SHOWS

Join national treasure Ann Pornel for an evening of spontaneous laughs with some of her west coast besties! This ensemble cast is forged together by their passion for smart improv, a penchant for fantastic fashion, but most of all by their love of Ann Pornel.

You probably recognize Ann as a host from The Great Canadian Baking Show or CW's Recipe For Disaster, or from countless other award-winning television shows such as Because News, The Baroness Von Sketch Show or This Hour Has 22 Minutes. Ann is a Canadian Comedy Award winner, a winner of the 2017 Entertainer of the Year award from My Entertainment World, and a Canadian Screen Award nominee for Best Host. She is an alumnus of Toronto’s Second City Main Stage too. Gosh, this show is going to be fun!

Secrets are juicy. They create suspense and excitement – everyone has them and it feels so good to share them. This show gives audience members a chance to share their secrets anonymously and watch as improvisers explore them right before their eyes.

Embezzlement are one of two ensembles who are reviving Vancouver's Instant Theatre Company. We are Ava Nasiri, Bryan Clark, Delaram Hajipour, Malcolm McLeod, Montana Rosalle, Ryan Bell, Sinead Grewcock, Taylor McMillan, Tina Hashemnia, and Jullian Kolstee. Since 1994 Instant Theatre has produced improvisational theatre performances and trained generations of improvisors through the education programs it has offered or sponsored in the community. Its legacy has long been established through the exceptional shows, festivals, and improvisors it has produced in that time, which have become part of the fabric of the Vancouver improv community. After a pandemic hiatus Instant Theatre is returning to the stages and studios of the city to continue that legacy, with a new look and new team behind it. Embezzlement performs long form improvisation with a diverse cast drawing from varied improvisational backgrounds. Our cast includes players who were primarily short form trained, long form diehards, and CIG grads, ranging from newcomers to 10 & 20 year veterans. We rehearse regularly and are currently developing our own Harold by experimenting with different openings and devices, found games and one off scenes, creating a method for delivering each beat in a thread, and exploring isolated threads as well as crossed over threads. It's about strong platforms, unique characters, and engaging narratives. We will be refining that into something special for the Vancouver Improv Festival.

We've assembled some of the best and brightest improvisers from around North America to form the Festival Ensemble! Under the inspiring direction of Gordie Lucius (Edmonton) and Shannon Stott (London, UK), these intrepid performers will create never-before-seen improv shows that will blow your mind. For more information about the Festival Ensemble, click here.

Grad School Improv is a Vancouver-based ensemble who have been working together for over a decade. Performing monthly, Grad School Improv's genre-based pieces recreate the television or film you love while reimagining them based on audience suggestions, hitting all the tropes and cliches along the way.

Hinprov are Canada's first bilingual Bollywood-inspired improv ensemble. They are a community for/of Hindustani Improvisers in Canada that runs workshops and shows across stages in Canada. Their aim is to find and showcase South Asian Artists using improvised theatre. Join them as they create (write, direct, edit, act & dance) a Bollywood film, right in front of your eyes based on your suggestion. Maybe join them on stage and dance a little too. The Hinprov ensemble performs in English mixed with Hindi, and provides verbal translation whenever needed.

With a name that perfectly captures their unique perspective on romance, this Portland duo uses their lack of love lives as comedic fuel to ignite the stage. They hilariously lament their perpetual single status while never quite summoning the courage to change it. Mariah and Roland are performers and teachers at Kickstand Comedy in Portland, OR. Mariah is also lead facilitator at On Your Feet, a creative consultancy that uses improv to help businesses achieve better results. Roland performs improv, standup, and sometimes weird bits with his mannequin!

Are you tired of heterosexual relationships and stereotypes? Want to see stories where diversity is the norm, rather than the exception? Our shows are playful, frisky, and personal - intended to bring together, queers and allies alike. QueerProv has been the premiere queer improv comedy troupe in Vancouver since 2006! Our players have trained throughout Canada and the US, and for the past few years have performed every week at Junction on Davie Street.

Characters! Characters!! Characters!!! And more Characters!!!! Stott and Atawo skillfully blend their wacky, eclectic and wild styles to bring forth a captivating array of CHARACTERS that will not only astonish you but also keep you firmly planted in your seats, just as you were at the start of the show. Ese Atawo (Vancouver) and Shannon Stott (Austin) are two internationally-renowned improvisers, actors and instructors, who have connected over the years at festivals around North America. They are thrilled to be debuting their first duo show at Vancouver Improv Fest.

Treat Show is an improv comedy group comprised of Vancouver sweethearts Allie Entwistle, Alyssa Hirose, Devin Mackenzie, Kerri Donaldson, Kevin Vidal, Maarten Bayliss, Ronald Dario, Syd Campbell, and Tom Hill. They perform two shows every Saturday night and invite you come down and treat yourself. The motor of our show is a focus on finding the game of the scene. We are fuelled by a collective joy, each scene driving towards what we and the audience finds fun. Outside of the troupe we are all dear friends who love to laugh, commiserate, and make fun of each other. Our pre-show ritual involves getting together, catching up, checking in with where we’re all at, making goals for how we want to perform that night, and above all picking on Kerri. This show is our treat.

Professional idiocy in a world of amateur idiots. The Wadsworth Constant is an improvised, absurdist one-act play by Portland’s Kristen Schier and Philadelphia’s Nick Gillette. Drawing from the theatrical traditions of Albee, Ionesco, and Beckett, two veteran improvisors launch themselves into a newly generated world of absurdity and existentialist themes. Since its inception in 2014, the Wadsworth Constant has continued to astound and delight audiences from coast to coast. It might make ya laugh, it might make ya cry. They’re pros at getting both at once.