ImprovBoston Welcomes The Cambridge Footlights International Tour Show 2017

John Cleese, Eric Idle, and Graham Chapman (Monty Python), Emma Thompson (Sense and Sensibility, Love Actually), John Oliver (Last Week Tonight with John Oliver), Rowan Atkinson (MR. Bean), and Hugh Laurie (House, Fry & Laurie) all have one thing in common: they got their comedic start in Cambridge (Cambridge, England, that is) with the Cambridge Footlights.

Called "the most renowned sketch troupe of them all" by The Independent, Cambridge Footlights embarks on their wildly popular annual world tour, performing for more than 20,000 people in London, Edinburgh, California, Las Vegas, Chicago, New York, and now Central Square in Cambridge (the U.S. one). The troupe that delivered so many comedy greats brings its free-flowing hilarity, original writing, and side-splitting character comedy to ImprovBoston on September 22nd for one show only.

Started in 1883 at Cambridge University, the troupe exploded in the 1960s as a center of comedy, performing at the annual Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Its members then formed half of Beyond the Fringe, the popular stage revue that toured Britain, New Zealand, and the U.S.. With stops at Broadway and The Ed Sullivan Show and a full-page review in Time, its members fueled the satire upsurge.

"The Footlights are an annual hit here," says ImprovBoston Artistic Director Mike Descoteaux. "We're thrilled to once again welcome the infamous sketch comedy troupe from their Cambridge to our Cambridge."

The Cambridge Footlights International Tour Show 2017: Dream Sequence runs September 22nd at 10PM. Tickets are available at https://ibcambridgefootlights2017.eventbrite.com.

For over 30 years, ImprovBoston has been New England's leading theater and school dedicated to the art of comedy in all its forms. Voted "Best of Boston" by The Phoenix, The Improper Bostonian, and The Weekly Dig, ImprovBoston performers, teachers and students have included film stars, Emmy Award-winning comedians, and acclaimed producers, directors, musicians and writers. ImprovBoston alumni are featured on Conan, Late Night with Stephen Colbert, The Daily Show, America's Got Talent, Funniest Wins, Playboy, Last Comic Standing and John Oliver's Last Week Tonight, to name a few. In 2014, the Independent Reviewers of New England honored ImprovBoston with an award recognizing its longstanding contributions to the Boston theater community. As a nonprofit arts organization, ImprovBoston serves the community through laughter with youth outreach programs, workshops for businesses, scholarships, a national touring company and, of course, performances at its theater complex in Central Square, Cambridge.