HISTORY
The HISTORY of improv? The HISTORY of improv in Winnipeg? That would be quite the undertaking. Let's just start with the history of the Winnipeg if... Improv
Festival...
The
focus of the festival has always been to bring new improv ideas from
around the world to both the Winnipeg improv players and Winnipeg
audiences. In the decade of its existence, the festival has showcased
improv troupes; new improvisational formats for ensembles have been
invented at the festival, having their world premiere in Winnipeg; and
the festival has blown audiences away with live improv video. The
festival continues to smash audiences with new players, new games and
new work.
The
Winnipeg if… Improv Festival has had so many guest performers through
our doors over the years. Here is a look back on just some of them.
David Shepherd from the Beginning of Modern Improv!!!!
Kevin McDonald from The Kids in the Hall
Mark Little from Picnicface (Toronto)
Kevin McDonald from The Kids in the Hall
Mark Little from Picnicface (Toronto)
Unexpected Productions from Seattle
(Randy Dixon, Amanda Roundtree, Paul Levy, John Faga and Greg Stackhouse)
Rapid Fire Theatre from Edmonton
(Kevin Gillese, Amy Shostak, Julian Faid, Ian Rowe, Joe Vanderhelm, Kory Mathewson, Chris Connelly, Marc Shulte, Jessie McPhee)
Amy has been performing with Rapid Fire Theatre since 2002, and is a former Artistic Director. Improv has taken her to festivals in Berlin, Vancouver, Milan, Bogota, Austin, Toronto, and many more cool places. She appears regularly on CBC Radio's The Irrelevant Show, as well as SuperChannel's Tiny Plastic Men. In 2015, she was honoured with an Excellence in Artistic Direction award from Edmonton's Mayor's Celebration of the Arts. Twitter: @shostakattack
Joleen is overjoyed to be back in her home away from home, Winnipeg! Joleen has been improvising with Rapid Fire Theatre since 2007. Since then she has been lucky enough to do a lot of traveling either as an ensemble member or as the second half of the improv duo DotDotDot with Jessie McPhee. Joleen has just returned from her second European tour and is gearing up for tour in late fall with Rapid fire Theatre's Off Book the Improvised Musical.
Dad's Garage from Atlanta, Georgia
Amber Nash (who is the voice of Pam on ARCHER) Chris Blair
AMY SHOSTAK (EDMONTON)
Amy has been performing with Rapid Fire Theatre since 2002, and is a former Artistic Director. Improv has taken her to festivals in Berlin, Vancouver, Milan, Bogota, Austin, Toronto, and many more cool places. She appears regularly on CBC Radio's The Irrelevant Show, as well as SuperChannel's Tiny Plastic Men. In 2015, she was honoured with an Excellence in Artistic Direction award from Edmonton's Mayor's Celebration of the Arts. Twitter: @shostakattack
JOLEEN BALENDINE (EDMONTON)
Joleen is overjoyed to be back in her home away from home, Winnipeg! Joleen has been improvising with Rapid Fire Theatre since 2007. Since then she has been lucky enough to do a lot of traveling either as an ensemble member or as the second half of the improv duo DotDotDot with Jessie McPhee. Joleen has just returned from her second European tour and is gearing up for tour in late fall with Rapid fire Theatre's Off Book the Improvised Musical.Dad's Garage from Atlanta, Georgia
Amber Nash (who is the voice of Pam on ARCHER) Chris Blair
MEGAN LEAHY (ATLANTA, GEORGIA)
Megan Leahy has been improvising for over a decade with the notoriously awesome Dad's Garage Theatre Company in Atlanta, Georgia. In addition to improvising, acting and writing for the Dad’s Garage stage, she has directed “Fucked Up Fairy Tales” by Kevin Gillese and Arlen Konopaki, “Invasion: Christmas Carol,” a Dad’s Garage holiday tradition and most recently, “Morgan Freeman Presents the Magic Negro and Other Blackness” by Mark Kendall. From attending festivals near and far to teaching new improvisers the basics of the art, Megan loves to learn and collaborate. She is probably best known for the role of "Mite" in StarGirls, the daring and original space odyssey written and directed by her father over a long weekend in 1984.
