Sarasota Improv Festival delivers laughs on the spot

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There were so many groups eager to perform in the seventh annual Sarasota Improv Festival, that organizers decided to add a third night with a Florida focus.

The Chicago-based troupe Baby Wants Candy, a headline act at the 2015 Sarasota Improv Festival, creates an original musical during its performances. PHOTO PROVIDED BY FST

The Chicago-based troupe Baby Wants Candy, a headline act at the 2015 Sarasota Improv Festival, creates an original musical during its performances. PHOTO PROVIDED BY FST

“It’s the best improv festival I’ve ever been to,” said Gavin Hawk, who performs in St. Petersburg with his comedy partner Ricky Wayne as Hawk and Wayne. “They really take care of the improvisers. They’ll put them up. They’ll pay them. Most improv festivals don’t pay. It’s nice to feel you’re being treated as a real professional contributor.”

Six Florida groups will share two performance slots and then come together in a comedy jam session on Thursday. The festival officially begins at 6 p.m. Friday with host troupe FST Improv.

Many of the groups are returning favorites, including Dad’s Garage from Atlanta, Austin’s Available Cupholders, Orlando’s SAK Comedy Lab, the Chicago female musical quartet Stacked and the Boston-based Boston Improv and Big Bang Improv.

The new star attraction this year is Baby Wants Candy, a Chicago-based group that creates original Broadway-style musicals based on a title suggested by the audience.

The group developed almost accidentally, said co-founder Peter Gwinn, who will perform two shows this weekend with five other troupe members.

Members of the New York-based hip-hop improv group return for the 2015 Sarasota Improv Festival. STAFF PHOTO/JAY HANDELMAN

Members of the New York-based hip-hop improv group return for the 2015 Sarasota Improv Festival. STAFF PHOTO/JAY HANDELMAN

“Our favorite piano player would occasionally inspire us to burst into song in the middle of a non-musical scene,” Gwinn said. “He was leaving and we love singing and we said, before you go, let’s do a musical so we can sing with you as much as possible, and we just started doing that. Everybody loved it and we thought maybe we should keep doing this.”

And they have for nearly 20 years.

Among the group’s famous alumni are Rachel Dratch and Aidy Bryant from “Saturday Night Live,” and Jack McBrayer, who played Kenneth on “30 Rock.”

Do they ever create something they think could be an actual musical?

“Some of our shows are absolutely amazing experiences, but I’m not positive how amazing they would be the second time, though,” Gwinn said. “We are making it up. That is part of the fun. We scripted one and that was a lot more work. It needs sets and costumes and people have to learn lines.”

Gwinn himself wrote the script for the musical “The Story of a Story: The Untold Story” that will be presented later this year in Chicago. In addition to his improv work, Gwinn spent more than seven years writing for “The Colbert Report.” Working on “Colbert” was “a really a supportive, collegial atmosphere,” Gwinn said. “Some TV gigs can be really competitive, but this was really collaborative. That was Stephen’s philosophy that trickled down.”

The festival also expands its options, and possibly its demographics, with Nashville-based Music City Improv and two Spanish groups, one with a unique twist.

Considered the leading Latin American improviser, Omar Argentino Galvan will perform in two languages at the 2015 Sarasota Improv Festival.

Considered the leading Latin American improviser, Omar Argentino Galvan will perform in two languages at the 2015 Sarasota Improv Festival.

Omar Argentino Galvan does a solo improv show that has taken him around the world.

And ImproMadrid is a 15-year-old company that usually performs in Spanish, but will be speaking mostly English at the festival. “We’re trying to expand our Spanish-speaking audience,” said Managing Director Rebecca Hopkins, who created FST Improv and launched the festival.

Will Luera, FST’s first director of improv, will be busy during the weekend, performing with both FST Improv and Boston’s BigBang Improv, which he helped to create.

The weekend also includes an 11 a.m. Kids Comedy Lab performance and a series of workshops.

The Seventh Annual Sarasota Improv Festival runs July 9-11 at Florida Studio Theatre, 1241 N. Palm Ave., Sarasota. Tickets are $10-$15 for single shows; $20 for Thursday, $49 for Friday or Saturday, $59 for two days and $69 for all three days. For more information: 366-9000; floridastudiotheatre.org

 

Seventh Annual Sarasota Improv Festival

Available Cupholders, 10 p.m. July 10 (Keating Theatre) — This Austin, Texas-based troupe, a regular part of the Improv Festival since the start, presents long-form shows built around audience suggestions. The group will also be leading workshops and perform again July 17-18. facebook.com/availablecupholders

Baby Wants Candy, 8 p.m. July 10, 9 p.m. July 11- This Chicago-based group that includes Rachel Dratch, Aidy Bryant and Jack McBrayer as alumni, creates an original musical at each show based on a title from the audience. babywantscandy.com

Big Bang Improv,  6 p.m. July 11 (Keating Theatre) — This Boston troupe, including ImprovBoston alumni, presents fast-paced free-form shows. facebook.com/BigBangImprov

Comedy School Dropouts , 8:30 p.m. July 9 (Bowne’s Lab)-- A Miam improv and sketch comedy troupe combines a variety of comedy styles. comedyschooldropouts.com

Dad’s Garage,  8 p.m. July 10, 7 p.m. July 11  — Marking its 20th year, the Atlanta-based Dad’s garage presents improv games, soap operas and other sketches in their varied shows. dadsgarage.com

Dear Aunt Gertrude, 7 p.m. July 9 (Bowne’s Lab)— The Tampa troupe performs both short and long-form improv. Dear Aunt Gertrude

The FST Improv Troupe is the host company for the 2015 Sarasota Improv Festival at Florida Studio Theatre. PHOTO PROVIDED BY FST

