The PIT to Host 4th Annual NYC Improv Festival This Month
By: Tyler Peterson Mar. 06, 2015
As with every week at The PIT, Wednesday will be SUPER FREE night for the fest. No charge, no catch! Starting at 6pm, The PIT's house teams will be sharing the stage with house teams from theaters from all over the country, including The Groundlings, io!, and every improv theater in New York.
The NYCIF Super Free Wednesday will culminate with an 11pm Super Free performance of Geoff Grimwood's celebrated FAKE CHURCH, a show that will challenge your expectations of improvised comedy theater. Then an opening night party at The PIT's Love Bar, with specialty festival drinks and an all-theater improv jam in the Underground theater.
A full schedule for the festival is viewable at http://improvfest.nyc. Other highlights include:
Thursday, 3/19:
2pm: A free premiere reading of a new play by Tony Award winning playwright, Greg Kotis (Urinetown)
7pm: Collegehumor's Drawfee Live!, the live version of wildly popular improvised drawing show, whose YouTube channel has over 100k subscribers.
11pm: G.U.S., the improvised play about three men in a Generic Underground Shelter after the apocalypse will be closing out the night
Friday, 3/20:
7pm: Jimmy Carrane will be recording the first of two live festival episodes of the staple podcast IMPROV NERD with guest TBA.
8pm: Musical improv pioneers Baby Wants Candy
9:30pm: NYC Improv legends Centralia
10:30: Doppelskope presents their improvised puppet therapy show, SHRINK.
Saturday, 3/21:
Noon - Mental Health in Comedy panel, presented totally free. Featuring panelists Jenny Jaffe (MTV's Nikki & Sara Live, Collegehumor, Founder of Project UROK), Mike Bleijer (Malignant Brain Humor podcast), and others TBA.
4pm: Raving Jaynes - Long-form improvisation and modern dance come together in Amy Larimer and Jaime Graham's duo.
6pm: Ladies of The PIT - a classic long-form show featuring The PIT's most talented female players
7pm: Jimmy Carrane's IMPROV NERD with special guest Ali Farahnakian (SNL, Founder/Caretaker of The PIT)
7pm: Meanwhile, in the Underground, The PIT's regular political debate/improv show, Electoral Dysfunction does
a very special festival edition
8pm: North Coast the acclaimed hip hop improv team kicks off its 6-month extension at The PIT!
10pm: Ali & Friends (Ali Farahnakian plays a set with some of his old Second City/SNL buddies TBA)
11pm: The Underground rocks with World's Fair, a chaotic mix-up of players from all over the country!
Sunday, 3/22:
Noon - Free preview screening of Compass Cabaret '55, a new documentary about the founding of the Compass theater, which went on to become the Second City.
7pm: Your Love, Our Musical, the smash hit two-person improvised musical based on the true love story of an unsuspecting couple in the audience
7pm: In the Underground, The PIT's artistic director Kevin Laibson will lead his signature show, SIDECOACH - an experimental improvised event originally devised in the downtown theater scene.
8pm: Micah Sherman's People Improvising, a showcase for simple, quiet, different improvisation from some of NYC's most veteran players.
#NYCIF workshops are run by Jimmy Carrane (IMPROV NERD, Second City, WBEZ Chicago) and Mark Beltzman (Curb Your Enthusiasm, Billy Madison, Pretty Little Liars, Founding member of Improv Olympic,). More info on the workshops is available at http://improvfest.nyc/workshops/.
In addition to all the listed events, The PIT will be putting together a series of one-off events, specialty shows, and jams throughout the festival with the mission of creating opportunity for collaboration between players who usually have hundreds of miles between them.
All show tickets are $10, with festival passes (guaranteed access to all events) for just $60. More information is available at http://improvfest.nyc.
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