With an extraordinary line up of skilled and innovative players from all over the world, The London Improv Festival is truly a celebration of artistry, community and joy.

The London Improv Festival is thrilled to be hosting some of the world’s best established and most exciting up and coming teams.

Tickets go on sale on 16th February with advance sales for participants and festival passes available from 9th February.

shows

The London Improv Festival Headliners

Incredible improvisers will be joining us to perform headline shows and share their love of improv by teaching workshops.

Achilles Stamatelaky has been performing comedy since 2005, mainly at The UCB Theatre NY, where he was formerly the Associate Artistic Director and a veteran house team improviser, writer, and director.

He has taught improv and sketch writing at the UCB Training Center, as well as sitcom writing at NYU, and tons of independent classes and workshops.

Achilles was a staff writer on Broad City and has developed multiple projects for TV, film, and new media.

Achilles is a super smart improviser and an incredible teacher. The London Improv Festival is thrilled to have him on board.

Sebastian Conelli is a New York based improviser who regularly performs with Raaaatscraps and Asssscat (at UCB NYC). He appears in the Academy Award winning film Anora, and hosts the popular (and hilarious) podcast Loud About Nothing.

Sebastian is an extremely thoughtful and insightful improv teacher with years of coaching experience. The London Improv Festival is very excited and lucky to host him!

Suzi Barrett is an LA based actor/writer/improviser who plays with ASSSSCAT at UCB LA, is a member of the long-running house team Sentimental Lady, and is one half of the beloved indie team Elephants Gerald, with Rebecca Drysdale. She hosts the popular improv podcast Yes Also, and is a frequent guest on After Midnight and Comedy Bang Bang.

Suzi is passionate about bringing the philosophies and skills of the improv world (trust, support, and flexibility) to people in other walks of life. It is an honour to have such a bright, kind and experienced member of the improv community as part of The London Improv Festival.

8.30pm thursday 21st may

  • The London Improv Festival Headliners play with Sundae

    Sundae creates silly fun theatre inspired by some of the audience’s hot takes on trivial matters. In this very special show, they will be joined by the festival headliners.

5pm friday 22nd may

  • Ooh La La (Portland)

    Ooh La La is an award-winning all-women improv team from Portland, OR, USA, the land of hipsters, coffee, and good vibes. Like you, they enjoy a good podcast and they're going to host a podcast based on your audience suggestion! Will be a gossip session? A true crime mystery? Crypto bro rants? Let's find out! There'll be wacky characters, awkward situations, tangled romances, all coming together for a cheerful, good time. 

  • The Bloopers (London)

    A Complete Unknown. Bohemian Rhapsody. Rocketman. Just some of the Oscar-nominated films The Bloopers had every intention of making. But this year, they’re getting in first. And they’re going for gold. 

    The Bloopers cordially invite all esteemed members of the Academy to help cement their place in film history, with a musical-Biopic about someone audiences actually want to see – whoever it is they ask for.

6pm friday 22nd may

  • Derek's MoJo (London)

    Derek's MoJo presents Questionable Behaviour. A follies' folly of exploded truths, twisted tropes, taboos and other unmentionables. Get ready for a fun, fast, feminist farce.

    Starring Comedy Store Players regular Monica Gaga with stage and screen veteran Jodyanne FR. 

    Join Derek’s MoJo and prepare for comedy, debauchery and fun all inspired by you!

  • Elective (Los Angeles)

    Elective is an improv team comprised of teachers from UCB who were trained all over the United States (New York and LA). We've done the math and we've all done improv for a combined billion hours each so according to Malcolm Gladwell that means we'd have to be pretty good at it! Come see for yourself, guaranteed laughs or your money back (no such guarantee). 

7pm friday 22nd may

headline show featuring Suzi Barrett

8pm friday 22nd may

  • Plinky Plonk with Achilles Stamatelaky (London)

    Four skilled improvisers, accompanied by a master pianist, create an hour of spontaneous, fast-paced hilarity inspired by your choices.  Watch as the music inspires the scenes which in turn inspire the music. For their show at the London Improv Festival, they will be joined by festival headliner Achilles Stamatelaky.

  • The Kingdom Kids with Sebastian Conelli (Burlington)

    THE KINGDOM KIDS are a trio of some of the most experienced improv comedians in the Northeastern U.S. The cast all grew up in the northeast corner of Vermont (AKA the “Northeast Kingdom”), hanging out in places like gravel pits, drugstore parking lots, and decrepit movie theaters. 

    The team likes to ask audience members where they hung out as teenagers (and what kind of trouble they got up to there). Then, they use these stories as inspiration for an entirely improvised, freewheeling and wildly entertaining comedy set. 

    With a shared sense of humor that is smart, sarcastic and silly, this homegrown troupe of performers puts on an unpredictable show that is enjoyable for any audience. For this show, The Kingdom Kids will be joined by their pal, and festival headliner, Sebastian Conelli.

9pm friday 22nd may

  • At Home (Sheffield and Liverpool)

    Sometimes the simplest of people have the most interesting lives.

    Join Jen Hardy and Owen Scrivens as we take a peak through the curtains in suburbia and marvel at humans in their most natural habitat – The Home.

    An unscripted theatrical piece inspired by 20th century British Theatre and slice of life sitcoms.  Think Alan Bennett, John Osborne and Keeping Up Appearances – but with something new in every performance.

