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Saint Louis Improv Festival 2003Performance Schedule
Thursday May 29th, 2003
FESTIVAL KICK OFF PARTY NIGHT
CITY Improv, downtown Union Station & Dressel's Pub, 419 N. Euclid in the Central West End
7:30 pm @ CITY IMPROV - The Good The Bad & The Funny
It’s high noon at City Improv and trouble is brewing. 2 rival gangs have taken over this quiet town and are feuding over control. Out over the plains a cloud of dust is rising. Speeding through on his trusty horse is the new Sheriff and his trusty sidekick Doc. These two rough and tumble peacemakers are here to settle the score and clean up the town. Come check out City Improv’s trip back to the old west and witness a classic battle of good and evil. When that clock strikes 12, only 1 will be left standing. Come see “The Good, The Bad, and The Funny”!
8:00 pm @ Dressel's - NIghtshift Improvisational Theater
NightShift involves the people of the St. Louis area in the controlled insanity and spontaneous combustion of audience-driven improv, long form improv, devised works, and other alternative theatre forms.
9:15pm @ CITY IMPROV - New Madrid's Fault
When New Madrid's Fault performs, the earth will move. Well, not literarily, but certainly in a cosmic, comedic, theatrical, non-sensical, figurative sort of way. NMF offers to St. Louis - ground breaking comedy! We bring a style of improv rarely seen in St. Louis. New Madrid's Fault, featuring director Andy Sloey, Joe Hartenstine, Chris Bosworth, Mikey Manker, Jana Ming, Ryan Lee, Ben Swoboda, and Kris Ramsey bring over 30 years collective experience in performing, improv and comedy to the stage.
Friday May 30th, 2003
FESTIVAL PREVIEW NIGHT
CITY Improv, Union Station
7:30 pm - Nightshift Improvisation Theater
NightShift involves the people of the St. Louis area in the controlled insanity and spontaneous combustion of audience-driven improv, long form improv, devised works, and other alternative theatre forms.
8:30 pm - BARE
Shaun Himmerick and Fuzzy Gerdes have been performing together since 1993. They met through an improv group at Purdue University and went on to perform with a variety of improvisational groups, both separately and together-ComedySportz, TheatreSports, serious improvised drama, Chicago-style long form with the ImprovOlympic, and so on. As Bare, Shaun and Fuzzy have performed at the Seattle Festival of Improv Theater, the Minneapolis Improv Festival, the Chicago Improv Festival, the SAK Orlando Foolfest, the Toyota Comedy Festival, the YESand.com New York Improv Festival, the Columbia Improv Festival, and at the Toronto Main Event.
9:30 pm - New Madrid's Fault
When New Madrid's Fault performs, the earth will move. Well, not literarily, but certainly in a cosmic, comedic, theatrical, non-sensical, figurative sort of way. NMF offers to St. Louis - ground breaking comedy! We bring a style of improv rarely seen in St. Louis. New Madrid's Fault, featuring director Andy Sloey, Joe Hartenstine, Chris Bosworth, Mikey Manker, Jana Ming, Ryan Lee, Ben Swoboda, and Kris Ramsey bring over 30 years collective experience in performing, improv and comedy to the stage.
10:30 pm - Sybil
Sybil is a completely improvised solo performance piece developed by Andy Eninger in 1999. The piece lasts from 15 to 45 minutes, and is created on the spot from a single audience suggestion. In a Sybil, the lone actor plays each and every character in an expanding, thematically connected network of improvised scenes and monologs. Plotlines and characters evolve from the initial suggestion resulting in comedically intertwined, spontaneous stories that unfold in unexpected directions. The performance is the ultimate challenge for an improvisor and a theatrical delight for the audience, who ofen find themselves involved in the action.
11:30 pm - The Marty
Incorporating suggestions from the audience, Ed Reggi and Lindsey Patrick performed a fully improvised 45 minute set, consisting only of two-person relationship based scenes. Within the performance a range of two characters and situations are presented in the style of what is known as a "Marty" in the Improv community. The Marty is named and based on the work taught by the late Martin de Maat, The Second City Training Center's former Artistic Director.
Saturday May 31st, 2003
MAIN STAGE
Center of Contemporary Arts, COCA University City
8:00 pm - Louisville Improvisers
"The Louisville Improvisors" is the first and longest running Improv troupe in town. Members are seasoned veterans with experience in television, film, and stage...and all have studied at Chicago's famed Second City. Their 2003 production of "Improvapalooza III" played to a combined audience of nearly one-thousand. Christmas production, "Like the Dickens," and Valentine's show, "Burnin' Love," also sold out during successful runs.
9:00 pm - One Man Seen : Andy Eninger
ONE MAN SEEN brings together one of Chicago’s best solo performers, Andrew Eninger, and one of the best directors of solo performances in the country, Gary Ruderman. The creator of the “Sybil” performance collaborated with the director of “So I Killed A Few People…” and many others to develop this new production–ONE MAN SEEN. Andy Eninger does it all—with a bare stage and an audience suggestion Eninger creates a spontaneous one-act play every week—from the imagined set to the imagined costumes, from the plot to the quirky characters. Eninger teaches at Second City's training center and performs with GayCo Productions. He is also the creator of "Sybil," a solo improvised format created at the Playground Theater.
