Birmingham Improv Festival Announces 15 Troupes, 20 Workshops

Tickets are on sale for the Birmingham Improv Festival 2026, which returns to Birmingham for its sixth edition from Wednesday 4th November to Sunday 8th November with a lineup of improv troupes from the UK, Europe, Australia and the USA.

The Birmingham Improv Festival will host fifteen improv troupes at MAC (Midlands Arts Centre), where Jon Trevor, Festival Director, has previously run improv courses, events and festivals.

The five-day festival features international and UK-based acts across 20 workshops, 12 shows, and one jam with free pizza.

BIF26 brings workshops from teachers from the UK, Europe and USA, including three workshops from Joe Bill, two workshops from Inbal Lori, a musical improv workshop from Showstoppers' Lucy Trodd, and two workshops from Chris Mead (of The Pretend Company).

Shows include 'A Really Good Improv Show' from Chicago's SAND, 'Groundhog' from London's FA, 'Seen' by Bulgaria's Shizi, 'MonoPolarised' by home team duo Jon Trevor and Stags Woodward, and 'Improvised Bergman' by Swedish team Teater Prego.

Further programme details are available via the full festival programme.

Jon Trevor, Festival Director, said: 'I am delighted to announce that the festival is back for its 6th year! Delivering five days of the finest improv comedy, along with some smatterings of musical and more theatrical improv to boot! Showcasing teams that are both local to Birmingham as well as worldwide. If you've seen improv before, you'll know what a treat this is, and if you have never experienced it, come and give it a try – there's something so magical and special about seeing a performance that is completely made up from one small suggestion, that then evolves into what feels like a fully written and produced show. We are so pleased that our venue partner, the MAC (Midlands Arts Centre) continues to support and promote this wonderful art form.'

A visit to Birmingham Improv Festival provides audiences with the opportunity to suggest different themes and storylines to performers, making it a different experience every night.

Tickets for Birmingham Improv Festival, which runs from 4th to 8th November at MAC (Midlands Arts Centre), Birmingham, can be booked online at www.macbirmingham.co.uk. Tickets are priced from £13.95 (including booking fee), age from 16+, and discounts apply. Full festival show passes are available.

For further information about the festival go to www.birminghamimprovfestival.com

Listings

Opening Night – Thursday November 5th

GRICERS @ 6PM: Gricers is Detectorists meets Waiting for Godot, a bittersweet, profoundly funny story of quiet obsession and male friendship.

THE PRETEND COMPANY @ 7:30PM: The Pretend Company are an improv company working across London and Southend specialising in improvised theatre that is just as funny as it is heart-felt.

IMPROMPTUNES – THE COMPLETELY IMPROVISED MUSICAL @9PM: Everything is made up on the spot – songs, scenes and choreography unfold before your eyes as Australia's finest improvisers create a full musical packed with hijinks, harmonies and hilarity. It's unrehearsed. It's unpredictable. It's a whole lot of fun. It's Impromptunes!

Friday November 6th

IMPROMPTWO & CO – THE JAZZ CLUB @ 6PM: In the after-hours of a downtown jazz bar just after World War II, victory hangs in the air but not necessarily for those who frequent the seedy side of this famous city. Atmosphere, emotional depth, and volatile chemistry with the danger of live music.

THE ORACLE AT BIRMINGHAM @ 7:30PM: The Oracle, the unique international live theater production, comes to the Birmingham Improv Festival for a one-time only show! The Oracle combines improvisation, devised theatre, music, and storytelling with characters and rituals based on the ancient Greek's Oracle of Delphi to comedically and dramatically explore questions the audience has.

SEEN BY SHIZI IMPROV THEATRE & IMPROVISED BERGMAN BY TEATER PREGO – SPLIT BILL @ 9PM: From Bulgaria, Seen, every message has a story. A text from your mum, a work email or a wrong number. Two improvisers with a theatrical background take one real audience message and spin it into unexpected characters, heartfelt moments, and ridiculous comedy. From Sweden, Improvised Bergman, improvisation opens cracks in the familiar Bergman universe, letting it stretch, twist, and contradict itself live on stage. One thing is certain. This will be Bergman — the way Bergman never wanted it to be.

Saturday November 7th

SAND DOES A REALLY GOOD IMPROV SHOW @ 6PM: Sand has been one of the best improv groups in Chicago since 2009! Named 'Chicago's Best Improv Team' by NewCity. Inspired by documentary film, traditional fairy tales, and the spectacle of professional wrestling, Sand's performances are a night of improv that seamlessly transitions into performance art, where the real and the surreal collide.

JOE BILL & INBAL LORI @ 7:30PM: Renowned improvisers, Joe Bill and Inbal Lori bring their blend of edgy, smart & emotional improvisation, with one foot planted in grounded character work and the other in touch with the chaos and insanity of the world in which we currently live, you're in for a night of improvisation that reflects the serious and silly ways that we all cope with each other and the circumstances that life throws at us.

CARDUME BY INSOMNIA & WET SKELETON – SPLIT BILL @ 9PM: From Portugal, Insomnia, a sleepless night. A late-night bar. Many restless minds wander. Come with us and enter the mind of someone who can't sleep, turning memories, dreams, fears and intrusive thoughts into a fully improvised theatrical experience. Poetic, funny, haunting and beautifully unpredictable. From Liverpool, Wet Skeleton is one performer, zero script, and infinite possibilities. Watch as her 206 soggy (and slightly wonky) bones become all manner of characters from the familiar to the downright bizarre. Nobody knows what she'll do, not even her, as the audience inspired weird and wonderful stories weave together to create one-off worlds.

Sunday November 8th – Closing the Festival

TAXI TALES (ENSEMBLE) @ 6PM: Mark Smith's Taxi Tales is a playful exploration of humanity as seen through the simplest of interactions. Set in the back of a taxi, the story unfolds over a single night, revealing the personal struggles and frustrations of everyday life for both the driver and their passengers. What emerges across the show is voyeuristic, funny, and very human.

GROUNDHOG @ 7:30PM: Groundhog are a fast, funny improv group made up of four superstar improvisers from The Free Association Theatre in London who have been performing since it opened its doors in 2014. They were crowned improv cagematch champions in 2023 and since then have regularly sold out shows in London and internationally.