A Sneak Peek Into Improv Office Hours
Improv Office Hours at the Hashtag Comedy Club
August 2025
Last Thursday WitWorks hosted our very first Improv Office Hours. What is Improv Office Hours you may ask? It's a networking event for professionals in HR, learning and development, or just general business leaders who are curious about enriching their teams and leaders through playful learning.
We hosted our event at the charming Hashtag Comedy Club in Columbus, Ohio. We had one of the club's owners, my dear friend Chris, serving up drinks as folks arrived. Most seemed to arrive with nervous smiles. I imagine the novelty of being in a comedy club during work hours feels similar to that feeling we'd get as kids on a field trip.
I welcomed everyone and handed out name tags. The group was excited. Strangers interacting with each other. Impending playfulness was in the air. I had prepared a small deck of slides for the group and then decided not to use them last minute. My thought was, these folks look at screens all day, I want to give them a break. Instead I stood on stage in front of them and engaged them with my full self; my eyes, my smile, and what my mom always called “Italian hands".
When the time came to kickoff the session, I told the group, as Alex and I always tell our professional audiences "The pressure is off! There is no need to be funny. We're here to learn through play!”. I invited all 7 professionals up on stage and we formed a circle. We played our first game, passing an invisible orb around a circle adding various levels of complexity, one after the other. The group was soon giggling, laughing at the challenges and the inevitable mistakes. They naturally helped each other out when the orb would get lost and showed their individual creativity when “handling” it. The game ended with a round of applause.
Then it was time to connect this play to the workplace. Standing in a circle, together we were a powerful brain trust. Diverse in age, industry, gender, drink of choice, etc. I asked them, what skills did it take for this exercise to be successful? Our conversation went something like this:
“We needed to trust each other” one said.
“How so?” I asked.
“It felt uncomfortable to make the noises, and the hand gestures at first, but then seeing everyone do it, quickly changed that discomfort to fun".
“Sounds like you were feeling vulnerable, but you participated anyway". I said.
“We needed to be agile," another person said.
“In what way?” I prompted.
“Well sometimes I was planning what move I was going to make ahead of time, but then when it was about to be my turn, the orb moved in a different direction. So I couldn't do the move I was planning.”
More skills were named, and then I moved on to my next prompt:
"How does “practicing vulnerability apply to your workplace?” I asked.
“It helps me to trust the person next to me who is showing up vulnerable too". One said.
“That experience connects people” another one said.
“How about agility? Why is it important for professionals in your workplace to practice agility? I asked.
“Things change all the time. Budgets, information, technology, teammates. That usually stresses people out. Practicing agility in this way and from this perspective is helpful.” One participant explained.
We played a few more games, all followed by discussions similar to the one above. The whole time we were on our feet, no screens, plenty of eye contact, lots of laughing, and everyone's brain being stretched.
The 90 minutes flew by and it was time to wrap up Improv Office Hours. The group graciously shared their feedback, we did one final exercise and said our goodbyes. I happily overheard new connections cheerfully exchanging contact information and giggling as they packed up. “See you next time.” one professional said as he walked out the door.
Having worked in startups my entire career, I am no stranger to creating and launching new things. I have always loved that aspect of my work. But now having my own little business along with Alex, it's amazing to be doing that with our own mission and values behind it all. At WitWorks, we want people to feel connected, empowered by their own bravery and creativity, and for business leaders to realize and reap the benefits of fostering this kind of symbiotic environment for their teams. For me, our work feels like my true and humble contribution to the world, fully aligned with who I am.
So office hours were a success. People laughed. People connected. They left informed and inspired. Cheers to those who came out and cheers to WitWorks! I hope you enjoyed my little recap. Maybe we'll see you at the next one!
Kindly,
Katie
