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!

The 50-Hour London Improvathon

“Absolutely incredible” Whatsonstage.com

The legendary London Improvathon returns for its sixth year. The finest improvisers from all over the world will meet in the 'Roaring Twenties' for an epic comic odyssey of romance, mystery and adventure.

Performed as a soap-opera in 25 episodes back to back over the weekend, the mix of brilliant comic brains and no sleep results in a wild, uncensored and euphoric playing style that you will not see anywhere else. With a recap at the beginning of each episode, you can drop in for a couple of hours or stay the whole weekend!

This year, as well as the usual cast of amazing improvisers, the cast will also include London Improv regulars Chris Mead, Jonathan Monkhouse and Maria Peters. 'Tis a joy, indeed.

"It's like nothing you've ever seen before"

TimeOut

WHEN: 7pm, Friday 11th January - 9pm, Sunday 13th January

COST: £10 per episode, £45 earlybird season pass. Tickets here

WHERE: Hoxton Hall, 130 Hoxton High Street, London, N1 6SH
NEAREST TUBE: Old Street

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Glitch & ProjectTwo at The Old Red Lion

Using suggestions from the audience and active imaginations a team of seven improvisers/puppeteers weave an adventurous tale with a furry little cast puppets. Using a traditional Japanese “Bunraku” puppetry mix with a more modern Muppet-style, Glitch is a visual treat with fun characters all tied together with an entirely made up story.

Don’t be fooled but the cute puppets, this is not a show for kids!

In double-bill-land, Glitch will be joined by improvised Science-Fiction from ProjectTwo.

The ProjectTwo facility floats in orbit around Solaris, collecting every detail of every sentient life through voluntary data submitted to social network websites. With such data, the ProjectTwo engineers can access any real-life story since the facility's inception in 2017.

Welcome space-traveler. Which archive do you wish to view?

Improvised science-fiction which may or may not contain robots*, featuring:
Katy Schutte (★★★★ - Chortle, The Maydays, Fluxx, Baby Wants Candy)
Jonathan Monkhouse (Music Box: The Improvised Musical, London Improv)

WHEN: 7.30pm, Saturday 22nd December

COST: £8, tickets here.

WHERE: Old Red Lion Theatre, 418 St John Street, London, EC1V 4NJ. 
NEAREST TUBE: Angel

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1st Annual Chris Werren Memorial Gig

A few months ago, brilliant improviser and our friend Chris "Chrus" Werren passed away, following a fist-fight with pink-cancer-robots. Chrus was a truly lovely man who delighted us with oddness, fascination with the natural world, and generosity of spirit. To celebrate the loveable chap will be a night of improv - his second love - featuring lots of groups and improvisers that he performed with over the years.

Acts include Hoopla's Old School Cast, a reunion of Cannonball Impro, and Grand Theft Impro with additional surprises, a raffle and CAKE!

Yes, cake.

Tickets are £5 and all the proceeds will go to St. Christopher's, the hospice that did such an amazing job of caring for him in his final months and days.

You can guarantee tickets in advance by clicking on this handy link - or you can buy a ticket at the door on the night.

WHEN: 7.30pm, Wednesday 12th December

COST: £5, tickets here or on the night

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

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FutureShock at The Camden People's Theatre

SATURDAY 8TH DECEMBER

FUTURESHOCK CABARET NIGHT & AFTER SHOW PARTY 

with PROJECT TWO

A centrepiece event of the CPT Futureshock festival, this one-off night of works-in-progress, cabaret acts and installations will be a carnival of the futuristic!

The evening's mouth-watering roster of acts includes: Foster's Comedy God and creator of Sprint 2012 smash Incontinental, Kazuko Hohki; the terrific Dumbshow Theatre; The Conker Group, whose show Underhero was a CPT hit at the Camden Fringe; sci-fi improvisers Project Two; and many more.

The evening will culminate in a party at the end of the world, with music, entertainment and drinks of a futuristic flavour.

The Futureshock festival is generously supported by the Royal Victoria Hall Foundation.

WHEN: 7:30pm, Saturday 8th December

COST: £12/£10
WHERE: Camden People's Theatre

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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

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Boys & Girls: This week at the London Improv Comedy Club

Briony & Charlotte, 8pm Wednesday

Greetings forest-dwellers,

I bid you good day on this fine day with perfect weather for the successful growth of your offspring. May the maternal arms of nature keep you well and sustain you in perfect harmony with your environment.

