The London 50-hour Improvathon is nearly here!

There are only a couple of days left to get the Earlybird Season Passes for the full 50 hours, so if you fancy the challenge/experience of 50 straight hours of improvised theatre, we'd highly recommend you book them now. And we reckon you should do the full 50 hours. Here's why:

‘It's like nothing you’ve seen before. It’s made up on the spot: a hilarious 50-hour non-stop soap opera. Early morning joggers and late-night clubbers unite!’ Time Out

This year the London Improvathon sees about 50 improvisers creating a massive piece of theatre set in Cairo in 1926. The classiest tourist destination of the day filled with adventurous icons, the discovery of Tutenkhamen's tomb, shady back street dealing, the curse of the mummy... all these, I'm sure, referred to with as much historic accuracy as you should expect. It's a classic, sumptuous setting with epic possibilities.

The cast will include some of the best improvisers around; a whole bunch of brilliant UK-based performers including a handful of Showstoppers, a bucket of Austentatious, most members of ProjectTwo and more.
They will be joined by some phenomenal folk from Die-Nasty and Rapid Fire theatre companies in Canada, and more besides.

'Fearsomely able improvisers.'
Ian Shuttleworth, The Financial Times.

The 50 hour Improvathon is a brilliant experience for the audience as well as the cast. After this long without sleep or rest the mind will start playing tricks on you. Performers tap into weird and wonderful parts of their psyche, and a whole new way of improvising arrives. You will see improvisers battle their own wits, lose their minds, then regain them in glorious victory.

And you as audience experience the same. It's cathartic, it's madness, it's brilliant. Take it from me, I've watched the last two all the way through. Once as an audience member, once as the lighting technician. There's not really anything I can compare it to. You have to try it for yourself.

Audience members who are there for the full 50 hours are regarded by the cast as a massively important part of the community of the show. The Improvathon is very much a two-way process, and the insane, sleep-deprived community that emerges bleary-eyed at the end are made of heroes. Cast and audience alike.

'It’s absolutely incredible. This isn’t theatre, it’s bloodsports.'
Michael Coveney, Whatsonstage.com

So come along. Challenge yourself. It's like nothing you've experienced before. And if you're a fan of improvisation, it's definitely something you should chalk up on your list.
Hoxton Hall is an ace venue for this show. It's got a balcony which tends to be inhabited by the 50-hour audience members; a lively community of its own, with sleeping bags and caffeine-based snacks a-plenty. It's brilliant.

Tickets are available here, starting at £7 per episode.

See you there!

Austentatious at Leicester Square Theatre

A Christmas tale of fun and good cheer - how delightful!  Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.

~The Milk Monitors presents~ Austentatious: An Improvised Novel Dear reader, we are back for a very special Christmas tale, do join us for a wintery improvised romp!   ~ Please do join us on ~ 9th December at 7:30pm Last month was a veritable Autumnal feast of conkers, embarrassing parents and the privacy limitations of a good nook. But as the nights draw in, and the goose grows a little more round, we invite you to join us for a ChristmasAusten tale!  Do join us for warm Winter fun with mince pies, Christmas carols and plenty of good cheer. We do encourage you to book in advance, like Lydia Bennett, we are rather popular with the Regiment and our dance card can get very busy indeed. Always room for a Captain of course! And you can also find us twice a month at The Wheatsheaf. Book tickets  »

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Goodbye London, hello Edinburgh: This week at The London Improv Comedy Club

Austentatious: An Improvised Jane Austen Novel, 8pm at The Miller

Word up friends,

It's the last London Improv night, and then we're on a break for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Don't worry, non-Edinburgh folk, there's still comedy happening at The Miller next week. You won't miss your 5-a-day laughter quota.

To see us off with the best possible humour-party, we've got some rather special humans dealing out their wares on our stage, including three of the most exciting groups appearing in Edinburgh this year. Yep, you get Edfringe shows without even having to get yer butt to Edinburgh (we also recommend going to Edinburgh, it's real pretty).

TUESDAY 17TH JULY

ARTHUR
and DO NOT ADJUST YOUR STAGE
Here's an Edinburgh preview for ya. Then I'll stop going on about it. Firstly the lovely chaps and chapettes of Do Not Adjust Your Stage make sure you don't adjust your stage, with an improvised TV schedule. A whole issue of Radio Times, origami'd up into the shape of a comedy show. With a guitar.

Accompanying them is the show known only as 'Arthur'. A bit like if you origami'd an old man into the shape of an olympic runner and then pushed him onto the Whose Line Is It Anyway stage.