NORTH COAST (from New York City)
North Coast is New York City’s premier hip hop improv comedy team. Named one of the “Top Ten Best Comedy Shows” by Time Out New York, North Coast has been featured in Slate’s Podcast The Gist, The Village Voice, and The New York Times Comedy Listings. Currently, you can catch them performing every Saturday night in New York City at The Peoples Improv Theater.With a cast of improv comedy veterans from The Upright Citizens Brigade, the Peoples Improv Theater and The Magnet theaters in New York City, North Coast’s explosive performances have been packing comedy venues, universities, and festivals nationwide since 2009. Built around a single suggestion from an audience member, the show’s improvised scenes escalate into full-blown hip-hop songs, facilitated by resident beatboxer and U.S. Vice Beatbox Champion, Kaila Mullady. With their seamless melding of comedic timing and freestyle rapping abilities, North Coast frequently blurs the line between comedy show and concert, drawing audiences from the comedy, hip-hop, and theater communities for an experience that has been hailed as “mind-blowing” and “next level” by critics and audiences alike.
North Coast cast in town include:
KAILA MULLADY (NEW YORK CITY)
Kaila Mullady is a New York based performer – the current Female World Champion, Vice National Beatbox Champion, Loop station champion and three time, reigning Beatrhyme Champion. Kaila performs all over NYC and the country infusing beatboxing, singing, rapping, poetry and theater to push the boundaries of creativity and show just what the human instrument is capable of. Multi-instrumentalist, using a RC 300 she is able to loop guitar, beatboxing and vocals to become a one woman band. Part of NYC’s premier freestyle comedy rap groupNorth Coast, incorporating improv comedy and hip hop. Teaching workshops all across the country promoting reading, writing and finding your own soul music. Giving back to communities and volunteering is a big part of Kaila’s creative process.
JONATHAN DeMUTH (NEW YORK CITY)
Jonathan DeMuth has been studying improv in New York City at the Magnet Theater, Upright Citizens Brigade and People’s Improv Theater since March 2009. He has studied improv with Ian Roberts, Matt Walsh, John Lutz, Billy Merritt, Armando Diaz, Chris Gethard, Will Hines, Charna Halpern, Peter McNerney, Louis Kornfeld, Shannon O’Neill & Gavin Speiller just to name a few.
DOUGLAS WIDICK (NEW YORK CITY)
Douglas Widick is a founding member of Hip-Hop Improv group, North Coast, which was named one of Timeout NY’s Top 10 Comedy Shows of 2014. You can catch him performing around NYC with many other musical improv, improv, and sketch groups as well. He is a member of house Musical Improv teams at both the Magnet and PIT Theaters, and just finished sketch shows with Pop Roulette (PIT), The 2017 Tony Awards (UCB), Dead Dads Club (UCB). He also performs with UCB Theater NY Maude Sketch Team Dangerous Woman. Doug teaches an 8-week Hip-Hop Improv class at the Magnet Theater, and was recently seen in the Off-Broadway musicals, F#%king Up Everything and Blank! The Musical. You can catch his many comedy videos at www.Douglaswidick.com.
BORIS KHAYKIN (NEW YORK CITY)
Boris Khaykin is a comedian living in Brooklyn, NY and a frequent performer at the UCB Theater. His stand up has been featured on HuffingtonPost Comedy, Collegehumor Live, and more. He has appeared in and written for videos featured on Comedy Central, Collegehumor, FunnyOrDie, High Times, and UCBcomedy. Follow him on twitter @theBorisK.
The General Fools from Regina
(Mike Fly, Amy Matysio and Jayden Pfeifer)
KAL BARTESKI (Winnipeg)
KAL BARTESKI is an artist and brush script letterer. She is passionate about wildlife conservation + education. Her work is often described as "meaningful, authentic + poetic". She believes in art's power to connect + heal and has created art for charities around home, nationally and internationally. She cares deeply about intellectual property online. She is a TEDx speaker, a published author + winner of a Women Entrepreneur of the Year Award. She was featured on Animal Planet/Discovery and recently named as CBC Manitoba's Future 40 leaders under 40. She has a deep, love for polar bears, ice and winter. She sells her paintings internationally and uses her signature brush script style in beautiful campaigns all over the world.
To inquire about illustration or speaking availability - please email her: art (at)kalbarteski (dot) com or via twitter (@kalbarteski).
MATT FOLLIOTT (TORONTO)
Matt Folliott is from Toronto Canada and performs comedy with S&P, Chad Mallett, and current Canadian Comedy Award Nominee's K$M. An instructor at Second City & Bad Dog Theatre, Matt coaches numerous indie long-form groups, and is nominated for Now Magazine's Readers Choice Award for Best Male Improviser for a second year in a row. A few months ago Matt lived out his dream of smashing a glass over his head in a Lil'John music video, and now he can die happy.
