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AN IMPROV SHOW has the same ingredients as many others – there are performers and a stage, but one thing is missing: a script.
Improvised theatre has been around for a very long time, but improvised comedy in particular has gained popularity in Ireland in recent years.
Improvisers from all over the world are performing at a festival in Dublin this week, and there’s a growing scene around the country with new shows and troupes regularly popping up.
But it wasn’t always like this.
Órla McGovern, one of the festival’s directors, remembers a very different time. She began doing improv comedy about 20 years ago while living in the US, where the scene is much more established.
McGovern, an actor and playwright based in Galway, said there wasn’t much improv happening in Ireland when she moved back about a decade ago.
“Snatch in Cork and Dublin Comedy Improv, really they were the only two groups here,” she told TheJournal.ie.
Around the same time, she met fellow improviser Neil Curran and the two started brainstorming how to bring the form to a wider audience.
These conversations eventually came to fruition in the form of Improv Fest Ireland – which is happening for the fifth time next week.
There are many different types of improv shows – short-form (more game-orientated), long-form (with more character development and plot) and musical, to name a few – but one thing remains the same: it’s all made up on the spot.
Demand for workshops is growing too – among both actors and those looking for a hobby, as well as businesses seeking to improve team-building and morale.
‘Permission to play’
McGovern thinks part of improv’s popularity is down to the fact it encourages people to use their imagination and take themselves less seriously, a thing children do all the time but something that can be lost as people get older.
“I teach a lot of improv. Really smart people haven’t that permission to play, improv gives them that. It helps expand ideas.
You have people from different backgrounds trying it. So many engineers, for example, have said, ‘Oh my god, this just frees me up in so many ways.’
McGovern said many people are afraid of trying improv – including actors.
“There’s a little bit of terror around improv – you could have amazing actors who have done loads of scripted theatre who think, ‘Oh, I could never do that’, but when they try it they bring a lot to it. There’s the initial fear of letting go but it’s worth it.
“I’m an actor and I’m an improviser. All the really good improvisers I know at some point are acting, of course they are – they’re playing characters on stage.”
McGovern’s troupe, The Sky Babies, opened the Galway Theatre Festival in 2015, making them the first Irish improv group to open a theatre festival.
‘What is this magic?’
There was another milestone for the scene this year – with improv comedy being part of the programme for the Dublin Fringe Festival for the first time.
Mark Cantan’s group Auto-Correbt, and Witches and Dogs, performed at the festival in September.
Cantan is the artistic director of The Tightrope – an improv night that takes place in Dublin every Sunday and Monday, where over 20 groups regularly perform.
Cantan has been acting since he was a child and got interested in improv about six years ago through the podcast Comedy Bang Bang and watching videos of groups like Asssscat from the UCB Theatre in the US (Amy Poehler is one of the group’s original members).
“I hadn’t seen anything like this before, I thought, ‘What is this magic, how are they making this up as they go along?’,” Cantan told us.
He got some actor friends together and formed his first group, meeting more improvisers as he went along. In terms of approaching improv, he agrees with McGovern that some actors “can be afraid of it and also can shut it down”.
“They might say, ‘I can’t do improv, I tried once.’ That’s like saying, ‘I picked up a guitar once and can’t play it.’ You need practice.
The cool thing about improv is it’s different because it’s made up on the spot. So much of it relies on audience feedback, how they react totally guides where the show is going to go.
Cantan said there’s been “a chain reaction” in the last couple of years that has resulted in more shows and groups being established in Ireland.
“People start doing improv, their friends start coming to shows and it builds momentum. The more we do it, the more people come and see it.”
Performing at the Fringe helped get improv to a wider audience, with Cantan saying: “It was great for the Fringe to take a chance on this.”
Most of the shows sold out, meaning it’s likely to be back on the bill next year.
Improv Fest Ireland takes places from 2-8 December, with shows and workshops happening all week. More information can be read here. More information about The Tightrope can be read here, while updates about other shows and workshops can be found here.
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You have to plan for 50 at a wedding which a 1 day event and most of the people there will be most likely vaccinated but schools can have over a 1,000 of unvaccinated students in the same building for 9 months. Madness.