WHEN: 8pm, Tuesday 17th July

COST: £5 on the door

WHERE: The Miller, 96 Snowsfields Road, London, SE1 3SS

WEDNESDAY 18TH JULY

AUSTENTATIOUS
and THE BETA MALES
Following sell out runs at The Soho Theatre, The Leicester Square Theatre and The Pleasance Islington with The Train Job, nominated for the Chortle Award for Best Character or Sketch Act 2012. The Beta Males will be taking their third narrative sketch show The Space Race to Edinburgh in 2012. We get them first, with an amazing Edinburgh preview.

★★★★★ Three Weeks ★★★★★ Broadway Baby

★★★★★ Spoonfed ★★★★★ FringeGuru

★★★★ Fest ★★★★ The List ★★★★ Chortle

And we'll also have literary mischief from one of our favouritest groups; Austentatious. We love them, and others do too:

“Whip smart and on the button funny.” - Londonist

"Very, very funny. Highly reccomended…” ★★★★★ – Theatre Bubble

They perform an improvised Jane Austen novel, with about as much class as a very big school filled with 60p stamps.

WHEN: 8pm, Wednesday 18th July

COST: £5 on the door

WHERE: The Miller, 96 Snowsfields Road, London, SE1 3SS

If a swan could sing, it would sing about these shows. Then it would get a recording contract and OD on crusts of bread.
See you there, fun-lickers,
London Improv x

LONDONIMPROV: A REVOLUTION IN COMEDY & THEATRE

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Snappy dressers and magicians: This week at The London Improv Comedy Club

Parallelogramophonograph: 8pm, Wednesday, The Miller 

Hey everyone, how's it going? 
Did you get to the London Improv Festival at all? Good wasn't it? If only there was a way to keep seeing brilliant international improv in.... waaaaaiiiitttttttt*
This week at The Miller, the pick of the litter, like a jam sandwich without the bread,
like a grizzly bear without teeth,
like the music industry without Lady Gaga,
we have only good stuff going on.


And borrowing the Slapdash coat-tails, we even get to steal Parallelogramophonograph for another show in London, before they disappear back to the Texan hills. Seriously, don't miss them, they are a genuine phenomenon:

TUESDAY 12TH JUNE

THE MUSIC BOX CABARET

It's back! Music Box: The Improvised Musical present their pick of the London Cabaret circuit.

The first half will feature musical comedy from Phil Lunn and Trevor Ferdy, short-form improv from Arthur, and magic from Sanjay Shelat.

They'll be followed by the excellent Music Box, with their new wave of cast members: including Maria Peters, Georgina Bream, Andrew "ABag" Gentilli, Ben Hamblin, James Witt and Steve Roe, with Trevor Ferdy on piano.
Nice.

WHEN: 8pm, Tuesday 12th June

COST: £5 on the door

WHERE: The Miller, 96 Snowsfields Road, London, SE1 3SS

WEDNESDAY 13TH JUNE

PARALLELOGRAMOPHONOGRAPH
and AUSTENTATIOUS
"Improvised plays from Austentexious." An evening of costumed storytelling that we are a bit over excited about.

Parallelogramophonograph loves to tell stories.. After seeing them at the Edinburgh fringe last year, we HAD to book them. Hailing from Austin, Texas, they do mindblowingly awesome genre-based improv. They've been together for about 6 years and done some way over 400 shows together, in their own theatre in Austin.

On Wednesday they'll be performing their awesome French Farce show. Sweet!

"Amazingly brilliant and hysterical performance" - Broadway Baby

They'll be sharing the evening with the sublime Austentatious, improvising a Jane Austen novel for your heart to enjoy. Think of it like a costume drama, but funny, and actually genuinely enjoyable (not in that pious way people pretend to enjoy that sort of thing). They're one of our favourite groups in the country, and with Pgraph this makes for London Improv's favourite ever line-up ever.

WHEN: 8pm, Wednesday 13th June

COST: £5 on the door, or tickets in advance from HERE

WHERE: The Miller, 96 Snowsfields Road, London, SE1 3SS

Everyone needs joy in their life, and you are an everyone. Jump in fully clothed. 
See you soon, my love.

London Improv

x

LONDONIMPROV: A REVOLUTION IN COMEDY & THEATRE

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The past, the present, the future: This week at The London Improv Comedy Club

'Allo sweetheart, how y'diddlin'?

Firstly, that thing we said yesterday on Twitter... that was an April Fool, wasn't it? Yeah. We're not leaving you.

London needs a place where you can see a huge range of really top-notch improvised comedy and theatre, so we're sticking around. You can see other good improv elsewhere, true, but no-where else has such a brilliant selection of high quality acts as right here, at The Miller, twice a week.

