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.
ComedySportz (CSz) is an improvisational comedy organization started in 1984 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, by a group of local comedians including Dick Chudnow, Bob Orvis, Brian Green, and others.
Second Nature is a long-form improvisational theatre troupe based in Los Angeles at the University of Southern California.
Viola Spolin was an American theatre academic, educator and acting coach. She is considered an important innovator in 20th century American theater for creating directorial techniques to help actors to be focused in the present moment and to find choices improvisationally, as if in real life. These acting exercises she later called Theater Games and formed the first body of work that enabled other directors and actors to create improvisational theater. Her book Improvisation for the Theater, which published these techniques, includes her philosophy and her teaching and coaching methods, and is considered the "bible of improvisational theater". Spolin's contributions were seminal to the improvisational theater movement in the U.S. She is considered to be the mother of Improvisational theater. Her work has influenced American theater, television and film by providing new tools and techniques that are now used by actors, directors and writers.
Kanneganti Brahmanandam, known mononymously as Brahmanandam, is an Indian actor, comedian, impersonator, and voice actor known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He is particularly known for his comic performances. He holds the Guinness World Record for the most screen credits for a living actor, appearing in over 1000 films to date. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by Acharya Nagarjuna University. Regarded as one of the finest and highest-paid comic actors of India, he was honoured with the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award in India, for his contribution to Film Art.
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.
Thomas James Jagodowski is an American comedian, actor, and improvisational performer who resides in Chicago. He has been a member of The Second City as well as a performer and teacher at iO Theater, formerly known as "Improv Olympic". He has appeared in movies such as Stranger Than Fiction, The Ice Harvest, No Sleep Till Madison, Get Hard and the television show, Prison Break. He is most recognizable from the long-running series of improvised Sonic Drive-In commercials featuring himself and Peter Grosz until 2020.
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.
The Court Jesters is a professional improv company founded in 1989 and based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is a subsidiary of the Court Theatre professional theatre company, acting as a second company within the theatre.
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.
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.
Saad Khan is an Indian director, screenwriter and acting teacher and Improv comedian who works in films and web series. He is the founder and creative head of FirstAction Studios that recently merged with Mumbai-based media conglomerate Rainshine Entertainment. Khan is known for his Kannada-English feature film Humble Politician Nograj (2018), which became a hit and the first Kannada film to achieve world-wide digital audience presence on Amazon's PrimeVideo platform.
Oops! is a 2003 Indian erotic comedy drama film directed and produced by Deepak Tijori. It was his directorial debut. Based on the topic of male strippers, the film faced protests before screening. The film was produced on a budget of ₹25 million (US$300,000). It was considered controversial because of the subject matter and initially it faced troubles with the Central Board of Film Certification. The film was released in two versions – Hindi and English. It did not receive favourable reviews. The film failed at the box office, and Tijori said that he had "alienated the audience with too much sex in the promos".
Nishant Tanwar, also known as 'Joke Singh' and more recently as 'Rider OP' is an Indian comedian and actor. He started off his professional career working at NDTV as a Producer, and began doing stand-up in 2009 when he found his passion for the same at an open mic event.
Sumukhi Suresh is an actor, stand-up comedian, writer and director from India. She is popularly known for her humorous sketches which she writes and stars in for live performances as well as online platforms. In an online article, Hindustan Times referred to Sumukhi Suresh as "India's Tina Fey." She has been a part of stand-up comedy shows like Comicstaan, Go Straight Take Left, Comedy premier League and her solo special, Don't Tell Amma. But she is best known for her funny yet twisted web series, 'Pushpavalli'. The stand-up comedian and actor turned entrepreneur by launching a content platform called 'Motormouth' which is especially for writers who are passionate about pitching stories for movies, web shows and more. She launched this company since she there is no time to complain and expect other people to create better characters or develop out of the box ideas. In a chat with 'Telangana Today', she concluded that one should attend many zoom shows and live shows to know if they are actually funny.
Sal Yusuf is an Indian actor and stand-up comedian who works in Malayalam, Kannada, and Hindi-language films.
Danish Sait is an Indian comedian, television host, and film actor who prominently works in Kannada cinema.
Hyprov: Improv Under Hypnosis is a comedy show that is a fusion of stage hypnosis and improvisation. It was created by hypnotist Asad Mecci, improvisational comedian Colin Mochrie, and Mochrie's manager Jeff Andrews.
