OKC Improv celebrates 2nd anniversary with 3-week run of shows
Nerd-pop/folk/rock/hip-hop band The Memepunks will give their first public performance at 10 p.m. Nov. 26 at Ghostlight Theatre Club during OKC Improv's three-week November run. OKC Improv is celebrating its second anniversary. (Photo by Phillip Grimes)
From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.
OKC Improv celebrates second anniversary
The state’s first ongoing professional improv showcase is starting a new three-week run of shows at Saturday at Ghostlight Theatre Club in the Paseo Arts District.
Over the past two years, OKC Improv has entertained more than 3,500 people at 100-plus shows, taught at least 175 classes and helped foster a cohesive improv scene in Oklahoma City.
Even better, the founders of the state’s first ongoing professional improv showcase have reached a series of milestones that indicate more Oklahomans are appreciating improvisational theater as a true art form.
“While we took a pragmatic approach when discussing our goals as an organization when we first began, our dreams for what OKC Improv could become were ambitious from the start. Whether we’d succeed was anyone’s guess. Would other established improv groups participate in the community we were trying to build and perhaps most importantly, would there be an audience willing to support regular improv shows? The amazing thing is that after two years, we have our answer,” said OKC Improv co-founder and co-producer Eric Webb.
“At the end of our first two years we are proud of what we’ve accomplished, but most of all are grateful to be able to be part of this amazing community of people.”
Naturally, OKC Improv is celebrating its second anniversary by putting on a three-week run of shows starting at 8 and 10 p.m. Saturday at Ghostlight Theatre Club, 3110 N Walker in the Paseo Arts District. Performances will continue at 8 and 10 p.m. Nov. 19, 25 and 26 at Ghostlight.
The upcoming run will feature 22 different acts, three of them making their OKC Improv debuts, plus two world premieres. Hunter Canedy and Gloria Jones of Oklahoma City University Improv will perform as a long-form improv duo Saturday, marking their first time on the showcase.
The November lineup includes the first public performance at 10 p.m. Nov. 26 of nerd-pop/folk/rock/hip-hop band The Memepunks.
“This will be the first time we’ve ever hosted a band on our stage,” Webb said. “Our regular fans will find a lot of common ground with Memepunks.”
The Big O, a new boundary-pushing group of OKC Improv students Kyle Gossett, Ben Davis, Stephen Dillard-Carroll and Jessi Kyle, also will make their debut at 8 p.m. Nov. 26.
Along with putting on shows, OKC Improv remains committed to teaching improvisation, with its current run of Saturday afternoon Level 1-3 improv classes continuing through Nov. 26. In addition, the organization is planning a series of four advanced workshops, one per Sunday starting this weekend. Topics include unadulterated fun, physical comedy, scene editing and musical improv.
“With enough imagination and skill, there are no limits to the places improv can go, the kinds of stories that can be created, and how they are told,” Webb said.
“The number of active performance groups in the metro (over the past two years) has increased from five to 35, with the promise of more groups and projects to be developed during the course of the next year. Most importantly is the community of performers that has come together and bonded over a mutual love of this unique art form.”
OKC Improv recently was accepted to the Oklahoma Arts Council’s Performing Artist Roster, which Webb said means a great deal to the producers and performers.
“From the start we’ve wanted to find ways to partner with existing arts organizations, to share the art of improv, but also because we want to be a part of the arts community in Oklahoma. Improv is about so much more than just making people laugh. This is a legitimate performance art that unleashes creativity in both practitioners and audiences,” he said.
“Being vetted by and vouched for by the Oklahoma Arts Council is a huge affirmation for our improvisers, many of which have worked for years to hone their craft. It also gives us an opportunity to reach a wider audience, taking our showcases to other parts of the state.”
Artistic directors Buck and Clint Vrazel recently were recognized as part OKCBiz’s “Forty Under 40” for their innovative leadership and impact on the local arts community, and OKC Improv has joined the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce and Arts Council of Oklahoma City.
After selling out last year, OKC Improv will again be featured at the Arts Council of Oklahoma City’s Opening Night New Year’s Eve celebration.
“We are so excited to welcome OKC Improv to the membership roster of the Arts Council of Oklahoma City,” said Executive Director Peter Dolese. “We urge everyone to take advantage of the opportunity to see this professional improv group take the stage.”
For more information on OKC Improv, go to www.okcimprov.com.
-BAM
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