    Relatable characters you may wish were not so familiar – At Home reminds us that there is drama and humour behind every front door.

  • Banana Hut Gang (London)

    An improvised play that starts at the end and ends at the start!

    With just a single word of inspiration taken from the audience, the show starts with the final scene of the story and the performers work backwards from there to find out what happened before that, and before that, and so on. With each preceding scene exploring what caused that final (first!) scene to be.

    Each new scene jumps back in time; sometimes by a little, sometimes by a lot, and in each new scene you will discover a new element of the tale, bit by bit piecing together how the story came together so that, by the end, everything has become clear!

    From discovering why a bride ran out on her wedding, to finding out why that deranged man murdered all those people, we guarantee you’ll laugh along at every step of the journey with Banana Hut Gang! 

5pm saturday 23rd may

  • HeartBeat Improv (Bangalore)

    Beyond the stereotype - A show as authentically Indian as butter chicken 

    Expect thick Indian accents and heavy head nodding as we yes and!  Expect spicy humour hotter than any Samosa you have eaten. Expect mild flavors of colonial guilt tripping for the nervous laughs in an otherwise laugh riot of a show. 

    And if this doesn't convince you, we promise to provide free tech support after the show. 

  • Burn the Script (London)

    Burn The Script is an improv comedy troupe that takes Hollywood’s most iconic films and flips them on their head, mixing everyday life with blockbuster mayhem. You know the films… now watch them burn!

6pm saturday 23rd may

  • Dough Dough (Los Angeles)

    Dough Dough is a Los Angeles–based improv team and UCB LA CageMatch winners, performing game based improv built on sharp instincts and big swings - freshly made, no preservatives.

  • Fan Faves Competition Winners (London)

    Who will it be?? Come along to Blanche during February and March to vote for the team you’d like to see performing in this show!

7pm saturday 23rd may

headline show featuring Achilles Stamatelaky and Sebastian Conelli

8pm saturday 23rd may

  • Loo-Prov! with Suzi Barrett (London)

    London’s sweethearts will be joined by festival headliner Suzi Barrett in the women’s toilets for an improv show full of mischief, high emotions and lots of love.

  • Fünfdollar (Berlin)

    Comedy Cafe Berlin’s longest running House Team, now put out to pasture, aren’t ready to be made into lasagne just yet. Riffing off of an audience suggestion, the gates open up for a night of wild improvised comedy and galloping laughter from these seasoned stallions.

9pm saturday 23rd may

  • Egg Squish It - Improvised Nordic Noir (Oslo)

    Join “Egg Squish It” as they improvise a gripping Nordic Noir crime story set in your community: moody, mysterious, and full of unexpected laughs. Watch as your local landmarks become crime scenes, your neighbors turn into suspects, and chilling secrets get unraveled. 

    One familiar location. One unexpected crime. One unforgettable evening of comedy and intrigue. Could your hometown be the next setting for a Nordic Noir thriller? There's only one way to find out. 

    Warning: May cause increased suspicion of friendly neighbors and an irresistible urge to wear more turtlenecks. 

  • IMPEERIUM (Tallinn)

    This is what happens if you mix clown, mime, silent movies and commedia dell´arte. No knowledge of any language is necessary.

5pm sunday 24th may

  • Somewhat Theatre (London and Cambridge)

    What makes a play a play? What is the difference between a play and an improv set? What do you call a fish with no eyes? A very serious, not at all silly exploration of the nature of theatre and other grand-minded ideas. Somewhat Theatre ask the audience what makes a play a play, then play that play. Playfully.

  • Bear Milk (Berlin)

    Taking only the present moment for inspiration, Bear Milk creates a hilarious one act play of criss-crossing characters, stories and relationships, unfolding in real time. In spotlighting the minutiae of everyday life, Bear Milk reveals the hilarious absurdity lurking beneath both the seemingly ordinary and the decidedly unusual. Every show is completely made up on the spot and no one knows where it will go or where we will end up.

6pm sunday 24th may

  • Couch (Glasgow)

    Ever experienced a bad bistro, horrid hotel, or rancid restaurant? Long-form improv troupe Couch transform real 1-star reviews from your angriest stories into comedy! Complaints become characters and grievances become games! Expect plenty of questionable customer service, tense holiday drama, and zero refunds.

  • The London Improv Festival Ensemble (So many places)

    Incredible improvisers from all over the world meet and create a show together during the festival. See the magic that can be made when minds meet with intention and joy.

7pm sunday 24th may

  • Slumber Party (London)

    The self-proclaimed 'Spice Girls of improv' are bringing big energy debauchery as they craft a show based entirely off your audience gossip, on the spot.

    Tell your mum you’re staying at your friend's, grab your midnight snacks, and join us for an improvised comedy hour of fun. We start every slumber party with a good gossip so come armed with your juiciest morsels, and prepare to laugh the night away with this powerhouse all-female comedy group.

  • Legitimate Artists (Toronto)

    3 veteran improvisers from Toronto come together to make the funniest show you can possibly see. Alums from Second City, JFL, and seen on TV shows like What We Do In The Shadows, they come together to absolutely destroy the stage. You will not find a better show out there.

8pm sunday 24th may

finale show with all headliners and guest monologist Britt Pay

 

The London Improv Festival is presented by Blanche Improv, you can contact the festival team by emailing programming@blancheimprov.com