Luke & Michael: A is for Action

Action is vital for improv. Both for the performing of it, and for the putting together of shows and festivals, as Michael of Luke and Michael puts it so eloquently in the post 'A is for Action' on their blog.

Check it out!
- Ryan

From Tampere to London

I've just come back from Tampere Finland, and the Finland International Improv Festival. I'm exhausted and exhilarated. It was an amazing time, hanging out with so many fabulous and talented people from all over the world, and saturating ourselves in improv.

I returned home exhausted, dirty and inspired. I'm now taking a few days to get ready for Slapdash. Because when it comes, it too will be a sustained wave of incredible improv and wonderful people.

Having just returned from a tremendous experience being subsumed in improvisation and seeing some truly tremendous shows, I'd like to urge you NOT to miss Slapdash this year.

You can thank me later.

- Ryan

Opening weekend now with more Sufferettes!

We're quite proud of the festival programme we put together this year. We've got more workshops, out of town shows, new formats and all kinds of stuff that makes us feel like again Slapdash is evolving.

And we already felt that way before we had it confirmed that The Sufferettes are coming to headline the first weekend! The Sufferettes are Kayla Lorette and Becky Johnson, all the way from Toronto Canada.

They are currently touring Europe, and we tried to confirm them way back in March, but it looked like the scheduling wasn't going to work, and then - all of a sudden, last week a window opened up and we pounced, like tiny determined kittens on a colourful ball of string!

And so it turns out that our already action-packed first weekend - featuring the Fancy Pants Jam and a weekend intensive with the gang from UCB - now includes a Friday night workshop with Becky Johnson, and a Saturday night set from Canada's most cosmopolitan female improv duo.

Get tickets for the opening night of the festival!
-Ryan

The magic of improv

The best improv in the world doesn't look like the best improv in the world. It doesn't look like improv at all actually, it looks well-crafted and tightly scripted. It amazes me that no matter how many friends I take to see great improv, and no matter how many of those friends are well aware of the show I'm taking them to, many of them still turn to me on our way out and ask, 'But how much of that was planned?'.

 I think when you get right down to it, this inability to fully believe in improv, in its all-encompassing and magical glory, is what separates this artform from its brothers and sisters in the performance community. And ultimately it's what makes improv so goddamn special.

Let's say you see a heart-wrenching play or a beautiful film, or maybe a broadway bonanza or an unforgettable concert; all are amazing in their own right and leave you speechless with delight. There's one thing, however, that joins these performances together: as an audience, we can see how these shows were created, we can assume that with enough planning and creativity anything is possible. Sure, the person who wrote that play may be one of a kind, and yeah, that lead singer will die of sleeping pills overdose next week and pass into legend. But still, we experience these moments and imagine how it all must work; we can understand the process.

 And then there's the improvisor who steps onto an empty stage and creates something - seemingly out of nothing, an idea that most people can't fully accept. I think that's why improv has never really taken off in any culture, because it's too hard to believe; it must be a trick, a sleight of hand, or just a bold-faced lie. But funny as it often is, improv is the simplest and purest of all performance, all you have to do is be present in each moment. Then, once you accept what you're really a part of - the spontaneous creation of theatre - it'll blow your fuckin' mind.

- Jacob

T-shirts on the way

Looking through my t-shirt drawer, I notice that I have a lot of cool t-shirts. Of course, I would say that. But I do, it's true. If not 'cool' then at least significant. I have a lot of significant t-shirts, that I can say with full confidence.

Because almost every single one of them is associated with the friend who gave it to me, or time in my life when it was purchased or won, or.. with an amazing event. They're all tied to something special.

And so it's both fitting and exciting that we've got Slapdash t-shirts coming this year. Because this year's Slapdash is definitely going to be something special. And also: this year's Slapdash is going to have t-shirts for all the performers and volunteers, and a limited number on sale for the public.

And those were ordered today, almost a full three weeks before the start of the fest! I can't wait to see them, and then wear them, and then keep wearing them for years and years.
-Ryan

Interview with Kaitlin Thompson

Luke and Michael interviewed Kaitlin Thompson, a member of Safe Weird.

Here is what she said.

Catch Safe Weird perform on Thursday 13th of June!

Luke and Michael have done it again.

There is a new blogpost in the A to Z.

It's the L for Laughter.

And Love. Because that's what we do it.

(is that grammatical?)

Enjoy their latest blog here.