@Eoin Fitzgerald: Schools are managed very well, they operate in pods, staggered times etc. etc. and it is the same kids everyday. Apples and Oranges
@Carpentoza: why can’t weddings have larger crowds then and operate like schools with the pods?
@Eoin Fitzgerald: yeh. Pods in hotel dining rooms replacing tables. Handling hundreds of customers. 2-4 each, all in a bubble. Easy enough. Can’t see why they can’t do it.
@john smith iv: It’s the evil drink they fear at weddings but they won’t say that. Mr Delta only gets ya when you stand up to have a dance, maskless at meal for 90 plus mins, no sure he’s grand with that, no interest.
@Carpentoza: not entirely true….
@Eoin Fitzgerald: what is wrong with this government. People going to a wedding would most likely be in their 30s and 40s and 50s upwards. Why would you have to limit to 50 when all the people going to the wedding I am going to are vaccinated. What
These guys have brides and grooms in a state of chaos. They’re allowing thousands of people to gather on beaches but won’t allow a couple to have their wedding night as envisaged. They have completely ignored the weddings industry and it is a total shame. Couples hung out to dry and out of pocket, businesses completely ignored with no correspondence. No sign of a simple structured plan. Events are happening regardless. Some hotels are facilitating couples, which is right. Suppliers to the weddings industry have had their livelihoods decimated and no support if any value has been discussed or set out. Parties are happening all over the country. Beer gardens are full. Hotels are operating as normal but this weak, and leaderless excuse for a government won’t tackle the issue.
@Shane McGrath: Shame, shame, shame on them. I very much hope that this government and those three parties are shown the ire of the Irish people in the next election. The alternative couldn’t possibly handle this any worse. Give them a shot at it, if for no other reason to show this (non governing) government that they answer to and work for the people, not the other way round.
@Shane McGrath: I think we know by now that indoors is worse than outdoors. Right?
@john smith iv: We do. And hotels are full to capacity with people indoors every night in August.
@Shane McGrath: I agree with you but you can’t compare people going to beaches to indoor weddings.
@Shane McGrath: I’ve stayed at hotels and most people were eating outside in the recent weather. Plus they have social distancing inside. A hotel dining room that used to hold 100 would probably only hold 50 now. To be honest a sweaty wedding with the traditional dance is pretty likely to produce spreader events.
@K C: 80,000on a beach waterford last Sunday. Yes you can compare it…. To 50 people and a bit of music, no deaths, and a heavily vaccinated society. You can discuss the lunacy all day with me. The double standard approach is killing support, and the people are now (almost) finished supporting this government.
@Shane McGrath: no you can’t compare indoor to outdoor.
@Shane McGrath: Go away out of that, with your 80,000 on a beach.
@Shane McGrath: Have we heard any different from the opposition no we have not.
Stop politicising the virus.
@Shane McGrath: yep in a state losing money booking re-booking. But that’s ok They still get paid and kids teens go back to school but we can’t have a normal wedding. They’ll be riots on the street if they don’t make some sort of proper road map.
@Shane McGrath: I’ve only been in one recently and it’s managed very well…even though its packed. They even use the ballroom for dinners and drinks with social distancing and everyone wears a mask while walking around.
@Shane McGrath: there is not a beach in Ireland that could hd 80,000 people
What if they hold it in croke Park? Is it 500 then ?
Is the Taoiseach really suggesting that people leave it to the last minute to plan a wedding? Couples have had to cancel weddings…sonetimes more than once. A wedding with table service, no music and closing time of 11.30 can surely be regarded as a fairly controlled environment
Same with Communions and Confirmations 50 can attend Mass but won’t allow ceremonies because of the after party which for the majority is a family thing in the back garden with a bouncy castle, while thousands flock to beaches.,
It’s a bit late to be saying that now ya muppet
@Ger Cassidy: I know. Hopefully these lads are working more than the standard work week. How do they not have the time to work out a realistic plan for each of the main sectors that have restrictions imposed on them, backup plans, reopening plans and communicate clearly with everyone with as much advanced notice as possible. Very unfair to businesses and stakeholders. And easing rules should be consistent across the board…….. We’ve been locked down for so long with plenty of time to plan reopening but everything seems so last minute, unorganized and confusing.
@Ger Cassidy: they’ve said 50 for months.
