Jeff has been performing improv since his adolescent days in Iowa and loves teaching improv & stand-up comedy.
Director, Performer
Jeffrey Paul Jurgens
Founding Member
Jeff enjoys watching, coaching, and performing with his fellow improvisers as he gets to let that kid from the 1970s and 80s come out and play again. Seeing people grow in improv by applying active listening and agreeing is something Jeff enjoys the most with the people he has directed over the years.
He was first introduced to improv through a series of drama classes that he took in high school in the now distant 1980s.While living in Los Angeles in the late 1990s, he performed with the F Word (pronounced fwurd) Improv Troupe. They performed the Harold and other long forms to unsuspecting audiences in the now defunct 35-seat Coleman/SmithTheater in Hollywood.
He then joined forces with his F Word buddy, Paul Bloom, and they co-directed a few of their own improv groups and put on and ran various improv, stand-up, and sketch & spoken word open-mic shows throughout Los Angeles, including the Acme Comedy Theatre.
Moving to Gainesville, FL in 2010, Jeff volunteered at Shands, utilizing Theater Playback with patients to facilitate processing and coping with terminal illness. He also volunteered at the Honors Center for Veterans, utilizing improvisation techniques to allow veterans to focus on social skills and adapting to civilian life.
Sid Homan formed Gainesville's first community improv group Much Ado About Doris (MAAD) in January, 2013 out of the Doris Bardon Community Cultural Center in Gainesville, FL. He named Jeff its first Director. Since then, the group has performed over 50 shows, both short and long form, and have had 40+ performers. The group has put an emphasis on producing benefit shows for local & national not-for-profit organizations. MAAD officially changed its name to the Gainesville Improv Guild (GIG) in 2016.
In 2013, Jeff earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with a focus in Drama, Film, and Creative Writing from the University of Florida. As part of an Independent Study program, he focused on being a Director for the Much Ado About Doris/Gainesville Improv Guild.
Jeff is has directed small production plays, films, and has coached actors and taught a stand-up comedy for beginners for several years. He performs stand-up comedy when he has something new to say, which has been anywhere from ten times a year to once in four years.
He is currently working on a novel, has been writing poetry since he was 12, and occasionally dabbles in filmmaking and music production. Just don't ask him to sing.