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The 10th Annual

Sarasota Improv Festival

July 12 - 14
The 10th Annual

Sarasota Improv Festival

July 12 - 14

The 10th Anniversary Sarasota Improv Festival will take place on July 12, 13, 14 - that's THREE days of non-stop comedy coming your way. Troupes are coming from all over the country - and from as far away as France and Spain - all ready to bring their best spontaneous hilarity to the Gulf Coast.

Featuring not one, not two, but an unprecedented THREE headliners - Baby Wants Candy (Chicago), Impro Madrid (Spain), and Impro Theatre (LA) - one for each day of the Festival. Plus, several returning favorites including North Coast (NYC), Parallelogramophonograph (Austin, TX), ImprovBoston (Boston, MA), STACKED (Chicago, IL), and Available Cupholders (Austin, TX). 

FESTIVAL SCHEDULE

Thursday, July 12

7PM - FST Improv (Sarasota, FL)
8PM - Impro Theatre (Los Angeles, CA)

Friday, July 13

6PM - Florida Showcase: Dear Aunt Gertrude (Tampa, FL), Third Thought (St. Petersburg, FL), and When X Meets Y (Sarasota, FL)
6PM - ImprovBoston (Boston, MA)
7PM - North Coast Improv (New York City, NY)
7PM - Orange Tuxedo (Los Angeles, CA)
8PM - Available Cupholders (Austin, TX)
8PM La Carpe Haute (Strasbourg, France)
8PM - Baby Wants Candy (Chicago, IL)
9PM - Dad's Garage (Atlanta, GA)
9PM - Parallelogramophonograph (Austin, TX)
9PM STACKED (Chicago, IL)
10PM Impromadrid (Madrid, Spain)

Saturday, July 14

5PM - Florida Showcase: Just the Funny (Miami, FL), Sick Puppies (Boca Raton, FL), and Square One Improv (Naples, FL)
5PM - Hawk & Wayne (St, Petersburg, FL)
5PM - La Carpe Haute (Strasbourg, France)
6PM - Available Cupholders (Austin, TX)
6PM - Big Bang Improv (Sarasota, Austin, NYC)
6PM - STACKED (Chicago, IL)
7PM - Sarasota Improv Festival All-Stars
7PM - Dad's Garage (Atlanta, GA)
7PM - ImprovBoston (Boston, MA)
7PM - Impro Theatre (Los Angeles, CA)
8PM - Parallelogramophonograph (Austin, TX)
8PM - SAK Comedy Lab (Orlando, FL)
8PM Orange Tuxedo (Los Angeles, CA)
9PM - Baby Wants Candy (Chicago, IL)
10:30PM All Play

WORKSHOP SCHEDULE

Saturday, July 14

9:00-11:00AM

Fresh Out of the Womb
Lead by Square One Improv

Do you remember the day you were born? The discovery, the curiosity. Wouldn't it be so nice to do each scene with a completely blank slate? This workshop focuses on letting each scene find its way naturally. No pre-planned ideas; no agendas. When you leave, you will feel like a newborn baby, fresh out of the womb.


See It, Feel It, React to It
Lead by Sick Puppies Improv

Do you feel like you get lost in a scene because so much information has been given already? Do you feel as though you are letting a scene run by before locking into something? In this workshop, we will work on finding that moment and how to generate everything you need to make a scene work from it so you don't have to be an idea generator. Learn how to improv more from less.


Looking for the End
Lead by Impromadrid

A good improvised story should awaken interest and emotionally touch the audience. For the construction of a good story you need a good foundation: character, space and event. From there, the improvisers work so that the rhythm of the story captivates the viewer and has a very clear ending. In the workshop, we will remember the structure of the classic narrative, the way to use it in improvisation and how it leads us towards the very clear end. Everything has to do with the hero, his goal and the way to achieve it.

A French Lesson in Physicality
Lead by La Carpe Haute

Your body isn't just a vehicle to go from a place to another. Your mind isn't just a control tower, slightly connected to your body by your spine. You are entire, so BE entire. This is a workshop about connecting the mind to the body, to recreate what should never have been separated: you. Using crazy games to create an instinctive reaction right from your body, you will learn to develop your physicality from top to toe, and to be conscious of it. Once you have forgotten your brain, you will use your body to reconnect and control your mind, create realistic reactions and surprise yourself. Accept to loose control, your body knows how you feel!

Intro to Musical Improv 
Lead by STACKED

Love music? Love improv? Combine the two! Come join us for our Intro to Musical Improv Workshop! Taught by the ladies of Stacked:All-Female Musical Improv, the workshop will focus on basic song structure chorus building rhyming harmonizing theatricality and creating that perfect show stopping solo duet or group number!

Reinventing Short-Form
Lead by Improv Boston

Every decent improviser knows shortform, right? Not so fast. If you think shortform is easy, hack, or gimmicky, you're not doing it right. Discover the art of shortform. Learn how to connect with an audience, attack the stage, and find the game within the game. Geek out on structures, comedic angles, and ever-elusive hosting techniques. Gain valuable scenic, collaborative, character, audience interaction, and fast-play skills that you can apply to most any other style of improv. One thing's for sure: after this workshop, you’ll never look at shortform the same way.

It All Matters
Lead by Third Thought Improv

How to use every bit of information to create interesting & compelling scenes that are rich & full of emotion. 

