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.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to theatre:
Whose Line is it Anyway? is a short-form improvisational comedy television series, created by Dan Patterson and Mark Leveson, presented by Clive Anderson, and produced for Channel 4 between 23 September 1988 and 4 February 1999. The programme's format was on a panel of four performers conducting a series of short-form improvisation games, creating comedic scenes per pre-determined situations made by the host or from suggestions by the audience. Such games include creating sound effects, performing a scene to different television and film styles, using props, and making up a song on the spot. The programme originally began as a short-lived BBC radio programme, before the concept was adapted for television.
Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of improvisation can apply to many different faculties, across all artistic, scientific, physical, cognitive, academic, and non-academic disciplines; see Applied improvisation.
Theatresports is a form of improvisational theatre, which uses the format of a competition for dramatic effect. Opposing teams can perform scenes based on audience suggestions, with ratings by the audience or by a panel of judges. Developed by director Keith Johnstone in Calgary, Alberta, in 1977, the concept of Theatresports originated in Johnstone's observations of techniques used in professional wrestling to generate heat, or audience reaction.
Second Nature is a long-form improvisational theatre troupe based in Los Angeles at the University of Southern California.
Friday Nite Improvs, or Friday Night Improvs (FNI), was a long-running weekly improvisational comedy show staged on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The show functioned as an improv jam, performed by improv actors who don't normally work together. FNI was unique in that, in addition to the audience's providing improv suggestions, the performers are all pulled from volunteers in the audience. FNI ended in 2014. A student improv group, Ruckus, has succeeded FNI as a resident improv group on the University of Pittsburgh's campus.
Unexpected Company is an improvisational comedy group founded in Hollywood, California in 1986 by Tim Hillman, and recreated in Rhode Island in 2003 by Hillman and Justin James Lang.
The Magnet Theater is an improvisational comedy theatre and improv school in New York City.
ImprovBoston is a nonprofit improvisational theater, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It offers shows five nights per week at its theater in Central Square and training programs in improvisation, stand-up comedy and sketchwriting.
The Wellington Improvisation Troupe (WIT) is a not-for-profit, community-based improvisational theatre group in Wellington, New Zealand. It is run by a committee elected by and from its forty to sixty active members. WIT performs both long and short-form improvisation.
Patti Stiles is an actor, director, author, playwright, teacher and improvisation artist living in Australia.
Rebecca Northan is a Canadian actor, improviser, theatre director, and creative artist. She is known for playing the hippie mother Diane Macleod on the CTV & The Comedy Network sitcom Alice, I Think. She is a graduate of the University of Calgary, and an alumna of the Loose Moose Theatre Company where she did her improv training with Keith Johnstone.
SAK Comedy Lab (SAK) is a 250-seat Improvisational Comedy (Improv) theater in downtown Orlando, Florida, listed as "one of Orlando's most popular entertainment venues" by 10Best.com and has been named amongst the "50 best comedy clubs in America" by clickitticket.com. SAK's most notable alumnus is actor Wayne Brady, who has played as a guest player in several SAK shows since finding fame as a performer on Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Let's Make A Deal, Chappelle's Show, and other projects. SAK's regular performers are referred to as the SAK Ensemble.
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.
Impro Melbourne is an improvisational theatre company in the Australian city of Melbourne. Formed by Russell Fletcher and Christine Keogh in 1996 it is now run by Artistic Director Katherine Weaver, General Manager Rik Brown and Committee. Impro Melbourne is an Incorporated Association.
The Improv is an improvisational comedy show which was started in May 2012 in Bangalore, India. The show has no script and is totally improvised, as its name suggests. The audiences give suggestions, situations and scenarios to the host and taking the cue, the actors create on-the-spot hilarious scenes on stage. It is hosted and directed by Saad Khan, an Indian filmmaker. The show is conceptualized by Saad Khan. The show’s performers are Sal Yusuf, Darius Sunawala, Abel Mathews and Tim Schultz. The team has performed over 100 shows in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Chennai, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sweden.
Deborah Frances-White is a London-based comedian, author and screenwriter who also delivers corporate seminars on subjects including charisma, diversity and inclusion. She has both British and Australian citizenship. She hosts the podcasts Global Pillage and The Guilty Feminist. She uses the platform and network she has built through The Guilty Feminist to help multiple charities, especially relating to refugees and/or human rights.
Austentatious is a long-form improvised comedy show, in the style of a Jane Austen novel, where each show is improvised by a six-strong cast, based on a title suggested by a member of the audience. Begun in 2011 in London, the original cast members took the show to the Edinburgh Festival Free Fringe in the summer of 2012. Following their initial success, they began performing a monthly show in London, transferring to the West End in 2017, and have since performed on BBC Radio 4, on tour, and at the Edinburgh Fringe.
Freestyle Love Supreme is an improvisational hip-hop comedy musical group started by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Anthony Veneziale in 2004 and directed by Thomas Kail. In 2022, the group completed a Broadway musical run at the Booth Theatre.