@john smith iv: they said it would be 100 from Aug 1
@john smith iv: they said 100 from August….. Bit late notice to say plan for 50, 100 isn’t guaranteed
@Ger Cassidy: yes they did but they always put in a rider…depending on Covid numbers. I agree it’s very hard to plan. We have a wedding next month, currently have 75 guests. May have to lose 25.
@Paul Hedderman: Have you not learned by now everything is driven by the virus and the data they receive. They can plan anything they respond to its movement or changes.
@Paul Hedderman: They also said that could change depending on the data.
@Gary Kearney: Good man Gary. Wheres the consistency where its only 50 at a wedding but a hotel can provide indoor dining to any amount of unvaccinated? Wheres the consistency with you can fly in a plane for many hrs vaccinated, with a negative test or having recovered from the virus but only 50 at weddings, can people not be tested, vaccinated for higher wedding numbers?…… why are they so late at implementing travel plan when its been closed for a over a year, did the not envisage it restarting? Plenty of advanced notice! Or scrambling to put an indoor dining plan in place?….. Etc. Should the bulk of all this not be done behind the scenes over the past year so they’re prepared?
@Gary Kearney: Also Gary, have you not learned by now that our govt dont know how to manage the country and are reactive as opposed to proactive. Communication should be clear and concise which it hasn’t been. Rules should be clear and consistent but they’re not. No real leadership…… Only the other day minister for state tweeting you can travel on vaccine cert or negative test and there are people in forced quarantine in Malta because Malta des6nt accept negative test or HSE doc. Tweet is still on his feed right now days later….. Unbelievable
Shame on them there doing everything to keep controlling the people Leo loves the spotlight and hearing himself talk SH-T with a snear on his face
@Margaret Kane: Your right Margaret Shame on them for trying to stop a deadly pandemic from taking any more people before their time.
Saving people from themselves is a terrible thing to do.
@Gary Kearney: Shame on them for advising that weddings would be increased in August and now its 11 days before and hes saying to prepare for 50?!?! There has been no communication on weddings for a long time and now 11 days before theres a wishy washy statement on it but nothing definitive. Meanwhile based on previous info couples were preparing for 100 guests as advised. Wedding numbers need to be finalized weeks before a wedding for food orders and preparation. What about the bride and groom or the guests, do they not need to know?……… Educate yourself and check the stats on the age groups being infected and compare the hospital numbers to the flu numbers every year. Also take a look at the UKs figures
@Gary Kearney: what a silly comment
@Gary Kearney: YAWN GARY.
@Margaret Kane: Most of them are!
Pandemic is over. Let’s move on.
@Barry Ryan: Barry haas decided all hail Barry. When did you decide that was it when you realised a little under 5,000 people passed away today from it. Or was it when there was only 44,000 cases in the UK where they have opened up.
We have had a 90% increase in cases.
But you say its over.
@Gary Kearney: Stop living in the past Gary. Vaccine is rolled our to the vulnerable. Death rate has plummeted as a result and will continue to stay low. UKs has plummeted as a result as well despite their huge daily cases for a long while. Theres a reason were vaccinating….. People are gonna catch it while the rollout continues, less serious symptoms than the first 3 waves…… I feel sorry for those that live by the daily cases and fail to see the results of the vaccinations, or even understand that of the half that arent vaccinated, majority of the under 35s, 99.9% off them won’t have a serious illness….. Wait for it…… BECAUSE THEY’RE THE LEAST VULNERABLE!!!!. Its a different landscape now but you keep pointing out the stats that accrued when there was no vacciene.
@Paul Hedderman: *death rate and hospital numbers
@Gary Kearney: AND YAWN AGAIN GARY.
@Gary Kearney: put your head under the duvet and stay there or else go out and play with the buses
Thats the Bride sorted.The groom is not going to get a look in
Here’s a complete irrational thought…..why not treat weddings like you’re going to be treating pubs next week.
I thought the UK gov were a joke but, fair play Ireland you’re not far behind
Thanks Leo! You’ve just killed my buzz for next month
Does anyone know situation with communion and confirmations. When will they happen
OK the waves can go back to the sea now.
But you can go indoors if you are vaccinated in a restaurant with over 100 people but you can’t have a wedding with 100 people doesn’t make sense. Why bother getting vaccinated if they are stopping us with these ridc rules. The rules do not make sense. If I knew this
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