Just in from Jed Arkley of the Stumptown Improv Festival, here are the improv groups that'll be performing at this year's festival:
Bang+Burn
Brody Theater
Broke Gravy
Curious Comedy Theater
Death and Taxes
J Names
Juliet & Juliet
Liberators
Magnet Theater
North Coast
Orange Tuxedo
Summerland
Sunday Service
TEDxRFT
The Knockouts
TUNNEL
Virginia Jack
We've written about a bunch of these groups previously. Here's the rundown on returning performers. Not coincidentally, all of these acts come highly recommended. You should see them:
J Names: "They get that truly gifted improvisers don't just troll for a laugh—a mistake many new performers make—but work to develop and understand their craft. They know that a scene really shines—and the laughs come organically—when performers listen to what's happening onstage and build a world that lifts everyone up. In their work with other groups, each of the J Names is a leader. They know the craft of improvising, which means that seeing them perform together should be absolutely fantastic."
Virginia Jack: "I'd heard good things about Vancouver's Virginia Jack, and as soon as Nicole Passmore and Briana Rayner took the stage in coordinated pug 'n' kitten button-downs, I knew that the rumors were true."
Bang+Burn: "Portland's Bang + Burn (AKA John Breen and Beau Brousseau)... created a smart and surprisingly coherent start-to-finish action movie spoof in only half an hour."
North Coast: "Hip-hop improv sounds potentially awful, but it is not—at least when NYC's North Coast is the group responsible. North Coast put on one of the festival's strongest performances."
The Liberators: "Whether they're gamely pretending to be teenage BFFs on a road trip together ("That's dumb, Caitlin!") or declaring themselves "humanoids with no faces," the Liberators consistently deliver face-crumpling, tear-inducing laughs. Also, Shelley McLendon has a face made for improv. She can make any scene funny through her eye-squints alone. It's an honor and a privilege to be around such crazy faces. You do you, the Liberators!"
You can read about several of these groups, as well as the Brody Theater and Curious Comedy Theater and the growth of the Stumptown Improv Festival, in my feature from last month on the rise of local improv and sketch comedy.