Sea Tea Improv's Hartford Improv Festival Returns

On April 6th - 9th, 2017 at Spotlight Cinemas in downtown Hartford, Sea Tea Improv will bring back the Hartford Improv Festival for a fourth year. Last year's festival drew crowds of hundreds throughout three days of improvisational comedy activities, as well as award-winning improvisers from around the country. Tickets can be purchased at www.hartfordimprov.com/festival.

Performers this year will once again hail from all over the northern hemisphere. Teams from as far as Toronto, Montreal, Oregon, Baltimore, New York, and Boston will be performing, along with 15 of Connecticut's best improv teams. The performers this year represent the best the country and the state have to offer.

Connecticut is well-represented with not only Sea Tea Improv, but the explosion of great improv comedy since August 2016's opening of the Sea Tea Comedy Theater. This year, the festival will feature 15 Connecticut teams, ranging from the high school team Parachute, UConn's Horse Lincoln, Bridgeport's Piggy Got Owned, and breakout favorites Brain's Song, as well as a dozen others.

The Hartford Improv Festival (HIF) is Connecticut's largest improv event of the year. Sea Tea Improv continues to establish Hartford as a hub for comedy at the national level. The Hartford Improv Festival is designed to attract local and national talent to Hartford and showcase the art of improv comedy. Each day of the festival will consist of improv comedy performances and workshops featuring both local and national comedy talent.

The events this year include four comedy workshops by improvisers from around the country held at Sea Tea Improv Studios; dozens of improv comedy shows; drop-in jams on Friday night and Saturday at noon, a Saturday-night private party at Vaughan's Public House, and a free Sunday night show at City Steam Brewery Cafe.

Tickets can be purchased for single shows, whole days, or the entire festival. For a full schedule please visit www.hartfordimprov.com/festival.

Tickets for the whole festival are $99 to see all 50 teams, or $20 for Thursday only, $30 for Friday only, $70 for Saturday only, and $10 for individual shows. Audiences are invited to hang out for as much of the weekend as they desire-- remember, you're allowed to bring movie theater popcorn (or any food and drink, including your beers!) into every show! Workshops at Sea Tea Improv studios are $35 and can be found at hartfordimprov.com.

#HIF2017 is made possible through the generous support of Dr. Steven A. Fischman Orthodontics, Shall Be LLC, Vaughan's Public House, and The Improv Network.

The Hartford Improv Festival is still accepting sponsors for the 2017 festival. For more information on sponsorship opportunities, please email festival@hartfordimprov.com.

Sea Tea Improv is an award-winning comedy company based in Hartford, Connecticut and serves students of all ages and experiences. Sea Tea Improv has performed hundreds of shows throughout Hartford, New England, and beyond since 2009. The Hartford Improv Festival is one of the ways they fulfill their mission of bringing the highest-quality comedy and improvisation to Connecticut, building upon the cultural offerings of Hartford, and leading a dedicated community of improvisers. Sea Tea Improv began as a small, 7-person comedy team and has become the leading improv comedy company in the state.