10:00 pm - Bassprov - Joe Bill and Mark Sutton
Bassprov is an original comedy created by veteran Chicago improvisers Joe Bill and Mark Sutton. The show is a fully improvised, one-act play that spins off of two simple audience suggestions. The setting is the fishing boat of Donny Weaver (played by Mark Sutton), where he and his best friend Earl Hinkle (played by Joe Bill) find refuge from the chaos of their world.
Donny and Earl use the boat as a forum to discuss the issues of our time, commiserate over love won and lost, trade parenting tips, and discuss the merits of everything from Dr. Phil to the plays of William Shakespeare. They also, of course, fish and drink a little beer.
Bassprov was born out of a moment of inspiration. During a performance of "Screw Puppies," a weekly improv show at Chicago's famous Annoyance Theater, Bill and Sutton found themselves on-stage together, sitting in chairs. They decided to go fishing... and an idea was born. Over the next several months, the "fishing scene" returned to the show several times, each time to great audience response. "There was just something about those characters that the audience loved," said Sutton. "No matter what they did, or what they talked about, the audience went along for the ride."
In the spring of 2001, Sutton and Bill decided to put the idea to the test and build a show around the characters. Bassprov premiered at the 2001 Chicago Improv Festival's "Improv 'Til Dawn." The show, still in its experimental stages, drew a sell-out crowd for a 4am performance. It's been rolling ever since.
Workshop Schedule
Saturday May 31st, 2003
POWER IMPROVISATON with Joe Bill and Mark Sutton
CITY Improv, Union Station
10:00 am to 1 pm; $35 for 3 hours
This workshop focuses on:
- Playing the "whole character" by making in-depth choices, seeing how you affect you, and "seeing" the scene through the eyes of your character and not the eyes of the improvisor.
- Recognizing the power of variety in the scene. Exploring new dynamics spatial relationships, physical dynamics and making each scene an endless flow of options that will expand and not constrict.
SOLO IMPROVISATON with Andy Eninger
CITY Improv, Union Station
1:30 pm to 4 pm; $35 for 2 1/2 hours - Limit: 20 Participants
Solo Improvisation: Finding you Own Voice on Stage
Whether you improvise with an ensemble, perform writtent material, or are planning your own Solo Show, Solo Improvisation can help you to discover your own unique power on stage. Instructor Andy Eninger (creator of the critically acclaimed solo improv performances "Sybil" and "One Man Seen") will teach you exercises that will bring new life to your character work and greater confidence to your improvisation. Reconnect you with a sense of play and freedom onstage. If the thought of this course terrifies you, that's the little voice in the back of your head saying "do it."
Experience Required: Improv experience recommended but not required; Some stage performance (theatre, dance, stand up, storytelling) also recommended and helpful.
The Improv BARE essentials
CITY Improv, Union Station
4pm to 5pm; $10 for 1 hour
Let the master improv performers behind BARE show you the world of their fast paced, high energy improvisation.
Sunday June 1st, 2003
SYBIL with Andy Eninger
Kari James Dance Network, 10030 Manchester Road
10:00 am to 2 pm; $50 for 4 hours Limit: 8 Participants
Solo Improv Intensive: Learning the "Sybil"
Solo Improvisation is the ultimate challenge for the experienced improviser! The "Sybil" is a solo improv form that will challenge you, hlep you to discover your own voice onstage, and will ultimately give you the ultimate improv thrill. Push your character work to the limit, and discover amazing depth to the characters you play on stage. Find a whole new level of confidence, and an ability to trust your gut and "yes, and" your own choices. After your first Sybil, your improv work will never be the same!
This course is taught by instructor Andy Eninger (creator of the critically acclaimed solo improv performances "Sybil" and "One Man Seen")
Experience Required: Improv experience recommended but not required; Some stage performance (theatre, dance, stand up, storytelling) also recommended and helpful.
Welcome to the
Saint Louis Improv Festival 2003!
The Second Annual
Saint Louis Improv Festival
May 28 to May 31, 2003
Event Background
The Saint Louis Improv Festival started in 2001, by local actor Ed Reggi. Reggi originally planned a series of mini workshops and performances held at two locations. As the news of the event spread, more performances were added and three other improv venue locations were added to the line-up. The first St. Louis improv festival was a reality, and the Ladies of Second City helped headline the event, along with Joe Bill and Mark Sutton's, Bassprov performance. In the end, the first Saint Louis Improv Festival was a huge success, selling 11 out the 14 performances over a five day period. Over 2500 St. Louisans were able to see improv troupes from Kansas City, Chicago, Nashville and St. Louis!
The Saint Louis Improv Festival is accepting corporate sponsorship until March 15, 2003. For consideration please call the festival office at 314-647-8030 ext 2.
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