Phil Van Hest from Los Angeles
PROJECTproject from Toronto
(Julie Dumais is now AD of the Bad Dog Theatre in Toronto)
Iron Cobra from Toronto
(Becky Johnson is now on Second City Mainstage and Graham Wagner is a writer on Portlandia among other TV shows)
(Ryan Gladstone and Bruce Horak)
Instant Theatre from Vancouver
(Alistair Cook, Dave Morris, and Ryan Biel)
(Jason Bryden and Taz Van Rassel)
Dave Morris from Victoria
Gordon has been improvising in Winnipeg for 20 years. He just counted, and that's the number he came up with, and now he's crying. So, nice work everybody. A founding member and one-time director of the Manitoba Improv League, he spends most of his time now acting in plays where people expect you to memorize the words.
FRAZ WIEST (Winnipeg)
His first-ever one-man show, "FRAZ: Lonely At Last," premiered at the 2012 Winnipeg Fringe Festival and then he followed it up this year with a tour of his second one-man show "FRAZ vs The Future", which played in Winnipeg, Edmonton, Portland and Vancouver.
Recently, she both wrote and performed on the web series, Wind City, and toured all
Joe and a number of very talented friends, under the Artistic Direction of Mick Napier, co-founded The Annoyance Theater in Chicago in 1990. Joe and Mark Sutton, his partner in the nationally touring improvised production BASSPROV, have evolved the Annoyance approach into Power Improv, which they both have been teaching all over the world at festivals, theatres and universities since 2000.
Joe has performed, coached, directed and innovated with a vast number of successful groups including The Screw Puppies at Annoyance, The Armando Diaz Theatrical Experience & Georgia Pacific at iO Chicago (with whom he developed The Bat), The Throwdown at Donny’s Skybox- Second City Chicago and The Scramble at The Playground. He directs and performs in Chica Go Go and Chicago Improv Gorillas at The P.I.T. in New York City and he’s frequently a guest improviser in Let’s Have A Ball & ASSSSCAT 3000 at UCB Theater in New York and L.A. and Show X at HUGE Improv Theater in Minneapolis. Website
Alistair has been performing, instructing, consulting and directing improvisation for audiences and companies across Canada, the USA and Europe for almost 20 years. He has had the great pleasure of working and training with some of the greatest teachers in improvisation. From these varied styles and beliefs Alistair has developed his unique brand of performing and instructing. Alistair is the AD of Instant Theatre Company and Artistic Producer of VIIF, the IMPROVCAMP. Alistair is proud of his 20 years with the Canadian Improv Games and time spent with VTSL as a performer and AAD. Website
WARREN BATES (Instant Theatre Company, Vancouver)
A member of Instant Theatre for two years, Warren Bates has been performing improv for over a decade. He has entertained audiences in festivals across North America, and appeared on television as well as the stage. A student of sketch, stand-up and improv, Warren aims to delight audiences and share in story with them. Website
Lucy Hill began improvising over ten years ago in high school with the Canadian Improv Games in Regina, Saskatchewan. Since then Lucy has gone on to join the long-form ensembles of Combat Improv and Middle Children and is one half of improv duos Business and Dot & Mae. Most recently Lucy has been touring Dot & Mae to festivals and theatres across Canada and the U.S., including the Globe Theatre, The General Fools Festival, ViiF, Duofest, and the Winnipeg Fringe Festival. In addition to performing improv, Lucy is also a teacher, producer, writer, and voice/theatre actor.
KORY MATHEWSON (Rapid Fire Theatre, Edmonton)
Shawn has been performing improv across Canada and in the US for the past 10 years. In addition to his work with Instant Theatre, he can be seen performing with the Bobbers and Psycho, a duo project with fellow Instant Company member, Warren Bates. Shawn has been featured in the Vancouver, Seattle and Victoria improv festivals and is formerly the Artistic Director of the Impromaniacs in Victoria. He has also performed and trained others in Ottawa, Regina, Pittsfield and New York City. A graduate from the Vancouver Film School’s acting program, he often uses the skills learned there in his improv work.
PARKING LOTS (Winnipeg)
DJ HUNNICUTT (Winnipeg)
In 2013, she started a project called Speechless with Bogotá's Felipe Ortiz and Daniel Orrantia. Since its debut in Germany, this long-form wordless and surreal show has been staged in Colombia, Brazil, the Winnipeg Fringe Festival.
Maybe you want to go to one of her amazing dance parties? She's throwing on on Sat, Oct 3rd at the Union Sound Hall... perfect thing to do after watching hilarious shows.
