Comedy improv, not to be confused with stand-up comedy, is making up sketches, and scenes, on the spot with no script. If you’ve ever seen the TV show ‘Who’s Line is it Anyway’ or the film ‘This Is Spinal Tap’ you know what it is.
London’s underground improv scene is similar whilst mostly white, nerdy, middle-class males prancing about on stage, including Louie Christie.
As a lone adventurer at heart, typically I would never join the sort of team that would have me as a member 👃 but I do occasionally perform on stage with my friends in:
- The Comedy School
Late night comedy improv jamWildcardWe Got GameStory KitchenThe InflatablesThe Good Improv ShowWilmops – The Wilmington Arms PlayersBubble milk
I’ve studied improv in:
- London UK
- Vancouver Canada
- Istanbul Turkey
- Skyros Island in Greece on a hippy retreat near where they filmed ‘Mamma Mia!’
Like a nerdy comedy train-spotter, I have slowly worked my way through most of the improv schools in London, including:
- The Comedy School
The Free AssociationStory KitchenShoot From The HipMonkey ToastAbandomanHooplaSpontaneity ShopImprologyCrunchy Frog CollectiveHooray Henry1
[1] One of these is made up.
Yes, you can actually learn improv. It takes a lot of training to be funny, not shit, and completely lost and unprepared on stage.
I once had a PhD proposal rejected to do with performing improv live with improvised 3D computer graphic locations… one day.