If you're looking for new excitement in your entertainment lineup, this year's Vancouver International Improv Festival has you covered. From October 6-11 on Granville Island, VIIF is bringing in some of the best comedy talent from across North America to entertain Vancouver. Not only will there be new faces to meet, but also new types of improv to enjoy from across the spectrum of genres.
Fans of film will find a variety of options for every taste. For action fans, Montreal's Easy Action will bring a highly physical, John Woo-esque show to the stage, offering a performance filled with high octane excitement and plenty of laughs. Victoria's Paper Street Theatre will be offering IMPROV: A Science Fiction Thriller, inspired by such sci-fi classics as 2001: A Space Odyssey, Solaris and Alien. Then there is Seattle's Blood Squad, a VIIF favourite, presenting a completely improvised horror movie: Slasher, Monster, Thriller, the audience gets to decide!
The nerdy comedy fans out there will also be represented at the festival: The Critical Hit Show present a fun tongue-in-cheek take on the fantasy genre, Dungeons and Dragons, and the adventurers who play it. For interactive game show fans, there is also Improv Against Humanity with The Fictionals, the smash hit show based on Cards Against Humanity. There is very little learning curve for new players at IAH, and tons of hilarity right off the bat. The show is no different and is a perfect gateway for non-fans to see what the fuss is all about.
Musical fans will also find tons to love: Vancouver's Off Key Improv creates a brand new one-act musical every night with a cast of young and talented quadruple threats: improv, acting, singing and dancing. Bellingham's 2 Best Friends offers a two person musical that takes place in a single scene, inspired by a story from the audience of how they met their best friend. Or for something completely different, there is New York's North Coast, presenting an improvised “hip-hopera”, complete with rapping, beatboxing and, of course, top quality improv.
That's only a small sampling of what this year's Vancouver International Improv Festival has to offer, and VIIF invites you to come down and discover a new comedy favourite. It starts tonight and runs through this Saturday. For more information, group bios and to buy your tickets, check out vancouverimprovfest.com.
Vancouver Is Awesome is a proud sponsor of the Vancouver International Improv Festival taking place at the Performance Works Theatre and Studio 1398 on Granville Island from October 6-11, 2014.
