A weekend of laughs at 14th Sarasota Improv Festival
Florida Studio Theatre is cramming as much laughter as it can over two days for the 14th annual Sarasota Improv Festival.
This year’s event brings together more than 80 comedy artists in 16 troupes from around the world, including a group from Chile making its Sarasota debut.
Will Luera, the director of improvisation at FST, said he tries to bring back returning favorite troupes mixed in with others that are performing at the theater for the first.
“There are the tent poles, the ones the audiences know they’re going to get a quality show and recognize the faces,” he said. “Every so often one of those groups really sticks, like North Coast Improv, they came in as a new group and were received very well and we’ve united them back for several years.”
The headliner this year is the returning Impro Theatre from Los Angeles, which presents an original improvised full-length play. The group will perform at 9 p.m. Saturday
Three troupes are being introduced to Sarasota audiences this year, including Jet Eveleth (7 p.m. July 12, 5 p.m. July 13), a solo performer who was featured in a comedic role in the Cirque du Soleil show “Absinthe” in Las Vegas. Luera said she is a favorite of old school improvisers.
Lospleimovil (8 p.m. July 12, 5 p.m. July 13) is a group Luera met when he taught improv in Santiago, Chile. The group, which performs improv games and full-length scenes, was formed in 2000 and became pioneers in the art form in Chile. It also has an English-speaking core that will perform in Sarasota.
Brotha Sista (9 p.m. July 12, 6 p.m. July 13) is a duo act from Minneapolis that performs fast-paced scenes with a fresh take and energy.
The schedule includes a host of returning troupes, including such festival stalwarts as Dad’s Garage, the Atlanta troupe that will showcase a new kind of program this year, Available Cupholders from Austin, and Orlando’s SAK Comedy Lab.
Regrouping after the pandemic
The festival returned last year after a three-year COVID break, and reverts to its original two-night format. In recent festivals, Thursday was reserved for troupes from across Florida. Producer Rebecca Hopkins, who launched the festival and the FST Improv group, said, “we didn’t like relegating Florida to just Thursday night, which is when all the other troupes are arriving and they can’t see them.”
Those Florida groups include FST Improv and its musical offshoot Treble in Paradise, Just the Funny from Miami, Swan City Improv from Lakeland and The Commodore from Ybor City.
Luera, who will be performing with both FST Improv and Boston’s Big Bang, said that improv artists have a different kind of experience in Sarasota because it has “a theater-related audience. They respond to a different cadence than a typical audience of improv artists.”
During the day Saturday, some of the visiting troupe members will be leading workshops that have become a popular part of the weekend for the performers and some audience members.
The shows will be presented in three theaters on the FST campus, and audiences will have up to three shows to choose from in each hour. Most sets run about 45 minutes.
Friday’s schedule ends with an Improv All Stars special and Saturday features the traditional All-Play to close the night with as many of the weekend artists who want to perform a little more. There is also a family show at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Who else is performing this year?
FST Improv: 6 p.m. July 12. The host company for this annual event features a varied group of improv performers who perform sketches and improv games based on audience suggestions.
Parallelogramophonograph: 7 pm. July 12, 8 p.m. July 12. This Austin-based theater company creates improvised plays and theater from audience suggestions.
“HERE: The (Improvised) Musical: 7 p.m. July 12 and 13. From Columbus, Ohio, Tara DeFrancisco and Rance Rizzutto create original two-person improvised musicals. They have performed in more than 80 cities around the world.
Dad’s Garage: 8 p.m. July 12 and 13. One of the first groups to appear at the festival, this Atlanta-based company is part of a theater that presents scripted plays, improv classes and weekly improv comedy shows.
Available Cupholders: 8 p.m. July 12, 7 p.m. July 13. From Austin, Texas and Los Angeles and featuring veterans of Second City and other prominent groups, this company performs long-form improv based on audience suggestions.
North Coast: 9 p.m. July 12, 7 p.m. July 12. This New York City group brings hip hop and freestyle rapping to the festival in high energy routines backed by beatboxer Doctor Brick.
Big Bang Improv: 6 p.m. July 13. One scene leads seamlessly into the next with this Boston-based group that includes Will Luera, FST’s director of improvisation, who worked with the company for years. It operates on the philosophy of “follow the funny.”
SAK Comedy Lab: 9 p.m. July 12, 8 p.m. July 13. This Orlando-based troupe, which gave a start to Wayne Brady and others, has been presenting a variety of improv styles since it was founded in 1991.
Improv Fest Family show: 10 a.m. July 13. Improv performers from around the world join together to create improv games, scenes and songs geared for family audiences, who help guide their performances.
“Improv I-4-Ever”: 5 p.m. July 13. Two Florida troupes share a time slot for improv games and sketches. It features Swan City Improv of Lakeland, which started in 2017, and The Commodore, a Tampa troupe that presents its show “The Captain’s Wheel,” a competitive improv format that requires the performers to overcome random challenges.
Tropical Punchlines: 6 p.m. July 13. Miami’s Just the Funny and the Sarasota musical improv group Treble in Paradise.
Workshops
On Saturday, there will be 18 different workshops led by different troupes and individual artists at 9 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. on different styles of improv, including how to rap, a program for Spanish speakers led by Lospleimovil, how to keep an audience’s focus, creating characters and more. Workshops are $35 for each two-hour session or $90 for three sessions. For details: floridastudiotheatre.org/sarasota-improv-festival-workshops-2
Tickets
Single tickets for most shows are $10 (they are $25 for the headliner Impro Theatre). A two-day pass for all performances is $75. A Friday pass is $49 and Saturday is $59.For details: 941-366-9000; floridastudiotheatre.org
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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota Improv Festival welcomes 16 troupes from around the world
