Winnipeg Improv

There is improv in Winnipeg. It's everywhere if you know where to look. This website will give you the scoop. Stay tuned. In the meantime, here are things. 1) The Winnipeg if... Improv Festival is based out of the Gas Station Arts Centre. GSAC WEBSITE 2) The Canadian Improv Games Manitoba trains the next crop of improvisers at High Schools across the province. BUY ONLINE TICKETS NOW MORE INFO ABOUT THE CIG 3) Shows around the city. We swear there will be improv and comedy shows happening all over the city! LINK  4) Improv workshops for the advanced player all the way to the beginner just wanting to give it a try. We swear there will be improv workshops happening! 5) Resources for your improvisation. Improv suggestion app by Dave Morris LINK Improv suggestion website by Vinny Francois & Gil Browdy LINK The Improv Encyclopedia (of games) LINK

Another Winnipeg if... Improv Festival comes to a close. We would like to send a HUGE thank you to everyone involved. The guests we brought in to be in the Festival Ensemble were incredible. Randy Dixon leading the workshops was a treat and Winnipeg will be inspired by his words for years. The festival created a new element in the Local Ensemble, bringing together 13 members of the improv community to work and perform. It was such a tremendous success. The Sketch Ensemble was the same, as it was a new element and was created to foster the growing sketch comedy scene. Kevin McDonald from The Kids in the Hall lead the ensemble in creating brand new sketch from improv tools. Thank you to all the volunteers and all the audiences and all of Winnipeg!   Kevin McDonald and the Sketch Ensemble  The Festival Ensemble enjoying some late night games after the first show  Stephen and Kevin about to do some early early morning TV  Randy Dixon onstage with t...

The 2016  Winnipeg if... Improv Festival is almost here! GET TICKETS ONLINE NOW We will be flying in some amazing guests performers from Seattle, Los Angeles, Montreal, Edmonton, Toronto, Port Coquitlam and Winnipeg (well, the guests from Winnipeg will maybe take the bus). WHAT'S THAT? YOU WANT THE FACEBOOK EVENT? We will showcasing Improvisation as well as collaboration with Sketch Comedy and Stand-up Comedy . Not only will we be showcasing some great out of town improv shows, we also also invent some improv shows of our own. We will be creating a Festival Ensemble of players, as well as a Local Ensemble of players and a Sketch Ensemble of players. What does this mean? It means we will be making up some amazing new improv and hilarious new sketch comedy. The improv ensembles will be directed by none other than Randy Dixon (Seattle's Unexpected Productions) and the Sketch ensemble will be directed by Kevin McDonald (The Kids in the Hall) . You will ...

The Winnipeg iF... Improv Festival returns for the 17th time!  The festival started in the year 2000 and has brought to Winnipeg the very best in the "made up arts". From some of the original gurus and creators of the modern improv movement to improvisers who have gone on to write and star in TV and movies. For years we've had amazing improv artists from around the world descend on Winnipeg and mix it up with the amazing local improvisers.  Stay tuned right here for details to be released! If you are interested in applying to be a part of the "Local Ensemble" and be a part of the team that puts the festival on, apply HERE: APPLICATION LINK

Next Winnipeg IF... Improv Festival is happening OCT 11th - 15th, 2016 Thank you to all the staff at the Gas Station Arts Centre for helping produce this amazing festival. Be on the look out for some AMAZING and BIG news about the upcoming improv festival this FALL! The Big Stupid Improv Show at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival is happening! Advanced Tickets on sale NOW Big Stupid Improv Facebook Event Link Thank you to all our performers. The local improv stars who took the time to grace our stages. The out of town performers who came to Winnipeg to impress us with their style and be impress by our town. Thank you to all the crew of volunteers the festival has, our improv community, that makes all the gears work and makes the festival run smooth. Thank you to all the audiences who come out to the shows, laugh at the jokes, gasp at the stories and applaud at the art we make up only once.  opening night packed at the King's Head (this is where Step...

The Winnipeg IF... Improv Festival is proud to present the Big Stupid Improv Show. In association with The Probable Cast and CRUMBS and Mama Cutsworth and many many special guests. The Winnipeg Fringe Festival is coming and so that means that there will be many many shows and many many great performers in Winnipeg and many many emails in your inbox and many many event invitations in your notifications. The Big Stupid Improv Show Venue #21      MTYP - Mainstage 2 Forks Market Rd. (The Forks) Wed July 15 6:30pm Thu July 16 12pm Fri July 17 9pm Sat July 18 5:15pm Sun July 19 12pm Mon July 20 4:15pm Wed July 22 9:45pm Fri July 24 2:45pm Sat July 25 5:30pm Sun July 26 7:15pm LINK to buy your advanced tickets! This show has been a Fringe staple since 1999. It would be a classic move to state that this year the show will be BIGGER and STUPIDER than EVER! But that would be a lie, the sh...

The dates for the 2015 Winnipeg IF... Improv Festival have been announced.  Look for us from Sept 29th to Oct 4th at the Gas Station Arts Centre. GSAC LINK More details to be announced soon. Go improv!

