This year, Toronto's Lusty Mannequins will be Alastair Forbes and Connor Thompson..... In Toronto, these two lads make up half of the group, the other half being Ashley Comeau and Karen Parker. Alastair Forbes and Connor Thompson. Both of the lads have years of teaching and performing experience, including at last year's inaugural MCIF, and can't wait to get reacquainted with lovely Cape Town and all the friends they made a year ago.
Along with the girl half (Ashley Comeau and Karen Parker), the LM team are all Second City Mainstage Alumni and combined have over 50 years improv experience, have been nominated for Canadian Comedy Awards, Dora Awards, have performed with John Cleese, Colin Mochrie, Martin Short, Kids in the Hall and many more!
They tour and teach all across North America and Europe and Africa! They’ve written for television, been on television, been on radio, etc, etc, etc. They’ve done a lot of things, but making you laugh is their favourite. Also dog sitting! They all love pups!
The Long Shots have been playing and performing since 2011, bringing a variety of classes, workshops and jams to the Cape Town improv scene throughout the year. They perform weekly at the Armchair Theatre, a comedy hub in Observatory, and do regular shows at the Alexander Bar Theatre – one of Cape Town’s leading independent theatres.
Always taking their cue from a 'what if?' angle on life, The Long Shots aim to make Cape Town a place where 'yes... and!' becomes the leading paradigm!
The Long Shots were the inaugural MCIF hosts in 2017, and hail from South Africa, the UK and the USA. They are: Rob Coutts, Eva Gilliam, Sipumziwe Lucwaba, Tamith Hattingh, Mark Penwill, Justine Beukes and Steve Larter.
Boston's Unscripted Musical Project is a fully improvised one-act musical from Boston, Massachusetts. You’ll laugh your tail off as characters are created, plot unfolds, and melodies are pulled out of thin air. Everything from the songs, the music, and what we lovingly call “choreography" is 100% improvised. No two shows are ever the same and anything can - and will - happen. You have to see it to believe it!
Team: Boston's Unscripted Musical Project is made up of ten actors and three musicians and performs every other weekend in Boston, MA. Repping us at the festival we are happy to introduce Misch Whitaker (director, performer), Autumn Gillette (performer), Pete Tracy (performer), Emily Laverdiere (performer), and Pablo Rojas (producer, owner).
ImproGuise, Cape Town's longest-running, award-winning, Improv Company have been performing continuously in Cape Town and around the country for the past 23 years, bringing you the internationally recognised short form Improv, TheatreSports.
They have also introduced audiences to other fabulous Long form improv formats ; some that they learned from fellow improvisers across the globe, and some that they invented themselves such as as On the couch, Tribute, Little Space between, Soapathon, Jam Sandwich, First Kiss, Last kiss, Musical, Naked Improv, The Chair and their annual Improv fest , to name a few.
They perform and teach at various theatres, schools, corporates and festivals both in South Africa and abroad.
Det Andre Teatret (The Other Theatre) is the largest and busiest stage for improvisational theatre in Scandinavia. It was founded six years ago as a private initiative by some of Oslo's central improv groups. After several years of performing all over town and touring both in Norway and internationally, the passionate improvisers found an old coconut mill in the beautiful area along Aker River, near the city center. By investing their savings and loads of volunteer work, the first improv theatre of Norway finally opened its doors in September 2011.
The public success was immediate.
Over the last years the theatre has produced a varied repertoire of scripted and unscripted shows for audiences of all ages. Several new formats of both long-form and short-form improv has been developed at the theatre, familier formats as Keith Johnstone’s Micetro and Gorilla Theatre are performed regularely. The ensemble consists of 20 professional actors performing more than 8 shows every week and touring extensively in schools, theatres and international festivals all over the world.
Their focus on acting skills, storytelling and a playful risk-loving attitude have earned them an outstanding international reputation for excellence and innovation in improvisational theatre within the international improvising community.
The Coffee Breaks are a group of young, feisty improvers who formed out of an improv course with The Long Shots founder, Jason Delplanque.
This troupe know each other better then you know your mother - they have been studying and working together at Act Cape Town film academy for the past 3 years. This up-and-coming improv troupe had their debut performance at the Mama City Improv Festival 2016, where they kept the audience entertained with their fresh and playful wit!
Drunk Narrator: Kevin Miller (USA)
Sober Improvisors: TBA
Inspired by the popular series Drunk History, a group of sober improvisers try to keep up with an extremely drunk narrator in "History Under the Influence.”
Kevin spends the hour before the show getting hammered, then stumbles onstage and asks the audience for a historical event they’d like to see re-enacted. The result is wacky, hilarious, and occasionally accurate. Since 2014, History Under the Influence has performed at improv festivals in ten different states and five different countries, from Alaska to Greece and everywhere in between.
The Second Liners are the newest improvised comedy troupe to claim Cape Town as their home. Founded in 2017, they are excited to be part of the growing local improv scene.
Their origins vague, some say they were a bunch of wayward bard-minstrels and their traveling companions, accidentally caught on stage one day and having to make it work lest they be run out of town. Those left standing banded together to continue their shared ability to use improvisation to get themselves in and out of misadventures.
Amongst their number are a few haggard short-form veterans, a whole bushel of a few years matured Long Shots-raised acolytes and a gaggle of eager and no longer expendable fresh-faced types.
For performances they favour short-form, musical and fast-game styles and have also started to dabble in long-form variants as well.