Speaking of which.. secondly:

Tuesday 3rd April

ARTHUR
and DO NOT ADJUST YOUR STAGE

The Shortform power-monkeys of Arthur bound up on stage to energise you with their quickfire games and scenes, and increase your potassium with an endless supply of mirth-bananas. The furry little fellas have a bunch of new ways to play with improv. One of them may (or may not) involve a swinging tyre.

When they're too tyred (heh) to continue and the cast are returned to their cages it's time to come and feel the noise. Do Not Adjust Your Stage create an evening of televisual entertainment way better than any night spent at home weeping into your TV Times. Why put yourself through an episode of Emmerdale Farm or The Voice when a handful of comedians can create something much more satisfying right in front of you. In person?

Tuesday 3rd April

Time: Doors 7:45pm, Show 8pm - 10pm with interval.

Cost: £5 on the door.

Where: The Miller, 96 Snowsfields Road, London, SE1 3SS.

Wednesday 4th April
AUSTENTATIOUS

with PROJECT TWO

Austentatious are pretty much the best thing of the 18th Century, but thank Dickens! they exist in our time. Join The Milk Monitors as they improvise a Jane Austen novel based on your suggestions, and - I'm not going to bother hiding my favouritism - they are amazing. Think all the good things of a costume drama: romance, snappy outfits, pipe-smoking and heaving bosoms.. and add all the best parts of a comedy show, as six awesome improvisers kick bustle.

Cast includes:

Fosters Award Nominee - Cariad Lloyd, Hackney Empire New Act Of The Year Finalist - Rachel Parris, and Rap-God - Joe Morpurgo. Yeah.. that's some caliber, right there.

Specifically to screw with chronology, Austentatious will be supported by a new show from Chris Mead (8bit, Andrew & The Slides of Chaos) and Jonathan Monkhouse (me). We debut our improvised science-fiction show (cue tummy butterflies). Join us aboard the Project Two facility when we can access any piece of history since the year 2017. Will you see the Great Spice Wars of the Draxon Colony, or will you witness the first time-travel device accidentally built in Jim Atkins' Stockwell Garage? Pop along and find out.

Wednesday 4th April

Time: Doors 7:45pm, Show 8pm - 10pm with interval.

Cost: £5 on the door.

Where: The Miller, 96 Snowsfields Road, London, SE1 3SS.

So there we go.. it's action-packed. No joke. Although there will be jokes. Plenty of them. That's kinda the way we roll.

Hey, while you're here, why not sign the petition to get "Best Improvisation Act" to be part of the Chortle comedy awards next year? There are no arguments against it. Try and think of one.... you can't, can you? And you are a mighty intelligent and, let's face it, very attractive human.

Yes, I just flirted with you. En Masse.

See you soon, luvverrr.
London Improv

LONDONIMPROV: A REVOLUTION IN COMEDY & THEATRE

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LondonImprov@gmail.com

Old and New: This Week at the London Improv Comedy Club

Tuesday 31st January

ARTHUR
and THE MAYDAYS

Deep in Hoopla's secret underground bunker, a team of improvisers have been working on dangerous new short-form games, with the help of director Steve Roe.

These games are now ready for public viewing. New games, re-invented games, long lost forgotten games, new short-form.

Then the multiple award winning Brighton group The Maydays bring their vast experience to our wee stage. Mmm.. yum yum. (Yum).

Tuesday 31st January
Time: Doors 7:45pm, Show 8pm - 10pm with interval.
Cost: £5 on the door
Where: The Miller, 96 Snowsfields Road, London, SE1 3SS.

Wednesday 1st February
8BIT IMPROV
and AUSTENTATIOUS

8Bit do their improvised thing to welcome in February, the grumpiest month - and this year, there's Valentine's AND loads of women proposing! How annoying. Don't fret though, we'll set you up all right, preparing you for this month of 'love' (pleurf), 'special someones' (gargh) and 'buy this, it's got a heart on it' (fnar) by creating some amusing memories to last you through until March.

Then Austentatious will unearth another of Jane Austen's lost novels (how do you lose a novel? Bad filing, that's how) for your delight. Austentatious have been selling out shows at The Compass in Angel, made merry with New Year revellers at the Royal Festival Hall and now return to The Miller to do their costumed thing. Do come, they have fans.

Wednesday 1st February
Time: Doors 7:45pm, Show 8pm - 10pm with interval.
Cost: £5 on the door, FREE to NUS/NHS card holders
Where: The Miller, 96 Snowsfields Road, London, SE1 3SS.


LONDONIMPROV: A REVOLUTION IN COMEDY & THEATRE

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LondonImprov@gmail.com