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5th Annual Comedy Fest
A week of the best improvisational comedy this town has to offer and some dear visitors from outside. This year's rib-tickling, side-splitting line-up includes Laraine Newman, Mo Collins, Scott Adsit, Adam McKay, Joel Murray, and Kate Flannery. Also participating are notable Improv Olympic alumni like Matt Besser, Stephanie Weir, Neil Flynn, David Koechner. For this year, the featured acts include Lloyd Dobbler's Boombox, Mission Improvable, Beer Shark Mice and reunions of casts from 'Saturday Night Live,' 'MADtv' and Second City. Comedy Groups from New York, Chicago, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Boston, Toronto and even the Philippines come to LA to participate in this event. Comedians and comediennes from the previous festivals include Amy Poehler, Andy Dick, Jeff Garlin, Mo Collins and Stephanie Weir. Others were SNL-ers Horatio Sanz, Jerry Minor, Beth Cahill and David Koechner against Mad TVs Ike Barinholtz, Andy Daly, Josh Meyers, Rich Talarico and Mo Collins. In 2004, Shelley Berman received the Del Close Lifetime Achievement Awardn, an originator of the form going back to his work with Elaine May and Mike Nichols, which led to his famous improvised one-man phone conversations. Previous acts included the cream of Imrov Olympic West 's regular troupes like he Lampshades, Red Shirt Freshmen, Beer Shark Mice - along with special performances by the Upright Citizens Brigade (Poehler's original gang), Second City Alumni, Andy Dick and the Beef Curtain Cowboys.
The 2nd festival showcased some of the best shows from the vicinity, including the unabashed Bush-bashing of sketch troupe Big News, the French-tweaking 'Le Comedie du Bicyclette', Jeff Garlin's 'Combo Platter', the Groundlings' 'Crazy Uncle Joe Show', and 'Totally Looped' at Second City (which puts new dialogue over old movies) where performers start with an audience suggestion and improvise their stand-up-style material off one another.
The First Annual LA Improv Comedy Festival started in 2003. 'My hope is to see it become a multistage, weeklong festival by next year with workshops that go on all week long and with different venues, maybe at the Groundlings or Second City theaters.' says James Grace, the festival's artistic director and executive director. The idea came to James as a tribute to his brother, an avid comic book collector who passed away. Festival organizers donate a portion of the performance ticket sales (and all the workshop ticket sales) to Project Angel Food, a charity that provides daily meals to people homebound by the effects of HIV/AIDS. Jams Grace's own brother died of AIDS.
Do buy tickets to the 5th Annual Los Angeles Improv Comedy Festival for an Out-of-the-curve and off-the-cuff comedy experience.
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2007 serves up the 5th Annual Los Angeles Improv festival from the June 4 to June 9. The laugh riot is held at the Improv Olympic West Theater and is open to anyone with tickets. People passing by Hollywood Boulevard in the first week of June will hear fanatical laughter. The Improv Olympic offers the best Improv training in Los Angeles. Besides, they tour the country with shows and training.
