ImprovBoston

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ImprovBoston is a nonprofit improvisational theater, based in Cambridge, MA. They offer shows 6 nights per week at their theatre in Inman Square, as well as workshops and training programs in improvisation and, more recently, sketchwriting. Their current Artistic Director is Will Luera.

[edit] History

In 1982, Ellen Holbrook, a former student of Second City, put together the first incarnation of ImprovBoston, with the encouragement of former members of The Proposition, an earlier improv-comedy troupe. At first, she organized several loosely knit bands of improvisers into teams that competed in an “Improv Olympics” at Reilly’s Beef and Pub and later at Satch's in Boston. Eventually, this format was replaced by the unified group known today as ImprovBoston. In 1984, ImprovBoston began performing at Ryles Jazz Club in Inman Square, before acquiring a lease on the Back Alley Theater in 1993.

For several years at the Back Alley Theater, the ImprovBoston Mainstage cast performed one show Friday night and two shows Saturday night each week under the artistic direction of first Nancy Howland Walker and then Larry Pizza. In 1997, the artistic leadership transferred to Ron Jones, a former cast member from the early 1990s. Under his leadership, ImprovBoston was granted the New England franchise of the popular Theatersports format, which added a second cast to the troupe. A weekly Theatersports show was added Friday nights after the earlier Mainstage show. It was under Jones' leadership that the theater began to extend its reach to further aspects of improvisation, creating new formats and shows beyond the traditional shortform game format the troupe had used for their Friday and Saturday night shows.

In 2000, former cast member Will Luera returned to ImprovBoston as the new Artistic Director, bringing with him several show concepts and forms that he had established under the banner of Bluescreen Productions (another improv theater he had established in Davis Square). This merger saw a third cast added to the ImprovBoston line-up, as ImprovBoston was granted the rights to Keith Johnstone's Micetro format. This third cast performed weekly on Thursday nights. Upon taking the mantle of artistic leadership, Luera began the most aggressive expansion of the theater in its history, as several new shows, concepts, and formats were established and kept the theater doors open 5 nights a week. The Hump on Wednesday nights (improv fringe), The Great And Secret Comedy Show late Thursdays (stand-up comedy hosted by The Walsh Brothers), bi-monthly Showcase Shows in the early Friday night slot (newly-created and designed improv shows in various genres or formats), and the Sgt. Culpepper Improvisational Jamboree on Sunday nights (two short shows featuring independent and college troupes from around the area, followed by an audience-participation "Open Jam").

In the years that have followed, ImprovBoston has estblished new annual productions including GoreFest (a scripted horror musical every October that involves copious amounts of fake blood and special effects), The ImprovBoston Holiday Spectacular (a holiday-themed sketch show), and the Comedy Beanpot (an improv tournament hosted by ImprovBoston that involves college troupes from around the New England area). No longer strictly a theater of improvisation, ImprovBoston now hosts and runs weekly shows, classes, and workshops involving all facets of the art of comedy-- stand-up, sketch, improv, video, and music.

[edit] Contact Info

ImprovBoston
1253 Cambridge Street
Cambridge, MA 01239
(617) 576-1253

[edit] External links