Improvisational-theater festivals, also known as improv-comedy festivals or improv festivals, are venues where multiple improvisational-theater groups perform.
They are usually not limited by improvisational style, though they may limit entrants to professional-only or collegiate-only.
Most improvisational-theater festivals are hosted by a single troupe, but others are hosted by conglomerations of troupes or a company set up solely for that given festival.
Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted, created spontaneously by the performers. In its purest form, the dialogue, action, story, and characters are created collaboratively by the players as the improvisation unfolds in present time, without use of an already prepared, written script.
Del Close was an American actor, writer, and teacher who coached many of the best-known comedians and comic actors of the late twentieth century. In addition to an acting career in television and film, he was one of the influences on modern improvisational theater. Close is co-founder of the ImprovOlympic (iO).
The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre is an American improvisational theatre company and training center founded by the Upright Citizens Brigade troupe members Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts and Matt Walsh.
Donald Keith Johnstone was a British-Canadian educator and theatre director. A pioneer of improvisational theatre, he was best known for inventing the Impro System, part of which are the Theatresports. He was also an educator, playwright, actor and theatre director.
The San Francisco Improv Alliance is a group of actors dedicated to improvisational theater. It started in 2005 by Shaun Landry, artistic director of Oui Be Negroes. The Alliance offers master class workshops and national ensembles, co-production of pre-established ensembles, performance opportunities for upcoming ensembles, staging of self-produced shows, and community outreach in the field of improvisational theatre.
Alan Marriott is a Canadian voice actor, voice teacher and dialect coach.
David Gwynne Shepherd was an American producer, director, and actor noted for his innovative work in improvisational theatre. He founded and/or co-founded the Playwrights Theatre Club, The Compass Players, the Canadian Improv Games, and the ImprovOlympic.
Theatre Strike Force is the University of Florida's premier improv and sketch comedy troupe. The group also goes by TSF. The style of improv performed by Theatre Strike Force is a combination long form and short form. They both teach and perform improvisational comedy. They have six house teams which include both forms of improv as well as a sketch team. There are four long form house teams which are cast every semester and usually have six to eight members. The TSF Short Form Team is cast every semester as well and usually has fifteen to nineteen members. TSF Sketch is the final house team and usually has twelve to sixteen members, cast each semester.
Saad Haroon is a Pakistani comedian, actor, and writer. He is the creator of the first ever Pakistani improvisational comedy troupe "BlackFish", and was the first Pakistani stand-up comedian to perform in English in cities across Pakistan in his tour "Saad Haroon: Very Live". Haroon created and hosted the first ever English language comedy television show in Pakistan, called The Real News. In October 2014, he was voted the second funniest person in the world, securing 59,213 votes in the Laugh Factory competition.
Philly Improv Theater, or PHIT, is a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania comedy theater which produces and presents shows at The Adrienne Theatre in Center City Philadelphia. The theater also operates a training center with programs in improv comedy, sketch comedy and stand-up comedy. PHIT's most notable alumnus is stand-up comedian Kent Haines, who was the 2008 winner of the Philly's Phunniest contest at Helium Comedy Club and has appeared on public radio show The Sound of Young America and Season 4 of Comedy Central's program Live at Gotham. In addition to Haines, other comedians from Philadelphia who appeared on stage at PHIT have gone on to perform at major comedy venues in cities like New York and Los Angeles, founded their own theatre companies, and appeared in touring productions for The Second City.
The Immediate Gratification Players (IGP) are a collegiate improvisational comedy troupe based out of Harvard College. They specialize in long form, free-form improvisation and are recognized as one of the top college troupes in the nation.
Fawad Siddiqui is an American actor, improvisational comedian, journalist and cartoonist.
The Purple Crayon of Yale, or the Purple Crayon, is an improvisational theater group at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. The group specializes in longform improv, such as the Harold. The Purple Crayon is Yale's second-oldest improv group, after the Ex!t Players, and the oldest collegiate longform group in the country.
The Tenderloins are an American comedy troupe composed of James "Murr" Murray, Brian "Q" Quinn, and Sal Vulcano. The group stars in the television series Impractical Jokers, which premiered on December 15, 2011. The program airs on truTV and TBS in the U.S. and on Comedy Central in the UK, Ireland, and India.
The word Improvathon is a portmanteau of the words improvisation and marathon and is used to describe and extended performance by a team of improvising performers. The format establishes a group of characters early on, who become part of a continuous plotline. Commonly, as well as scenes which progress the story, performers may participate in musical numbers and other challenges or games. The action is directed for both performers and audience by writers who develop the plot in response. Whilst some performers may take a break at some point during the event, traditionally some core cast members will participate for the entire duration, going one or two nights without sleep. The sleep deprivation reduces performers to their "lizard brain" state, where they become too tired to censor themselves, resulting in a unique and euphoric form of theatre. Many audience members stay for the full duration, sharing the sleeplessness with the actors. In Edmonton, Canada, where the concept was originally devised, it is known as a Soap-A-Thon.
The Peoples Improv Theater (PIT), also known as the PIT, is a comedy theater and training center in New York City, founded by comedian Ali Farahnakian in 2002. Shows combine improvisational comedy, sketch comedy, stand-up, theater, and variety. Each show is hosted by a combination of "house teams" of comedians hired by PIT and by outside comedians.
Bovine Metropolis Theater was the first dedicated improvisational performance and improvisational comedy theater in the Denver Metro Area. It is located at 1527 Champa Street, Denver, Colorado.
Seoul City Improv (SCI) is a theater company and improvisational comedy troupe located in Seoul, South Korea. Founded in 2007, in Seoul's Itaewon neighborhood by an international group of actors and creatives it known to be Korea's oldest English-language improv group and has since grown to perform all around the world, including Taiwan, Tokyo, Hong Kong, USA, Canada and more.
Hoopla Impro is an improvised comedy and drama company that was founded in January 2006 by Steve Roe and Edgar Fernando. It is the UK's first improv theatre. Originally based in Balham southwest London, its shows moved to The Miller in London Bridge in 2010.
