Our story
Comedy in the high desert.
The Bend Institute of Comedy was founded in 2022 with a simple mission: build one of the best comedy schools and stages on the West Coast.
A school, a stage, and a community.
On September 16, 2022, BIC founder John Breen held a longform improv workshop in Bend, Oregon. He was testing the waters. Three people showed up.
One of them said: "I know a lot of people who want to learn this."
How many is a lot? "Ten?"
That was enough. Breen created a name, built a site, found a space, and ran an 8-week class. Fourteen people came. There was demand.
From that first official BIC series in January 2023, five original students are still with us — still on our stage, still killing it.
BIC found its home through an incredible partnership with Open Space Event Studios and its founders Leah Mench and Hannah Ross. We've performed there nearly every month since June 2023. Our three-year anniversary is coming up fast.
Breen started doing improv at ComedySportz Portland in 1993. He knew immediately he'd found something he loved. That love took him to New York City — UCB Theatre, acting, filmmaking — and eventually to Los Angeles, Calgary's Loose Moose Theatre, Chicago's Annoyance, and Sketchfests across the country.
He ended up in Central Oregon. It was supposed to be temporary.
He and his partner Jen stayed.
BIC is built on Breen's thirty-plus years in the art form and a methodology he's spent a lifetime developing. That includes a deep study of what makes things funny, Del Close and UCB's concept of Game, and Anders Ericsson's framework of Deliberate Practice — the idea that focused, intentional repetition is how real skill is built.
Underneath all of it is something simpler: Breen genuinely believes every person who walks into BIC is more talented than they know. A big part of his job is helping them see it.
His approach is also rooted in awareness and the gradual dissolution of the ego — because the best improv, like the best collaboration, happens when you stop trying to be impressive and start trying to be present.
The BIC mission is to inspire anyone who walks through our doors to take chances, get creative, be themselves, care for others, and be courageous.
Classes are ongoing. Shows run once a month at Open Space Event Studios in Bend, Oregon. And if you've never visited Central Oregon — you must. It's gorgeous.
We hear regularly from students that their BIC class is the highlight of their week. We don't take that lightly. We're grateful to be here.
What we believe
Play
Play is the most effective way to for human beings to create, connect and build a community. Rich, self-directed play helps build higher cognitive functions like executive control, emotional regulation, and inhibitory control, which the brain relies for complex decision-making in adulthood. Comedy is serious play.
COURAGE
Improvisation is scary. So is performing before an audience. So is comedy. What we do has all three. Keep showing up for a year, and you'll become more confident—not because we teach confidence, but because you've practiced courage hundreds of times.
LEADERSHIP
In Breen's leadership coaching business, Totality, he trains executives to be better leadership coaches themselves. If everyone on stage practices the courage and decision making necessary takes full ownership of each scene, and each improv set, the level of collaborative quality rises exponentially.
HUMILITY
Every performer and student is learning that the best comedy—and often the best life—comes when we stop protecting our own ideas and start supporting others. At BIC, we train people to be in service of the team. In improv, that means sometimes letting go of your own idea to help your teammate's idea thrive.
Come see what we're building.
Whether you're here for a show, a class, or just curious, you're welcome at BIC.