Jill's Info
Jill Eickmann is the Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Leela, a holistic San Francisco based improvisational theater and training center. She is also a Producer and Board Member for The San Francisco Improv Festival and Executive Producer for Femprovisor Fest: SF's feminist improv festival. Jill has directed over 100 original productions. She has taught her signature style of improvisation to thousands of improvisors at Leela, EndGames Improv, Pan Theater, San Francisco Comedy College, Stanford University (GSB), the University of Chicago (GSB) California Improv Festival, Improvaganza: Hawaii Festival of Improv, San Diego Improv Festival, The San Francisco Improv Festival, Denver Improv Festival, Chicago Improv Festival, Seattle Festival of Improvised Theatre, Gainesville Improv Festival, San Jose Improv Festival, and Out of Bounds Comedy Festival. Jill Eickmann currently performs will Leela's Armando Company and multiple small group ensembles with improvisors across the country. Notable improv ensembles include BCJ with Chris DeJong and Brian James O'Connell, Sunita & Jill with Sunita Deshpande, Magic with Steven J, Burnett, Irrational Fears with Steven J. Burnett & Diana Brown, Mike + Jill with Michael Davenport, Jay & Jiill with Jay Sukow, Tracy and Jill with Tracy Burns, and Shades of Grey with Marcus Sams. She directs many ensembles through Leela's Performing Improv Ensembles (PIE) Program. She taught a six week private improv class to cast members of Disney’s The Lion King - Broadway Tour. Jill was the founder of the three person improv ensemble, Road Dawgz, where she performed with Tony Award Winner Dan Fogler (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee) and Law Tarello (Photo City Improv- Rochester) throughout NYC. She studied in New York and Chicago with some of the best from Upright Citizens Brigade Theater (UCB), The Second City, IO (Formerly Improv Olympic), Annoyance Productions, and privately with Armando Diaz. Jill is also an in-demand play therapist, psychotherapist, drama therapist, and self-revelatory theatre director who continues to research and teach the psychological implications and therapeutic benefits of improvisation. She enjoys facilitating workshops with SF local start-ups, established companies, and business leaders to support a positive working environment while fostering boundless collective creativity. Past clients include The Clorox Company, Adobe, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Salesforce, IBM, and Google (among others.)Currently Teaching at: Leela
For more info: http://www.leela-sf.com/classes
Jill's Workshops
| Playing Across the Gender Spectrum with Integrity |
| We Are Family |
| Tell The Truth |
| Befriend Your Inner Critic |
| Let's Play! |
| An Introduction to Self Revelatory Theatre Performance |
| Character Psychology |
"Jill is co-founder of Leela Improvisation in San Francisco. I've enjoyed her classes as a student very much and her theater's shows for 10 years now. She has immense passion for her craft, her theatre and the players, students and audience's that attend. I admire her hard work ethic along with the nurturing and nourishing environment provided. And in short, it's all great fun which is what it's all about!!" - Gene Maurillo.- Leela student
"Jill has been a great mentor to me as an improvisor, as a business owner, and as a human being. She has allowed me to feel unstoppable in the improv community and has helped me experiences things I never knew I would obtain. Her genuine kindness centers me every time we talk, and her interactions with others is always with love, respect, and genuine care. Her spirit and passion are an inspiration to me, and being a part of her team has been an amazing experience." - Michael Vargas.- Leela Performer/Instructor
"What a fantastic time we all had today! Thank you for facilitating a wonderful session for a large bunch of rowdy improv students from Google. I've organized a number of these sessions over the past 2+ years and I have to say: I'm confident that the group really had a blast and felt that the time was quite meaningful! This is not always the consensus when we all get together... There are already talks of following up with the powerpoint improv and 1-lie improv activities when back in the office. Exciting! Jill's fantastic! " - Angelo Carino- SMB Sales Team- Google