BIG D & THE GREEN (DANA SMITH & KANE GREENE)
Dana Smith and Kane Greene are the voice and beatbox voice of this musical duo. After "tearing the roof off" at the Winnipeg Comedy Festival, they are back to give you a couple songs at the Gas Station Arts Centre. Look for them as the opening acts for North Coast on Friday and Saturday night late shows.
KAILA MULLADY (NEW YORK CITY)
STAND-UP COMICS
Ryan Ash was in Decoys 2 by Sony Entertainment in 2007. Since being in Decoys 2, Ryan has unsuccesfully tried petitioning for Decoys 3 no less than 347 times. In a desperate bid to recreate the feeling of making Decoys 2, Ryan tried stand up comedy. He’s been to the Winnipeg Comedy Fest 4 times, is a writer on ShawTV’s The Week Thus Far, and loves being part of the Improv Fest. But it’s no Decoys 2.
Matt Nightingale is a stand-up comic from Winnipeg whose act has been described as "inappropriate for a funeral setting". A regular host at Rumor's Comedy Club, Matt has appeared in the Winnipeg Comedy Festival, the Winnipeg Improv Festival, and was invited to perform at the 2013 Just For Laughs Winnipeg Showcase. He hopes to one day own a slow cooker.
Dana smith has recently decided to become a rap star. She has appeared in shows such as "Awareness through the auts"' "The Winnipeg Showcase #3", " The Drunk Show" and is the co-creator of hit fringe shows "Comedy + time = tragedy and "Lady Skits". Dana is a writer for Shaw tv's Week Thus Far.
The Winnipeg Spoken Word Festival combines poetry with film, music, improv and more. Gas Station Theatre, June 3-6 2015
Steve Currie is an improvisor and a poet. He directs the Winnipeg Festival of Spoken Word and this one time he did an improv scene where he was the mayor of Dauphin! Steve is excited for a season of poetry and improv coming together, it's like when you introduce your best friend and your sweetheart at a party and they actually get along!
Dave Morris from Victoria
Nadine Antler (Der Kaktus, Germany)
Nadine Antler has been involved with improvisation since 1998. She co-founded, and is the Artistic Director of the improvisation ensemble „Die Kaktussen“ in Wuerzburg, Germany. She has been involved in the development of many longforms and show-formats. In January 2011 she developed and directed a new format for the town theatre in Wuerzburg.
In 2002 Nadine began to set up the Wuerzburgean Impro-Theatre-Festival, which is the biggest improvisation festival of its kind in Europe. She continues to organize it every October. For her work with the festival she was awarded with the the "Prize for young culture of the City of Wuerzburg" in 2008.
Nadine has performed at festivals in South and North America, Australia, Africa and regularly performs at various improvisation festivals around Europe.
Devin Mackenzie (Hip.Bang!, Vancouver)
Devin is an improviser, comedian, writer and producer. He performs with Hip.Bang!, Vancouver Theatresports League and Blind Tiger Comedy. He has entertained audiences in improv and comedy festivals all over North America including San Francisco Sketchfest, Northwest Comedy Fest, Del Close Marathon, NXNE, Out of Bounds, Chicago Improv Festival, General Fool’s Fest and Improvaganza. His improv duo Hip.Bang! was recently nominated for a Canadian Comedy Award and produces the popular monthly shows “10 SPEED” and “Cloud Comedy” at the China Cloud Theatre. He is also a founding member of Blind Tiger Comedy, a brand new alternative comedy school located in beautiful Vancouver BC.
Jessie McPhee, Joleen Ballendine & Paul Blinov
(RAPID FIRE THEATRE, Edmonton)
Rapid Fire Theatre is Edmonton's longest-running improv comedy company, and have been entertaining Edmonton audiences for over 30 years. They have been named "Edmonton's Best Theatre Company" two years in a row by VUE Weekly. In 2012, Rapid Fire Theatre won a Canadian Comedy Award for Best Comedy Short for "Internet Search History Revealed", and are nominated for Best Improv Troupe in Canada this year.
Rapid Fire's improvisors have performed at festivals all over the world, in exciting places like Berlin, Atlanta, Milan, Chicago, Toronto, and even Winnipeg. Jessie McPhee, Joleen Ballendine, and Paul Blinov are thrilled to appear at The Winnipeg IF, and excited to share their signature brand of improv mayhem with you.
