Baltimore Improv Festival

FESTIVAL PASS

All shows: Oct 8 - Oct 11
Admission: $35

THURSDAY

8:00 - The Perfect Show
Admission: $15

Mister Licorice (Baltimore/New York/Chicago) - Mister Licorice was formed in the fall of 2007 by the Baltimore Improv Group, guided by the creative vision of Jim McGarvey, whose early attempts to create a new format of improv based on NASCAR were quickly shot down by the cast. From the ashes of NASCAR-prov rose a new and exciting troupe that has performed at the Chicago Improv Festival, the Philly Improv Festival, and the Del Close Marathon in NY. The cast members are now scattered between New York, Chicago, and Baltimore but reunite regularly for festivals and special shows.

iMusical (Washington, DC) - iMusical: The Improvised Musical! joins the unpredictable playfulness of comedic improvisation with the emotional power of musical theater. A cast of singer-improvisers instantly creates a compelling new show with each performance, comprised of completely improvised scenes, lyrics and music, all inspired by a single audience suggestion. The Washington Post calls iMusical "spot on," and they have performed to standing ovations in several comedy festivals (Philadelphia, Baltimore, Del Close Marathon in New York at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater), as well as at venues across the DC area, including the Kennedy Center.

9:30 - Packed with Power
Admission: $12

Population: 6 (Baltimore) - Population: Six performs various long-form improv styles. They are currently exploring monoscene, where eccentric characters find dynamic relationships with each other, and with their environment -- rotating parts of a single location, which is created in the moment based on their conversation with the audience at the beginning of the set.

Illegal Refill (Philadelphia) - Top comedians from the City of Brotherly Love invite you into their Living Room for a few minutes of informal and hilarious conversation based on a single audience suggestion.  From there on out, anything goes.  Don't miss these fast-paced, spontaneous scenes that have been enjoyed by audiences from North Carolina to New York City to their native West Philadelphia, and that the Philadelphia City Paper says "will leave you cheering."

The Mikael and James Show (Frederick, MD) - The Mikael and James show features Mikael Johnson and James McGarvey, both veterans of the Comedy Pigs and consistent players in the D.C. and Baltimore Metropolitan areas.  Both have performed at festivals across the country. Prepare to be dazzled by outrageous characters and see what really goes on through their minds.

FRIDAY

8:00 - The Audience Show
Admission: $12

Comedy Pigs (Frederick, MD) - Formed in 1992, the group has performed at national comedy festivals, been featured on Comedy Central, and have been guests at the National Pork Producers Convention. The Comedy Pigs perform regularly at Maryland Ensemble Theatre in Frederick, MD.

Evan the Loyal (Baltimore + wherever you're from) - ETL is a 3-person troupe--2 members of BIG + YOU! ETL chooses a willing audience member to play with them for part of their show.

Gus (Baltimore) - Gus performs a variety of long-form improvised theater formats, most notably, the swarm style.

9:30 - Couples Show
Admission: $12

MacCloskey & Myers (Pennsylvania/New York City) - MacCloskey and Myers perform “The Improv Social.” This two-person improv duo conjures a wide range of scenes with a variety of characters all created in the moment based on their conversation with the audience at the beginning of the act.

Chris & Tami (Austin, TX) - Chris Trew and Tami Nelson are two of Austin Improv’s most decorated pioneers. Together they have performed at almost every major comedy festival in North America, won nearly every improv award in Austin, produced or associate-produced every major Austin comedy festival, toured the country teaching and performing improv, and recently appeared on Comedy Central. Chris has toured the country hosting the Air Sex World Championships, which he now brings to Baltimore on Saturday night.

Asaf Ronen & Jill Bernard (Austin, TX + Minneapolis)  in SWITCH- Jill Bernard (Drum Machine) and Asaf Ronen (imp.) have long been fans of each other's character work. Now, in their first show together, they will have the chance to walk in each other¹s improvised shoes. In SWITCH, Bernard and Ronen will launch into character-based scenes with permission to, at any time, jump into the other actor's persona, forcing them to take on theirs. Asaf is the author of Directing Improv. Jill is the author of Jill Bernard's Small Cute Book of Improv.