11:30AM - 1:30PM

Improvise Like a Married Couple
Lead by Orange Tuxedo

The same communication skills that make for a good relationship make for a good improvised scene. Real-life married couple Craig and Carla Cackowski (from the duo Orange Tuxedo) share their favorite exercises that foster open communication between scene partners! Learn how to read each other’s minds, express your ideas clearly, and avoid arguments (while still getting what you want).

Here and Now
Lead by La Carpe Haute

Why do we improvise? What do we reallywant to share with the audience? Stories of course... but not just any! Improvisers often tell stories about characters who are not here in a time which is not now... And forget the main point: the most powerful and important story is the one they are currently living on stage, with their partner. Who are they for each other ? How deep is their relationship? What are they dreaming of ? In this workshop we'll discover all of it with our feelings, our body and our instinct. Step by step we'll find what's really matter for the characters and why they are playing these scene. To be sincerely improvising here and now, with our partner.

Deft Theft
Lead by Parallelogramophonograph

We are all human beings, and as humans, we love and chase compelling stories and memorable characters. But how do we make memorable characters on-the-spot in improvised theatre? One delightful tool is the archetype Rolodex! The character types you love from books, movies, and television are right at your fingertips - and actually - already in your brain! In this workshop, you’ll learn to access and recognize dozens of character types and use your own body and voice to fully inhabit them. “Stealing” has never been this fun or useful!

Getting to Know Will
Lead by SAK

Are you tired of just adding “th” at the end of all your words in Shakespeare scenes? Unpack the beautiful language that is Shakespeare and apply it to your short- and long-form improv! Explore key Shakespearean language devices such as allusion, alliteration and antithesis (and that’s just the a’s!) and see how they can add authenticity, color and comedy to your work. No prior Shakespearean experience needed, but a little advanced reading or YouTube binging couldn’t hurt!

Musical (All Form)
Lead by ImprovBoston

Do you love musical longform? Do you love musical shortform? Have you been searching for the Unified Theory of Improv — a way to use all the improv skills, approaches, and structures you’ve picked up over the years? Welcome to AllForm, ImprovBoston’s signature philosophy. Every tool you’ve ever used is on the table when we dive into AllForm; we take this amazing freedom and kick it up a notch by adding a serious dose of music to the mix. Follow the fun to discover how every moment, lyric, beat, melody, lay-on, and movement in a show can be instantaneously deconstructed, producing boundless connections. We’ll fly the plane as we build it in mid air.

2:00PM - 4:00PM

Improvised Hip Hop
Lead by North Coast

This introductory musical improv workshop introduces you to the basics of Hip Hop Improv: the combination of free-style rapping and scene work. North Coast will guide you through the basics of free-styling which, instead of forcing the rhyme, is all about gaining access to the rhymes that have been in your catalogue since you were a kid. Learn how to set yourself up, find your flow, and weave your rapped verses into your improv scene work!

Caring About Stuff
Lead by Dad's Garage

In life, we constantly have invested feelings about what we want, actions we want to make, and words that readily spill out of our mouths. But sometimes when we are improvising we find ourselves marooned on stage, not sure what to say or what to do; we are just lost. This workshop will give you the tools to combat those uncertain moments by caring about something in your scene work, making it as effortless as living your life.

Short Form Tune Up
Lead by SAK

Short Form Improv shows are sure-fire audience favorites. For audiences, the shows are fast paced and unique. Plus, the constant need for suggestions keeps the audience invested in the show unfolding before them. But, for players, sometimes short form shows feel repetitive and un-fulfilling, often because the laughs come from the structures and "tricks" in the games. When we rely solely on these, that's when our short form needs a tune up. Join this workshop and re-discover the joys of playing short form games and putting on shows, but this time, with a long form mentality that focuses on reacting to your partner, not the game! 

Mime and Object Work
Lead by La Carpe Haute

Play truly in your imaginary environment. Be more in the moment and more grounded to the reality of your scene. A clear vision of your environment, the objects and furniture around, their size and weight are a helpful friend that make your stories more believable for you and your audience. This workshop will train your body to play truthfully in your imaginary environments and make them more visible for you and your audience. It finds its inspiration in Lecoq’s work, clown, commedia dell’arte

Movement from the Inside
Lead by Available Cupholders

Feeling stuck inside your own body as an improviser?  Looking for new ways to make physical choices on stage?  Want to take your stage picture skills to a whole new level?  This workshop based on viewpoints and the Danceability Method is for you.  Michael Joplin (Available Cupholders, Los Angeles) is a certified Danceability instructor and has studied and taught contact improvisation, viewpoints, and improv comedy for over 15 years. In this movement based workshop you will learn to upgrade your awareness, listen with your whole body, and learn to make interesting relationships and magic in any space with anyone. Please wear clothes you are comfortable moving in. 

Troupes

Available Cupholders 

Baby Wants Candy

Big Bang Improv

Dad's Garage 

Dear Aunt Gertrude

FST Improv

Hawk and Wayne 

Impro Madrid

Impro Theatre

ImprovBoston

Just the Funny

La Carpe Haute

North Coast Improv

Orange Tuxedo

Parallelogramophonograph 

SAK Comedy Lab

Sick Puppies Comedy 

Square One Improv 

STACKED: All Female Musical Improv 

The Third Thought