DENVER'S NEXT IMPROV STAR - Season 5 Set for Bovine Metropolis Theater, Now thru 5/17

The way to win Season 5 of Denver's Next Improv Star: make your opponents look good. This seeming contradiction is at the heart of improv theater and a skill that every winner must demonstrate.

"Since it is a competition, you want to stand out, but as an improviser you want to make sure that you stand out for the right reasons. The whole show really is a balancing act. But that's what improv is always about anyway," Kat Bond, winner of Season 2, says.

Watch 15 players collaborate to accomplish each week's challenge, meanwhile competing to win the grand prize and title of Denver's Next Improv Star. Without any preparation, contestants are thrown into a variety of games and situations and asked to complete specific tasks, like create an improv musical. The result is an unpredictable blend of comedy and drama.

It's that spontaneity that Season 1 winner Spencer Rybacki enjoyed the most. "In most shows you have an idea of what you would like to accomplish before the show. But finding out what we were going to do while we were on stage with people whom we had never improvised before was a treat," Rybacki says.

Players are judged on creativity, improv skills, comedic timing, stage presence and a special focus based on the expertise of that week's Guest Judge. Every week, Judges eliminate one contestant, while the others vie for prizes, like restaurant gift cards, theater tickets and indoor skydiving party packages, and the grand prize--being named Denver's Next Improv Star.

"There is a saying about improv: to look good, you have to make your partner look good. These players know the only way to succeed is to make everyone else look great. It's not something you are born with; it is something that improvisation teaches you. Great players support aggressively and selflessly," Co-owner and Artistic Producer, Eric Farone says.

Denver's Next Improv Star plays Saturday evenings at 8:00 p.m. from today, February 22 through May 17th. Tickets are $18 (pre-paid) and $20 (at the door). All shows are suitable for all ages.

Bovine Metropolis Theater is an improv organization that teaches and performs theatrical improvisation which is the art of accepting the unknown gracefully. For tickets and more information about Bovine Metropolis Theater, call 303-758-4722 or visit their website at www.BovineMetropolis.com.