11:00 - Intimate Improv
Admission: $12

Plan B (Baltimore) - Plan B performs a mid-form style that combines short form's high level of audience input with the scene work associated with long form. They have also developed entire shows around single themes.

Secrets (Baltimore) - Some of the most powerful improv you will ever see. Four improv artists have agreed to tell real life true anecdotes from their past and bare the raw emotion on stage in front of you. This moving piece was so well received in its first iteration - the audience refused to leave the theater. Dysfunctional families, broken hearts, true loves, humiliating moments - all come to life in this show. Nobody knows which secrets will emerge - and you help draw them out.

Swartzlander (New York) - Winners of the 2009 Del Close Marathon Indie Cagematch Tournament, Swartzlander is an almost all-male improv group from New York City, ready to give you a real hootenanny! Will it be a monoscene? Montage? Harold? All bets are off when the Big City goes Dutch!

SATURDAY

7:00 - The Party
Admission: $10

The Lodge (Washington, DC) - You are being initiated not just into a secret society but into an elite academy of the knowing. We will impart wisdom to you so we can all improve the world until we are enlightening the public to the meaning of life. Which is 100% true, if you replace, “impart wisdom to” with “bum money from”, “improve the world” to “drink ourselves stupid”, “enlightening the” with “jailed for”, and “to the meaning of life” with “displays of lewd behavior”. A solemn oath each Lodge member lives by. P.S. The passphrase is, “New World Hors d'oeuvre”.

Where Eagles Dare (New York) - Where Eagles Dare is a long-form improv comedy team based in New York City. Their shows are known for inspiring audiences to acts of bravery and derring do.

Oscarbait (New York) - You've been told your whole life that Citizen Kane is greatest movie ever made. Well, your whole life is a lie. Because the greatest movie ever made is live on stage. OSCARBAIT presents a fully improvised movie live on stage. Incorporating all the camera angles, costume designs, lighting techniques, special effects, Oscar winning scores and of course, Oscarbaiting performances of cinema, OSCARBAIT creates a movie in 30 minutes that will make you fall to your knees with tears of joy, laughter, sadness and remorse. This is what Orson Welles wishes he had created.

8:00 - Pushing Boundaries
Admission: $12

Neutrino Video Project (Washington, DC) - It begins with a suggestion. Then, Washington Improv Theater's cameras, actors and crew take to the streets outside the theater to shoot, edit, score and screen an entirely improvised movie in as much time as it takes you to watch it. Conceived and created by Neutrino of New York City, the Video Projects are currently produced and performed in DC, New York, Chicago, Seattle, Boston, Toronto and Detroit.

Dr. Fantastic (Washington, DC) - Dr. Fantastic is here to help you. Since 1992, he has intensively practiced in the field of fantastic, and has conducted numerous studies on fantastic and its development and impact on the human body. His weekly seminars, featuring his patented Fantastic Pill, have helped millions of people realize their fantastic dreams and goals, and have been the proximate cause of very few deaths, the exact number of which is an issue to be settled by the courts. With an emphasis on speed, parody, and the absurd, Dr. Fantastic abandons cherished improv concepts such as character, truth, and coherence. Be prepared for a wild ride through people and places that can only exist on stage. No doubt you have many questions. But these are not the questions we had agreed upon earlier, so they will not answered.

9:30 - Blow Your Mind Improv
Admission: $12

Fletcher (Philadelphia) - Fletcher is one of Philly Improv Theater's premiere long-form improv house teams. The tight cast of six is composed of some of the freshest and most talented improvisers in Philadelphia who, at the end of their first year together have crafted their own unique blend of wild storytelling and carefully structured improv. What begins with candid moments from their sometimes charming, sometimes twisted childhoods, quickly becomes a hopscotch through a psychological madhouse of mind-crumpling comedy.