Members of LA LIM
La ligue d’improvisation du Manitoba (LIM) has been offering improv matches for the past 25 years. Modelled after la Ligue national d’improvisation, la LIM has four teams that compete on a weekly basis in the hopes to win “la coupe canoe” at the end of the season. An irreproachable ref insures that the rules of the game are respected and is responsible to read out the themes and the constraints for each improv; guaranteeing no team has prior knowledge of what will be asked of them. Clever, funny, innovative, well executed performances are rewarded by audience members who vote for their favourite team after the head to head improv.
GORDON TANNER (Winnipeg)
Gordon has been improvising in Winnipeg for 20 years. He just counted, and that's the number he came up with, and now he's crying. So, nice work everybody. A founding member and one-time director of the Manitoba Improv League, he spends most of his time now acting in plays where people expect you to memorize the words. FRAZ WIEST (Winnipeg)
Fraz Wiest is an actor, comedian, sometimes writer and all the time wrestling fan from Winnipeg, Manitoba. He is a founding member of Toronto's Ghost Jail Theatre, a proud cast member of Winnipeg's DnD Improv, and has performed at improv festivals in Toronto, Edmonton, and Vancouver.
His first-ever one-man show, "FRAZ: Lonely At Last," premiered at the 2012 Winnipeg Fringe Festival and then he followed it up this year with a tour of his second one-man show "FRAZ vs The Future", which played in Winnipeg, Edmonton, Portland and Vancouver.
TRISH COOPER (Winnipeg)
A Theatre graduate from the University of Winnipeg, Trish has worked as an actor
and a writer in Winnipeg and Toronto. She began writing sketch comedy with
the Royal Liechtenstein Theatre Company (RLTC) and wrote for the Fringe Festival
circuit including The Year of the Panda, The Comment Card and Homely Woman #2.
Recently, she both wrote and performed on the web series, Wind City, and toured all
over Manitoba as an actor in Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre’s production, Miracle on South Division Street. Her first full-length play, Social Studies, was produced at Prairie Theatre Exchange in Winnipeg last November. Trish is thrilled that The Centaur Theatre in Montreal has programmed Social Studies for their upcoming season.
LEIF INGEBRIGTSEN (Winnipeg/Edmonton)
Leif has been doing improv since 2000, but has been performing his whole life. He has played a wide variety of musical instruments, including piano, keyboards, guitar and drums for as long as he can remember. After high school, Leif performed with the sketch-comedy/improv troupe Your Original Parents (YOP). Leif joinedOutside Joke in 2007 and was finally able to combine his love of music and improv and later would become quite fond of referring to himself in third person.
JOE BILL (iO Chicago Theater, Chicago)
Joe Bill is widely regarded as one of the best teachers of Scenic and Comedic Improvisation in America today. He currently teaches, performs and does corporate training at iO Chicago, is an Artistic Associate for The Chicago Improv Festival, and acts as an Artistic Advisor for a number of improvisation and comedy Theatres all over the world.
Joe and a number of very talented friends, under the Artistic Direction of Mick Napier, co-founded The Annoyance Theater in Chicago in 1990. Joe and Mark Sutton, his partner in the nationally touring improvised production BASSPROV, have evolved the Annoyance approach into Power Improv, which they both have been teaching all over the world at festivals, theatres and universities since 2000.
Joe has performed, coached, directed and innovated with a vast number of successful groups including The Screw Puppies at Annoyance, The Armando Diaz Theatrical Experience & Georgia Pacific at iO Chicago (with whom he developed The Bat), The Throwdown at Donny’s Skybox- Second City Chicago and The Scramble at The Playground. He directs and performs in Chica Go Go and Chicago Improv Gorillas at The P.I.T. in New York City and he’s frequently a guest improviser in Let’s Have A Ball & ASSSSCAT 3000 at UCB Theater in New York and L.A. and Show X at HUGE Improv Theater in Minneapolis. Website
ALISTAIR COOK (Instant Theatre Company, Vancouver)
Alistair has been performing, instructing, consulting and directing improvisation for audiences and companies across Canada, the USA and Europe for almost 20 years. He has had the great pleasure of working and training with some of the greatest teachers in improvisation. From these varied styles and beliefs Alistair has developed his unique brand of performing and instructing. Alistair is the AD of Instant Theatre Company and Artistic Producer of VIIF, the IMPROVCAMP. Alistair is proud of his 20 years with the Canadian Improv Games and time spent with VTSL as a performer and AAD. Website
KEVIN McDONALD ("The Kids in the Hall," Toronto/Winnipeg)
Comedian, actor, writer and director Kevin McDonald founded “The Kids in the Hall” with friend Dave Foley, after they met in Toronto at Second City, and the television series ran from 1988-1995. In the troupe's television series and stage shows, he portrays several popular recurring characters, such as the King of Empty Promises, Sir Simon Milligan, and Jerry Sizzler. McDonald went on to appear in a variety of films including Boy Meets Girl, Lilo & Stitch, "Lilo & Stitch: The Series," and Epic Movie. On television, he has appeared on "The Martin Short Show," "Ellen," "That '70s Show," "Seinfeld," "Friends," "NewsRadio," "MADtv," "Arrested Development," "Corner Gas," the music video for "Roses" by Outkast, and made an appearance in “Tim and Eric's Awesome Show.”
