Biography

Caspar Schjelbred

Black-and-white portrait of Caspar Schjelbred, looking directly at the camera with a calm, attentive expression.

Caspar Schjelbred (b. 1979, Denmark) grew up in Sweden and moved to Paris in 1999, beginning a path that would define more than twenty years of work in improvisation, physical acting and performer training.

Early years and beginnings

He started 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 practice centred on clarity, presence and physical awareness.

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 — research that continues to inform his precise, perceptual approach to creative work and expression.

Training and artistic turning point

A decisive turning point came in 2008, when Caspar began training with Ira Seidenstein, whose method of physical acting and clown became a central influence in his development. Seidenstein’s work introduced a level of clarity, discipline and embodied intelligence that reshaped Caspar’s artistic direction; Caspar later wrote the forewords to Seidenstein’s books Clown Secret and Quantum Theatre.

In 2010, Caspar founded Impro Supreme as the home for his independent teaching and performing — not as a constructed brand, but as the natural outcome of years spent refining a physical, attentive and imaginative approach to improvisation.

Performance work

Caspar is known for PLAN C, his improvised solo show created in 2012 and performed more than 70 times across Europe, Australasia and North America, including at the International Mime Festival in Colombia (2023). The show became a long-term laboratory for his method: a space to test, refine and embody the principles he teaches.

His artistic work extends to directing the physical comedy show AVANT-GARDE with HaHaHa Impro Theatre in Sofia (2018), performing in a Samuel Beckett production in Luxembourg (2016–2017), and appearing in various movement-based and visual projects. While not formally trained as a clown, mime or dancer, his work draws freely from these traditions and moves confidently between them.

Teaching focus

Since 2020, Caspar’s primary focus has been teaching and coaching — helping actors, improvisers, dancers and creative professionals develop an embodied, perceptive and honest stage presence. His method combines:

  • physical clarity
  • creative awareness
  • moment-to-moment responsiveness

These principles form the foundation of what Impro Supreme has become today.

He continues to teach internationally, helping performers develop a grounded and creative practice.

Caspar currently lives in Copenhagen.