I, myself, have been driving an old rusty Jaguar about. Not to anywhere special, just there and back to see how far it is. The engine was smoking a fair amount, so I should probably have a look at that. Oh well. And there is definitely a leak, because there's oil all over the tyres. I guess I'll have to burn them when I've finished. 

Anyway, this is kind of 'off-topic'.. there's impro and improv happening again this week. I know! When will it end?! Well it ends next week, actually, then we're all off to the Edinburgh festival. Nice.

TUESDAY 10TH JULY

ARTHUR

and MUSIC BOX

Speaking of the Edinburgh Festival; Music Box did pretty well there last year, earning themselves a couple of 5-star reviews and some moulah.

'Lively, sharp, superior improvised fun' - Remote Goat

They'll be supported by short-form games from Arthur.

WHEN: 8pm, Tuesday 10th July

COST: £5 on the door

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

WEDNESDAY 11TH JULY

TOM ADAMS

and SOME GIRLS

As heard on BBC Radio 4’s ‘Loose Ends’, the Musical Comedy Awards finalist 2012 and support act to Simon Munnery sings gentle, whimsical comedy songs.

‘Charming, funny, original’ Scotsman

‘His delicate but witty tunes are no shallow spoofs, but full-on comic stories’ Chortle

www.tom-adams.co.uk

He'll be supported by fabulous two-girl improv from the wonderful Charlotte Gittins and Briony Redman.

WHEN: 8pm, Wednesday 11th July

COST: £5 on the door

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

Okay, let's take a look at this Jag.... oh, dear, it's leaked brake fluid all over this rainforest. We'll have to dig the whole lot up. That'll take ages. 

Laterz!

London Improv

x

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Off the scales: This week at the London Improv Comedy Club

Lizard Brain: Debut 8pm. Wed 4th July at The Miller 

Hey London Improv fans!

Can you feel it? Can you smell it? Can you touch it on the chin, stare into it's deep blue eyes and tell it how much it means to you? Yes, you can. The biggest event in the world is heading our way in a matter of weeks, and we can't flipping wait.

That's right, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival is nearly here. An entire month of balls out, laugh a minute comedy and entertainment. Revelling in the spirit of that, we have such things at The Miller. Including a full-fat Edinburgh Fringe preview of the very wonderful comedienne and our jolly good friend; Cariad Lloyd. 

Add to that an improvised film competition and a a debut show from our favourite gaggle of scouser impro-folk.. woo-hoo!

Now, put your balls away:

TUESDAY 3RD JULY

THE IMPROVISED FILM CHALLENGE

feat. BRAIN STORM

(please read this section in a movie trailer voice)

Five teams... [BOOM]... Five titles... [BOOM].... One hour... [BOOM]... Each team is given a title, and then have only one hour to write, act, shoot and edit a short film... [GUITAR SOLO] 

MEANWHILE... [GASP]... New group: Brain Storm improvise a sketch show for your humour-muscles. Comedy featuring Steve Roe, Becca Gibson, George Bream and Edgar Fernando... 

Until... [SCREAM] all the film teams come back and show their completed films... [HURGH]

In a world where anything is possible... [GUNFIRE]... The Last Samurai at the speed of Days Of Thunder... [THUNDER]... [EXPLOSION]... [COUGH]

WHEN: 8pm, Tuesday 3rd July

COST: £5 on the door

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

WEDNESDAY 4TH JULY

THE FREEWHEELIN' CARIAD LLOYD

and LIZARD BRAIN

We open with a debut show from the excellent and fair contingent of Liverpudlian improvisers, recently exodussed from Merseyside. Probably on a ferry. Lizard Brain are Herman Gambhir, Lauren Silver, Helen Foster, LeeMcPherson and Jack Darrell. It may be grim up North, but down here it's snowing joy-lizards.

And then, it's Edinburgh preview time again, with a chance to see Cariad Lloyd's brand new show. Last year she nearly won the prestigious Best Newcomer award. This year - semantics aside - we think she could be a major contender again.

‘Breathtaking.’ ★★★★★ Skinny

‘Original, brilliantly drawn and hilarious.’ ★★★★★ Three Weeks

'The performance is priceless' ★★★★ The Guardian

‘Offbeat and promisingly original.’ ★★★★ What’s on Stage

‘Sharp, witty and fiercely intelligent.’ ★★★★ Fest

‘Smart, offbeat comedy.’ ★★★★ Financial Times

I know.. right?

WHEN: 8pm, Wednesday 4th July

COST: £5 on the door

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

Right, I'm off put a kilt on and start greasing up my haggis.

See you there, petal!

London Improv

x

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