 Joe Bill will soon be in Winnipeg. This should make everyone very excited because... Joe Bill is widely regarded as one of the best teachers of Scenic and Comedic Improvisation in the world 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 Adviser for a number of Improvisation and Comedy Theaters 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. His passion for teaching Improvisation soon kicked into high gear as a unique approach to Improvised Scene and Character began to be articulated by a number of teachers at Annoyance, including Mick Napier, Mark Sutton, Joe, David Razowsky, Bob Fisher and Susan Messing that focused on Improvisers "Taking care of themselves, in order to take care of others in a scene". You can and should take works...

The Winnipeg Fringe Festival is almost here and to celebrate improvisation we have the longest running improv jam show in Winnipeg to help us out. The Big Stupid Improv Show is an improv jam show that runs in Winnipeg, Edmonton, Toronto, Vancouver and anywhere else that cares to use the name and throw random comedic actors onstage with improvisers for a Big Stupid Show! The show was first formed in Edmonton as a last minute fundraiser and was named by Wes Borg (of Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie fame). The first one in the Winnipeg Fringe happened in 1998 and has been running practically every year since then. The idea is to bring all the great local improvisers and comedians and throw them onstage with all the great touring performers that are in town for the Fringe. The result is some of the best impromptu, ad-hoc, jams of comedy and theatre possible. Join the "Probable Cast" each night they do their show and see it turn out different each night. The shows ...

Well, soon. The Winnipeg iF... Improv Festival is going to be hitting Winnipeg September 20th - 24th. The festival is produced with generous help from the Gas Station Arts Centre and from the blood sweat and tears from the Winnipeg Improv community. Keep your ear to the wind as we keep out noses to the grindstone. We will be releasing information as it gets leaked to us from out spies... Well, as the information becomes confirmed, we will release it. Until then, enjoy the hell out of the Winnipeg Fringe Festival which runs July 13th until July 25th . Shows to check out: CRUMBS at the King's Head Pub The Big Stupid Improv Show at the Planetarium Auditorium Full Screen Ahead at the Pantages Playhouse The D&D Improv Show at the Gas Station Theatre More information that is useful... CLICK HERE for venues and maps. CLICK HERE for buying advanced tickets. Thank you, and keep improvising.

Is at the 2011 Winnipeg Fringe Festival at the Planetarium Auditorium and will be featuring the very best in improv with the very best improv players from all across the wonderful world of ours (mostly from Canada though). Order tickets HERE Find out how to get to the theatre HERE

The Winnipeg iF... Improv Festival keeps experimenting with improvisation and with the calendar of when we even have a festival. This year's festival will be Nov 9th - 14th at the Gas Station Arts Centre right in Osborne Village. Soon we will be releasing who will be coming and what will be going on... exciting right? And while you wait for more festival information... how about a creepy picture of a giant baby.

With the Winnipeg iF... Improv Festival starting up next week. It is time to look back at festivals past (and passed) to name drop and share who has graced the stages here for this festival. In no particular order: David Shepherd from the Beginning of Modern Improv 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, Chris Connelly, Marc Shulte) The General Fools from Regina (Mike Fly, Amy Matysio) Phil Van Hest from Los Angeles Kevin Tomlinson from England PROJECTproject from Toronto (Julie Dumais) Mike Grajewski from Toronto Iron Cobra from Toronto (Becky Johnson and Graham Wagner) Rene Dellefont from Atlanta Monster Theatre from Calgary/Vancouver (Ryan Gladstone and Bruce Horak) Instant Theatre from Vancouver (Alistair Cook, Dave Morris and Ryan Biel) Vancouver Theatresports League (Jason Bryden and Taz Van Rassel) Plus of course th...

The festival runs Feb 15th - 20th and will feature shows, shows and more shows! here are some details: Monday Feb 15th at the Park Theatre Soap Scum presents a live improvised soap opera 8pm $5 Tuesday Feb 16th at the King's Head Pub Free Laughs presents the Improv Festival Jam Platter 9pm and free Thursday Feb 18th at the Gas Station Theatre The Advanced D & D live improv serial 8pm $10 Friday Feb 19th at the Gas Station Theatre The Improv Festival Mainstage Show 8pm $10 Saturday Feb 20th at the Gas Station Theatre The Improv Festival Mainstage Show 8pm $10 For more information and tickets call 284-9477

The Winnipeg iF... Improv Festival (version 9) Nov 3rd - Nov 8th Monday Nov 3rd The special CRUMBS radio show on 101.5 umfm at 5pm Soap Scum at the Park theatre at 8pm the live improvised soap opera. The Park Theatre show is at 698 Osborne Street and costs $5 Tuesday Nov 4th The special King's Head Festival jam show featuring special guests and improv awesomes 9pm and free (yes FREE) The King's Head Pub is located at 120 King Street. Thursday Nov 6th The first main stage show of the Festival at the Gas Station Theatre Featuring special guests and OUTSIDE JOKE Friday Nov 7th The second main stage show of the Festival at the Gas Station Theatre Featuring special guests and CRUMBS Saturday Nov 8th The third and final night of the Festival at the Gas Station Theatre Featuring a live improv movie (yes live!) The Gas Station Theatre is great (and produces the Festival) The Gas Station Theatre is located in the heart of Osborne village at 445 River Ave (call 284-9477). The Gas Station...