Vancouver TheatreSports Presents THROWDOWN

Vancouver TheatreSports (VTS) rocks the laughs with its annual improv celebration, Throwdown - International TheatreSports Festival, at The Improv Centre on Granville Island from Wednesday, January 2 to Sunday, January 27, 2019. Tickets start at $10.75 and are available at www.vtsl.com.

January is often the time of year when the winter blahs set in - the holidays are over, it's been raining non-stop, and you've received your credit card bill from December. The best antidote? - a good dose of hearty laughter.

Throwdown - International TheatreSports Festival welcomes TheatreSports teams from other cities who bring their 'A-Game' to head-to-head matches with each other including local teams comprised of VTS' top improvisers.

VTS Artistic & Executive Director Jay Ono adds, "This year, we concentrated on inviting the best teams from the U.S. because later this year in October, the entire TheatreSports world will be gathering in Vancouver for the 2019 International TheatreSports Institute Conference, which VTS is privileged to host. Throwdown 2019 features fabulous team companies from Honolulu, Bellingham, Portland and returning champs, the talented group from Orlando - who have won for the past three consecutive years."

From January 2 to 19, local teams comprised of VTS ensemble members play in a classic TheatreSports round-robin competition for bragging rights of the best team in Vancouver. The laughs start to flow based on suggestions from the audience, and things can quickly become quite partisan as audience members cheer on their favourite performers. As in all classic TheatreSports matches, the final outcome is determined by audience judges scoring each of the 'games' within a match. The team with the most points wins.

January 22 to 27 welcomes the four U.S. teams in a series of hilarious matches and showcases designed to banish even the gloomiest of times. The lineup features: Sak Comedy Lab - Orlando, Florida (returning champions); Curious Comedy Theatre - Portland, Oregon; On the Spot Improv - Honolulu, Hawaii; Upfront Theatre - Bellingham, Washington.

On the last evening, January 27, the winners of the international competitions play with the local victors from the previous weeks in a winner-takes-all laugh fest.

"There's nothing like a little healthy competition to bring out the best in improv comedy," comments Ono. "And the winner gets bragging rights for an entire year plus an invitation to return in 2020 to defend their crown."

While no one can predict the outcome, one thing is for certain - audience members will leave in a happier mood from having laughed so much. It all adds up to more than enough fun to chase away the winter blues.

For a detailed schedule regarding times and matches for Throwdown - International TheatreSports Festival, visit www.vtsl.com.