In 2006 McDonald hosted a CBC Television special, featuring several of Canada's best-known sketch comedy troupes. "Sketch with Kevin McDonald" won a Canadian Comedy Award (Best Taped Live Performance — The Minnesota Wrecking Crew). He was recently at the Just for Laughs Festival with the reunion of The Kids in the Hall, and also with his show "Hammy and the Kids" with Craig Northey, based on his two dysfunctional families, his father ("Hammy") and the Kids in the Hall, as well as “Death Comes to Town” on CBC.
WARREN BATES (Instant Theatre Company, Vancouver)
A member of Instant Theatre for two years, Warren Bates has been performing improv for over a decade. He has entertained audiences in festivals across North America, and appeared on television as well as the stage. A student of sketch, stand-up and improv, Warren aims to delight audiences and share in story with them. Website
LUCY HILL (Business, Regina)
DANIEL MASLANY (Business, Regina)
Daniel Maslany is an actor and improviser from Regina, Saskatchewan. He's a founding member of Regina's monthly improv show, Combat Improv (2007-13). He performed with Combat at this year's General Fools Festival and the Vancouver International Improv Festival. Other ensembles include Middle Children (2012/13), The Pretends (2008) and Mix Improv (2009). Daniel began improvising in high school through the Canadian Improv Games. He has also been a guest performer with Ghost Jail Theatre and Projectproject in Toronto. In 2010, he was a filmmaker for the Doppleganger Project at the General Fool's Festival. His solo show O.C.Dean premiered last spring at the Globe Theatre in Regina.
KORY MATHEWSON (Rapid Fire Theatre, Edmonton)
Kory has been with Rapid Fire Theatre since 2005, when he fell head over heels with the company on Valentines Day. Kory is a performer in the weekly Theatresports and CHiMPROV shows, and performs with The Imagineers and Veritas Tassle and the Lie Detectors, which debuted at the 2009 Winnipeg Fringe Festival.
He is also a performer with Die Nasty, the Long Form Improvised Soap opera, where he has worked along side Dana Anderson, Joe Flahrety and Julian Arnold. He has also preformed in several 53-hour improvisational marathons in Edmonton, and London, England.
Kory is also an improv teacher. Recently he collaborated with the University of Alberta’s School of Pharmacy on a curriculum-based experiential learning module combining the skills of improv with challenges of professional communication in industry. Website
SHAWN NORMAN (Instant Theatre Company, Vancouver)
Kory is also an improv teacher. Recently he collaborated with the University of Alberta’s School of Pharmacy on a curriculum-based experiential learning module combining the skills of improv with challenges of professional communication in industry. Website
SHAWN NORMAN (Instant Theatre Company, Vancouver)
Shawn has been performing improv across Canada and in the US for the past 10 years. In addition to his work with Instant Theatre, he can be seen performing with the Bobbers and Psycho, a duo project with fellow Instant Company member, Warren Bates. Shawn has been featured in the Vancouver, Seattle and Victoria improv festivals and is formerly the Artistic Director of the Impromaniacs in Victoria. He has also performed and trained others in Ottawa, Regina, Pittsfield and New York City. A graduate from the Vancouver Film School’s acting program, he often uses the skills learned there in his improv work.
ALIX SOBLER (Winnipeg)
Born and raised in New York, Alix Sobler has called Winnipeg, Manitoba home for the past eight years. She is a writer, performer, and comedian whose solo work has been seen all over North America. Recently plays she wrote include "She's Not There" and "Some Things You Keep." Find out more about her at alixsobler.com.
RUMBLE PAK (Winnipeg)
"Rumble Pak is spontaneous theatre at its most unpredictable. Seamlessly weaving together stories and characters that range from the absurd to the frighteningly real, Rumble Pak engages audiences organically. Join us as we take you anywhere and everywhere with laughter, tears and everything in between.
