tributes!

Project Improv

So, I thought I'd throw up a tribute to PROJECT IMPROV, a local improv comedy group that has been around for well over a year (as of 27 April, 2003) and performs weekly at the Kentucky Theater on Fourth Street here in Louisville.

The reason why I put up this site is because if you Google for Project Improv, you won't find much to go on. My hope is that this page gets indexed nicely.

What is IMPROV?

In case you don't know what "improv" comedy is -- well, you should know better. But anyway, it's comedy that is made up on the spot. The plot, the characters, the names, the voices, everything on-the-spot. There are many types/styles of improv shows, ranging from long-form plays to skits to improv "games". If you watch Whose Line Is It Anyway? you'll get a good idea of the "game" style of improv.

PROJECT IMPROV is a bit between the game style and the long-form style. They will take a single word from the audience at the beginning of the show and go on from there! They break up the long-form into three acts, and play some games in between. They toyed with various incarnations of the long-form/game style for a while, but seem to have settled into the three-act long-form with games in the intermissions. It works quite well, keeping the audience involved, and allowing the players to come up with some plot ideas in their minds between acts.

What is PROJECT IMPROV?

Well, PROJECT IMPROV is the brainchild of Chris Hartman, a figure on the local theatre scene. After chatting with an improv elder, he decided to pull together some friends and fellow actors to form an improv troupe. To the best of my knowledge, their first show was at the Actor's Theatre Louisville Comedy Festival (or somesuch) in the Spring of 2002 where they performed with Dad's Garage, among others.

They performed a handful of shows in local venues, finally landing a recurring gig at the Kentucky Theatre in the Fall of 2002, where they now play weekly.

The cast has changed occassionaly, but as of now (Spring 2003), they seem to be falling into a good groove, and the chemistry between the cast is starting to really gel. Each time I see them, they seem to know each other better, and are able to communicate via some sort of wacky comedy-telepathy. Comedopathy. Yeah. Just recently (April 2003), two new cast members were added (Paul and Natalie), and both are off to rousing starts.

Already, PROJECT IMPROV has spawned a couple of alums into bigger and better things -- Nick Smith, for example has been accepted into the renowned Second City Conservancy program in Chicago.

Well, I think I've gone on long enough. Below is what you came here for...

Show Info

"Every Thursday night at 8 PM for the foreseeable future @ the historic Kentucky Theater!"
Admission - $6 (for an hour and a half show)

Current Cast

Rebecca Grossman (also involved with the Rocky Horror Radio Show)
(photo of Rebecca she probably didn't know was on the internet may be found here)
Chad M. Hall
Curtis Schneider
Ken Troklus (He works for UPS.)
(internet photos of Ken may be found here (in center with cup))
Paul ? (hey, they only say their first names during the show)
Chris Hartman

Past Cast (very incomplete, I believe)

Nicholas Smith (now at the Second City Conservatory in Chicago!)
Briana Gregory (on hiatus?)
Natalie ?

e-mail

ProjectImprov[at]aol[dot]com (replace the [at] and [dot] with @ and . respectively). They've got an email list going, so if you want to be on it, just shoot them a note.

Articles

LEO article (December 31, 2002)
Louisville Scene Article (April 14, 2003)

Photos

2002.10.24 Show (fairly crap, as they were shot by me)

Tribute?

I originally became aware of this whole thing in large part due to Nick Smith's involvement in all this. Well, Hunter and I try to make it at least a couple of weeks each month, and slowly but surely the crowds are growing, and the cast's talent keeps growing, too! Good stuff all around, really. Always different, always funny.

Ben Wilson