Moving Walkways (Baltimore) - Would you rather have a fast food burger or a 4-course meal crafted by a master chef using only the finest locally grown ingredients? The Moving Walkways are the locally grown ingredients in this analogy. Or maybe they're the master chef. In any case, they're definitely not the burger. The Moving Walkways use an audience suggestion to create scenes and characters that remind you that fads may come and go, but your basic needs don't change: You need to be reassured that you're no crazier than anyone else.

Drum Machine (Minneapolis) - Drum Machine is Jill Bernard's one-person unscripted muscial featuring multiple characters in scenes, monologues and songs accompanied by the mad beats of the Zoom-Rhythmtrak 123 which Bernard calls "Nature's finest drum machine." Typically the show opens by interviewing a member of the audience, and weaving details of their life into a historical period suggested by the audience. Jill has been performing with ComedySportz-Twin Cities since 1993, and is the director of their workshop program. Drum Machine has been featured at the Chicago Improv Festival, the Toronto Improv Jamboree, the Miami Improv Festival, Philadelphia Improv Festival, and the ComedySportz National Tournament, among others. She has taught improv in over twenty states and two provinces and on an episode of MTV “Made.” She is the recipient of the 2005 Chicago Improv Festival Avery Schreiber Ambassador of Improv Award, and the 2007 Miami Improv Festival award for Best Solo Show.

11:00 - Improv Erotica
Admission: $15 (tickets available soon)

Baltimore Air Sex Championship - Never been to an Air Sex show before? Here’s what you need to know: it’s a lot like Air Guitar, but instead of rocking out with an imaginary guitar, you’re making sweet and/or filthy love with an imaginary sex partner. You choose a clip of music, you show up in whatever sort of wardrobe you like, and you come up on stage and show everyone how you do it. Or how you wish you could do it. Or how you once had it done to you, and oh my god was that a bad idea and while it’s embarrassing to show that act to a room of strangers, you know that you need to do it now in order to make sure that no one else falls down the same rabbit hole you got stuck inside. Or, you know, just do it however you want. The only rules we have are the laws laid down by the state of Maryland and the city of Baltimore. Other than that, you’re free to do whatever it takes to impress the judges, the audience in the theater, and the world!

Burlesque & Improv, Together Again - This recent show at the Creative Alliance was a resounding success, so we're caving in to your demands (we're getting a restraining order if the calls and emails don't stop!) and bringing it back for an encore. Taking a break from their normal PG-13 formats, some members of the Baltimore Improv Group team up with burlesque dancers for a sexy collaboration!  Join members from several BIG troupes as they experiment in the world of short form improv/burlesque.  Games include: 'burlesque set up,' 'dance party,' 'improvised burlesque scene,' and 'enter naked.'  Bring a date, and don't miss the funniest-sexiest show of the year! Your gracious host is Mistress C.

SUNDAY

1:30 - Careful, We Make Things Up
Admission: $10

The BIG Show (Baltimore) - BOOYAH! The Big Show is here to give you the rundown on all the sports that all those "other" networks won't cover. Highlights, analysis, in-depth interviews, BOOYAH!

Cubed (Philadelphia) - The cubicle-bound neighbors of CUBED bring workplace-comedy improv that relies heavily on audience suggestions and participation. CUBED's highly interactive show allows the audience to write memos, provide their company’s name/service, and even become part of the show themselves.

Mrs. Esterhouse (New York) - Mrs. Estherhouse is a longform ensemble from New York City and one of the newest house teams at The Peoples Improv Theater. Since her inception in January 2009, Mrs. E has already made short work of establishing herself as one of the most daring groups in New York, regularly selling out their weekly shows and playing every scene to the hilt.  Operating like a well-oiled machine, Mrs. Estherhouse doesn't just improvise, she embraces risks as though they were a tender lover.