty years of work in improvisation, physical acting and performer training.
He began improvising in 2001 with The Improfessionals, Paris’s English-language improv company, where he later served as artistic director (2008–2014). During those years he taught extensively, co-directed Impro Academy Paris, and developed a teaching approach centred on the body.
Alongside his artistic work, Caspar completed a Master’s degree in History of Science at the Sorbonne, specialising in late-19th-century theories of emotion – the same close reading and methodical analysis he still applies to observing acting.
Training
In 2008, he began training with Ira Seidenstein, a central influence on his physical acting and clown work. He later wrote the forewords to Seidenstein’s books Clown Secret and Quantum Theatre: Slapstick to Shakespeare.
In 2010, he founded Impro Supreme, the framework for his teaching and ongoing research.
Performance work
Caspar is known for PLAN C, his improvised solo show created in 2012 and performed more than seventy times across four continents, including at the International Mime Festival in Colombia (2023). The show became a long-term laboratory to test and refine the principles he teaches.
His current solo show, The Supreme Art of Improvisation, narrates the mechanics of improvisation as they happen – choices made, impulses followed or discarded.
His artistic work also includes creating and directing AVANT-GARDE, a non-verbal physical comedy on war and struggle, with HaHaHa Impro Theatre in Sofia (2018); performing Beckett – Act Without Words II and Catastrophe – in Luxembourg (2016–2017); and screen work, including appearances in music videos. He draws from clown, mime and dance traditions without belonging strictly to any one of them.
Teaching
Teaching has always been central: Caspar has spent more time teaching than performing throughout his career. He teaches internationally, working with actors, improvisers and performers who want a physically honest stage presence.
He currently lives in Copenhagen.