PREVIEW
Improvaganza!
Rapid Fire Theatre
June 13 to 23
Citadel Theatre
9828 – 101 Ave.
Tickets: $15 to $25 Visit www.rapidfiretheatre.com
Edmonton has long been a metropolitan city with a big heart. Its citizens pump out award-winning albums, best-selling books, gripping plays and events that draw people from across the world.
Rapid Fire Theatre’s (RTF) 18th annual Improvaganza! is a great example of all these notable happenings. This hardcore improv troupe has scoured the planet to round up 20 of the funniest acts from across Canada, the United States, Britain, Norway and Italy.
Once more the 10-day international comedy improv festival runs June 13 to 23 at Citadel Theatre with its capacity to accommodate large, exuberant crowds.
Pairing up as festival headliners are Canada’s improv treasure Colin Mochrie and Greg Proops of Whose Line Is It Anyway. Both performers have extensive credits that range from live standup comedy, television sketches, film, voice-overs, Fringe festivals and podcasts.
Nabbing the pair as headliners was a coup for RFT’s artistic director Matt Schuurman.
“Colin is very involved in Canadian improv. I met him last summer and he’s one of the sweetest, kindest people you will ever meet. We talked and I invited him. He was very enthusiastic to come. I asked who he wanted to perform with and he said Greg Proops.”
While Mochrie and Proops are headliners, Schuurman encourages fans to check out the different improv styles from different countries.
Britain’s Showstopper! The Musical improvises musicals on the spot. Since 2008 it has performed 1,000 shows across the world.
“They are sensational. They are the only improvised show to win the Olivier Award given to theatre performances,” said Schuurman.
“They can do anything from Rogers and Hammerstein to Andrew Lloyd Webber to Abba. They write audience suggestions on a board and do them flawlessly. They are so educated on all musicals.”
Turning a different page, The Society of Strange sharpens its claws on spooky happenings.
“It’s improv horror in the style of HP Lovecraft, Mary Shelley, Edgar Allen Poe and Stephen King.”
RTF alumna Kirsten Rasmussun and Leigh Cameron form the Bloody Marys, a duo known for fast-paced, dramatic and often gory style.
Los Angles’ RedDoor, a high-octane multi-award winning comedy improv duo, introduces a wheelhouse of accents, huge characters and unexpected twists and turns.
“They are the undefeated champions of Cage Match (winner determined by audience vote).”
Dark Side of the Moon from Atlanta instead highlights African American performers from a wide arts spectrum.
“They get suggestions from the audience on well-known films such as Jurassic Park or Star Wars, and then they improvise what black characters were doing while the movie was going on.”
Rapid Fire’s own production, Improbotics, matches the wits of human improvisers against artificial intelligence. Kory Mathewson, an RTF improviser and University of Alberta master of biomedical engineering, has programmed a robot trained in dialogue to keep pace with improvisers.
Schuurman’s last words were, “The festival truly is a once in a lifetime opportunity. They come from all over the world. Improve is loose. It’s up in the air. It’s magical, and no show ever exists again.”