Winnipeg's Rumble Pak was founded in 2012 by Lukas Conway, Adam Drory and Tristen Foy. They have performed in the Winnipeg Fringe Festival, Montreal's MPROV Festival and as far as Regina, Saskatchewan!Rumble Pak showcases the art of spontaneous theatre by engaging audiences and performing in explorative ways."
PARKING LOTS (Winnipeg)
Parking Lots is a five-man improv troupe from Winnipeg that has been performing since 2010. They perform all sorts of improv styles, from classic improv games to long form. They have frequent shows at varying venues across the city and have performed in Winnipeg’s Fringe Festival, as well as Edmonton's NOTORIOUS Festival. They are excited to make things up at the Winnipeg Improv Festival and hope you enjoy all the shows!
Parking Lots is Jesse Bergen, Luke Cecelon, Jonathan Kornelsen, Michael Ostry and Colin Ward.
THE MUSIC OF:
DJ HUNNICUTT (Winnipeg)
DJ Hunnicutt has been DJing since 1991, both in the clubs and as a member of the Winnipeg instrumental outfit, the Hummers. As a member of Farm Fresh, Hunnicutt was also a co-founder of the acclaimed Canadian hip hop label Peanuts & Corn Records.
With his unique blend of hip hop, funk, disco, rock, reggae and anything else that gets bodies moving, Hunnicutt, along with his partner in crime DJ Co-op, has been ruling the dance party scene in Winnipeg and Western Canada for more than a decade. Together they have thrown dozens and dozens of parties at clubs (Doin the Do!), on riverboats (The Funk Boat), at roller rinks (Bounce Rock Skate Roll), and even ice rinks (Soul on Ice), all the while making each party unique and challenging themselves to out-do the last.
Since 2005, Hunnicutt has been performing with internationally renowned improv duo Crumbs, enhancing their freestyle comedy shows with an improvised soundtrack. Website
With his unique blend of hip hop, funk, disco, rock, reggae and anything else that gets bodies moving, Hunnicutt, along with his partner in crime DJ Co-op, has been ruling the dance party scene in Winnipeg and Western Canada for more than a decade. Together they have thrown dozens and dozens of parties at clubs (Doin the Do!), on riverboats (The Funk Boat), at roller rinks (Bounce Rock Skate Roll), and even ice rinks (Soul on Ice), all the while making each party unique and challenging themselves to out-do the last.
Since 2005, Hunnicutt has been performing with internationally renowned improv duo Crumbs, enhancing their freestyle comedy shows with an improvised soundtrack. Website
MAMA CUTSWORTH (Winnipeg)
Mama Cutsworth is a DJ based on the Canadian prairies. Using her turntables and mixer, she has provided improvised scores for CRUMBS (Winnipeg), Patti Stiles (Australia), PICNIC (Colombia), Rapid Fire Theatre (Edmonton), National Theatre of the World (Toronto), and members of Ghost Jail (Toronto) and 4Track (New York).
In 2013, she started a project called Speechless with Bogotá's Felipe Ortiz and Daniel Orrantia. Since its debut in Germany, this long-form wordless and surreal show has been staged in Colombia, Brazil, the Winnipeg Fringe Festival.
Maybe you want to go to one of her amazing dance parties? She's throwing on on Sat, Oct 3rd at the Union Sound Hall... perfect thing to do after watching hilarious shows.
BIG D & THE GREEN (DANA SMITH & KANE GREENE)
Dana Smith and Kane Greene are the voice and beatbox voice of this musical duo. After "tearing the roof off" at the Winnipeg Comedy Festival, they are back to give you a couple songs at the Gas Station Arts Centre. Look for them as the opening acts for North Coast on Friday and Saturday night late shows.
KAILA MULLADY (NEW YORK CITY)
Kaila Mullady is a New York based performer – the current Female World Champion, Vice National Beatbox Champion, Loop station champion and three time, reigning Beatrhyme Champion. Kaila performs all over NYC and the country infusing beatboxing, singing, rapping, poetry and theater to push the boundaries of creativity and show just what the human instrument is capable of. Multi-instrumentalist, using a RC 300 she is able to loop guitar, beatboxing and vocals to become a one woman band. Part of NYC’s premier freestyle comedy rap groupNorth Coast, incorporating improv comedy and hip hop. Teaching workshops all across the country promoting reading, writing and finding your own soul music. Giving back to communities and volunteering is a big part of Kaila’s creative process.
STAND-UP COMICS
Tim Gray writes & performs sketch and stand-up comedy as much as his aging body will allow. He's a chiseled veteran of the local stand up comedy scene, dwelling in open mic mediocrity since 2008. In 2011 he performed in the CBC Winnipeg Comedy Festival.
