Court Jesters
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The Court Jesters are a professional improv company founded in 1989 and based in Christchurch, New Zealand. The Court Jesters are a subsidiary of the Court Theatre professional theatre company, acting as a second company within the theatre.
The Court Jesters provide entertainment for corporate and private clients, run weekly community improv workshops and an annual Theatresports™ competition for high schools, as well as performing their own weekly show, Scared Scriptless.
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[edit] History
[edit] Early Years
Theatresports at The Court Theatre began in 1987 under the direction of Bryan Aitken and Judie Douglass. This was largely due to the upswing in popularity of improvised theatre internationally and the desire to introduce it to a New Zealand audience. The popularity of the style led to the formation of a permanent improvisational 'wing' of The Court Theatre with the irreverant moniker "The Court Jesters" in late 1989.
In 1990 The Court Jesters manager Michael Robinson began the late-night improvised comedy show Scared Scriptless at 11pm Fridays at The Court Theatre, which still runs to this day at The Court Theatre. It is the longest running show in New Zealand. (original members were John Hudson, Patrick Duffy, Geoff Dolan, KC Kelly, Greg Cooper, Ross Gumbley, Cal Wilson, Simon Peacock, Susan Fogarty, Matthew Gould, Kevin Smith, Craig Cooper, Carl Nixon, Andie Spargo and Michael Robinson.)
The Jesters also had considerable success with dinner theatre including a show at Mona Vale called The Wedding. Several shows were written and performed at The Court Theatre, including I Spy and Blood.
During the rest of the 90s the Jesters expanded their repertoire with, corporate entertainment and teaching improv/theatresports to high schools (as part of the "Theatresports in Schools" programme) and community improvisation classes.
In 1994 The Court Jesters sent a team of improvisors to the World Theatresports Championships in Los Angeles. Teams from the UK, South Africa, Canada, Australia, Denmark, America, New Zealand, The Netherlands and other countries competed. New Zealand's team, comprising Simon Peacock, Cal Wilson, Susan Fogarty and Greg Cooper won the competition.
[edit] Parting of the Ways
Unfortunately, the second half of the 90s saw a decline in audience numbers and the profile of improvisation in Christchurch. Although Scared Scriptless maintained something of a cult following, the Court Jesters were not enjoying the sucesses of previous years.
In 2002 the members of the Court Jesters, dissatisfied with their relationship with The Court Theatre, left to form their own corporate entertainment/improvisation business, the Outwits. While the Jesters as such had effectively disbanded, the Outwits continued to perform Scared Scriptless and teach Theatresports in Schools for the remainder of the year.
[edit] The "New" Jesters
In November of 2002 The Court Theatre announced that it was reforming The Court Jesters under the management of Nicola Wellbourn and the direction and tutelage of Patrick Duffy (one of the original Jesters who had left the troupe in the early-mid 90s). They held open auditions and from the various actors, singers, entertainers, comedians, street performers, and improvisors who applied formed the new troupe of Court Jesters in December of 2002, effectively a reboot for the company.
These new Jesters took over Scared Scriptless, Theatresports in Schools and corporate entertainment at the beginning of 2003. Effectively starting from scratch, the Jesters had to rebuild a fan base and increase audiences for Scared Scriptless, as well as attracting more corporate entertainment work and retaining the goodwill of The Court Theatre Management. While described as a "hard slog" by many, progress was made financially and artistically.
In 2005 Kirsty Gillespie took over as manager of the Court Jesters with Jeff Clark remaining as assistant to the manager. While Patrick Duffy remained an active member of the Jesters, Ross Gumbley (another original Court Jester who had moved to Centrepoint Theatre in the mid 90s then returned to take the position of Associate Artistic Director of The Court Theatre in 2000) took a much more active role in the performance side of the company.
At the beginning of 2006 the Court Jesters enjoyed a marked surge in numbers at Scared Scriptless (coupled with a change of the start time to 10pm) and continued to build audiences, often moving the show to a larger venue to accommodate ticket sales. Ross Gumbley was appointed Artistic Director of the Court Theatre in March of 2006, effectively securing the company's position.
In May 2006 the company received improvisation tutelage from Keith Johnstone to couple the rise in financial success with increased artistic standards.
The Court Jesters are enjoying something of a renaissance as they experience an upsurge in fresh audiences, financial security and strong support from The Court Theatre.
[edit] Performers
Over the years the roster of The Jesters has changed regularly.
The original members were brought from either acting interns at The Court Theatre or through auditions/recruitment.
Members often left to pursue other careers or move overseas; subsequently people from school teams, workshops or other towns were regularly recruited into the company as "Associate" Jesters - jesters who played Scared Scriptless semi-regularly but were not used for corporate work or permanently contracted.
By the mid-1990s, many if not all of the troupe were 'second-generation' jesters, having been coached/taught by the Court Jesters themselves and gone from Associate to Full Jestership.
When the company reformed in late 2002, many of the new Jesters were garnered from the University of Canterbury Comedy Club, high school teams and other entertainment groups/organisations. Again, there were numerous reshufflings and recruitments as the company continued to evolve.
At present the Court Jesters have a relatively stable roster of approximately sixteen full Jesters.
[edit] Performances
The Jesters perform a wide variety of improvised and semi-scripted shows. They also regularly perform as corporate entertainers for businesses, societies, groups and festivals around Christchurch and New Zealand.
[edit] Scared Scriptless
The primary Court Jesters show is Scared Scriptless, a short-form improvisation show on at 10pm Fridays at The Court Theatre. The show has been running since 1990 and is New Zealand's longest-running comedy show.
[edit] Fairyable
Performed in the Chch Botanic Gardens in February 2004 for the Chistchurch City Council's "Summertimes" festival. A long-form improvised fairytale.
[edit] The Early Early Late Show
The Early Early Late Show was performed from June 22 - July 29 2006 at 8pm on Thursday, Fidays and Saturdays. The first half consisted of short-form improv with an MC and the second would feature directed scenes.
[edit] A Very Merry Scriptless
To be staged in December 2006 at 8pm Fridays and Saturdays and hosted by Ross Gumbley.