The FST Improv Troupe is the host company for the 2015 Sarasota Improv Festival at Florida Studio Theatre. PHOTO PROVIDED BY FST

FST Improv, 6 p.m. July 10, Goldstein Cabaret — The host company performs in a growing range of styles in a varied assortment of shows and performs Saturdays in Bowne’s Lab.  floridastudiotheatre.org/fst-improv

Hawk & Wayne, 8 p.m. July 10, Goldstein Cabaret — Gavin Hawk and Ricky Wayne have been performing together in the Tampa Bay area for more than seven years, and often build scenes off one word suggestions. facebook.com/hawkandwayne

ImprovBoston, 7 p.m. July 10, 8 p.m. July 11  (Keating Theatre) — This troupe, together for more than three decades, varies styles from long-form storytelling to spontaneous games. ImprovBoston.com

ImproMadrid, 5 p.m. July 11  -- One of this year’s newcomers, Impromadrid Theatre has been focusing on improv techniques for 15 years. The group will perform mostly in English for its Sarasota Improv Festival show. impromadrid.com (in Spanish)

Just the Funny, 7 p.m. July 9 (Bowne’s Lab) -- The Miami troupe, founded in 1999, performs a mix of sketch, shortform and longform improv. justthefunny.com

Music City Improv,  7 p.m. July 10 (Goldstein Cabaret) -- The Nashville-based group performs a variety of short and long-form improv, as well as live and video sketch comedy. MusicCityImprov.com

North Coast Improv,7 p.m. July 11  (Keating Theatre) — This New York City troupe builds its show around improvised hip hop music. northcoastnyc.com

Omar Argentino Galván, Improtour SOLO de IMPRO -- 4 p.m. July 11  (Goldstein Cabaret). The Spanish performer presents a solo improv act in a kind of universal language. laimpro.blogspot.com/

Post Dinner Conversation, 8:30 p.m. July 9 (Bowne’s Lab) — A relatively new Tampa group creates long-form improv built around conversations. postdinnerconvo.com

SAK Comedy Lab,  8 p.m. July 11 -- The granddaddy of Florida improv troups plays a variety of games to build scenes around audience ideas. sak.com

Sick Puppies Comedy 7 p.m. July 9 (Bowne’s Lab)-- The nearly 3-year-old troupe from Boca Raton often builds their improv routines around a stand-up comedian’s routine. sickpuppiescomedy.com

STACKED, 9 p.m. July 10, 6 p.m. July 11  (Goldstein Cabaret) — Four women and one pianist from Chicago create musical improv in four-part harmony. facebook.com/stackedmusic

The all-female Chicago troupe STACKED creates musical improv during their performances. They have become regulars at the Sarasota Improv Festival. STAFF PHOTO/JAY HANDELMAN

The all-female Chicago troupe STACKED creates musical improv during their performances. They have become regulars at the Sarasota Improv Festival. STAFF PHOTO/JAY HANDELMAN

The Third Thought, 8:30 p.m. July 9  (Bowne’s Lab)— Created in 2011, this Tampa troupe focuses on long-form improv that gets to the truth in life. thethirdthought.com

Villain Improv, 9 p.m. July 10 (Keating Theatre) — This Chicago troupe’s mission is to take over the world through its focus on a particular style of longform improv. villain.improvteams.com

Improv Workshop Schedule: Saturday, July 11

All workshops are $29 each for a two hour session with the professionals.

10 a.m. -- Intro to Musical Improv, by STACKED

10 a.m. -- Reinventing Shortform, ImprovBoston

10 a.m. -- Emotional Recall, Sick Puppies

10 a.m. -- “Lights Out!” Comedy School Dropouts

12:30 p.m. -- Advanced Musical Improv, ImprovBoston and Baby Wants Candy

12:30 p.m. --  Flashform hosted by Post Dinner Conversation

12:30 p.m. -- The Power of Assumption, Villain Improv

12:30 p.m. -- Parallel universes, to other forms, Omar Argentino Galvan

3 p.m. -- Improvised Hip Hop, North Coast

3 p.m. -- Sketch Writing for Television, Peter Gwinn from “The Colbert Report”

3 p.m. -- Keeping it Real Yo, The Third Thought

Some Tips for the Audience

Tips for the Audience

Mix booze and improv comedy and all sorts of things can happen. Improv artists, like stand-up comedians, can often deal with unruly audiences, but they also have suggestions on how patrons should behave.

-- Laugh. That’s why you’re there.

-- Know when to contribute (when you’re asked) and know when to keep quiet. from 2013. “Have a suggestion, but only yell it out when they ask you to,” said Peter Gwinn of Baby Wants Candy.

-- Don’t be afraid to contribute or to go on stage if encouraged by a performer. “No one’s out to embarrass you, so be yourself. We want you to look good,” said Rebecca Hopkins of FST Improv.

-- Know that the performers are really improvising. “No one goes through the trouble of writing something and pretending to make it up. This is all made up on the spot,” Gwinn said.

-- The more fun you have, the more fun everyone else can have (within reason).

-- Take pictures, Tweet and post images on Instagram. “Improv is all about connecting. Go for it,” Hopkins said.

-- Drink! "We only get funnier with alcohol, and low blood sugar makes for a bad sense of humor," Hopkins said.

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Jay Handelman

Jay Handelman is the theater and television critic for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, where he has worked since 1984. He also is President of the Foundation of the American Theatre Critics Association and a two-time past chairman of the association's executive committee. He can be reached by email or call (941) 361-4931. Follow him at @jayhandelman on Twitter. Make sure to "Like" Arts Sarasota on Facebook for news and reviews of the arts.
Last modified: July 17, 2015
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