In 2013 he co-created the Wpg Fringe hit show "Comedy Plus Time Equals Tragedy" (★★★★ Wpg Free Press, CBC) with Dana Smith and Rory Fallis. He is currently a writer, performer and Production Manager for ShawTV's The Week Thus Far with over 80 episodes under his belt.
He's extremely excited to be performing in this year's Winnipeg IF... Improv Festival and he just hopes he doesn't fuck it up.
Chantel Marostica, known for her unique brand of high energy, physical comedy is a stand out in the local comedy scene. The first female host of Rumors Comedy Club, Veteran of the Just For Laughs, and Winnipeg Comedy Festivals, Marostica is the title holder of "Winnipeg's Funniest Person with a day job" and the Manitoba rounds of Sirius XM's "Canada's Next Top Comic" she has opened for the likes of Judy Gold, Charlie Murphy, and Russell Peters.
Jordan Welwood is a Winnipeg-born comedian and writer. In 2013 Jordan represented Winnipeg in the finals of Sirius XM's "Canada's Next Top Comic," at Just For Laughs 42, and was recently featured on CBC's "Laugh Out Loud." He performed in The Winnipeg Comedy Festival in 2014. One of the youngest comedians on the scene currently, Jordan is a regular host and headliner at Rumor's Comedy Club. His comedy combines imagery, observational humor, and animated delivery for an all-around hilarious show.
Dan Glasswick is originally from Calgary but now calls Winnipeg his home. Dan can be described as sarcastic and exploratory; off beat and on point. He has appeared in the Winnipeg Comedy Festival and Just for Laughs Winnipeg Showcase. He is a winner of Winnipeg's Funniest Person With a Day Job competition and is a regular host at Rumor's Comedy Club. He holds a respectable day job so you'll have a hard time finding him on Twitter.
Ryan Ash was in Decoys 2 by Sony Entertainment in 2007. Since being in Decoys 2, Ryan has unsuccesfully tried petitioning for Decoys 3 no less than 347 times. In a desperate bid to recreate the feeling of making Decoys 2, Ryan tried stand up comedy. He’s been to the Winnipeg Comedy Fest 4 times, is a writer on ShawTV’s The Week Thus Far, and loves being part of the Improv Fest. But it’s no Decoys 2.
Dana smith has recently decided to become a rap star. She has appeared in shows such as "Awareness through the auts"' "The Winnipeg Showcase #3", " The Drunk Show" and is the co-creator of hit fringe shows "Comedy + time = tragedy and "Lady Skits". Dana is a writer for Shaw tv's Week Thus Far.
The Winnipeg Spoken Word Festival combines poetry with film, music, improv and more. Gas Station Theatre, June 3-6 2015
Aaron Simm is a two time Winnipeg Poetry Slam Grand Champion, two time Individual Slam Champion, and has been a member of four Winnipeg Slam Poetry teams. His work has been published in CV2, and he has been featured at the Saskatchewan Festival of Words, the Winnipeg International Writers Festival, and the Brandon Folk Festival. Aaron also enjoys writing raps, rants, haiku, short stories, and biographies about himself.
Chimwemwe Undi is a member of the 2014 Winnipeg Poetry Slam team, was a member of the 2014 Victoria Spoken Word Festival, is a two-time Winnipeg Youth Slam Champion, the director and co-founder of Voices, Ink., Winnipeg’s official youth poetry project, and her name is 24 points in Scrabble.
Steve Locke is a writer, playwright, spoken word performer, and arts facilitator. As the director of the Winnipeg Poetry Slam and board member of the Winnipeg International Writers’ Festival, he is an enthusiastic supporter of the local literary arts community. His work has appeared in literary magazines and anthologies, as well as along with him on various stages across Canada.
Steve Currie is an improvisor and a poet. He directs the Winnipeg Festival of Spoken Word and this one time he did an improv scene where he was the mayor of Dauphin! Steve is excited for a season of poetry and improv coming together, it's like when you introduce your best friend and your sweetheart at a party and they actually get along!
The Manitoba Association of Playwrights has, since 1979, assisted Manitoba playwrights in the development of their work through various programs aimed at both emerging and established playwrights. From the Scirocco Drama Manitoba High School Playwriting Competition to the Open Door play readings, and Workshops and Seminars, MAP is there to help a playwright develop their script. We work with theatres in the creation of new plays. Visit our website at mbplay.ca for further information on our activities, our archive, and what we offer playwrights.
MAP makes possible the magic of theatre through the power of the playwright's vision.
