The Improverts is a

improvisational comedy Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv or impro in British English, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted, created spontaneously by the performers. In its ...

troupe from the Edinburgh University Theatre Company, which primarily performs at the Bedlam Theatre,

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. They perform weekly during

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the town council under the authority of a royal charter from King James VI in 1582 and offi ...

's term time and every night during the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

History

The Edinburgh University Theatre Company's improvised comedy troupe now known as The Improverts was founded in

in 1989 by Canadian-born Toph Marshall. He named it Theatresports after the form of competitive improvisation developed by director

Keith Johnstone Donald Keith Johnstone (21 February 1933 – 11 March 2023) was a British-Canadian educator and theatre director. A pioneer of improvisational theatre, he was best known for inventing the ''Impro System'', part of which are the Theatresports. ...

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

, Alberta,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in 1976. As the show grew in popularity the name was changed, during the

, (for copyright reasons) to Impro-Vegetables and then finally, in the 90s, to The Improverts. The Improverts was adopted as a permanent, year-round name from September 1997 onwards. Since the show's inception it has kept the Bedlam Theatre as its primary performance space, running weekly during

's term time and then at the Edinburgh Fringe. Each year new players are recruited largely, though not exclusively, from the student population though every player must be a member of the Edinburgh University Theatre Company. The troupe provides free weekly workshops in improvisation for the general public in order to attract new talent to the group. Carrying on the teachings of

, the show's format has changed over time, but stayed within the short-form sketch mould similar to TV's '' Whose Line is it Anyway?''.

Current activities

During term time, the Improverts play weekly at Bedlam Theatre, and hold weekly free improvisation workshops for the general public.

Notable alumni of the Improverts

* Maria Bamford (''

Arrested Development ''Arrested Development'' is an American satire, satirical television sitcom created by Mitchell Hurwitz. It follows the Bluths, a formerly wealthy, dysfunctional family and is presented in a Serial (radio and television), serialized format, inco ...

'', '' The Comedians of Comedy'') * Mitch Benn ('' The Now Show'', ''Mitch Benn's Crimes Against Music'') * Jenny Colgan (''Amanda's Wedding'', ''Looking for Andrew McCarthy'', ''West End Girls'') * Mark Dolan ('' Balls of Steel'') * Miles Jupp ('' Rev'', ''Miles Jupp's Real World'') * Humphrey Ker ('' The Brothers Faversham'', '' Fast and Loose'') * Lucy Kirkwood ('' Chimerica'', ''Tinderbox'') *

Ewen MacIntosh Ewen Douglas MacIntosh (25 December 1973 – 19 February 2024) was a Welsh actor known for his role as Keith Bishop in '' The Office'' (2001–2003). Early life MacIntosh was born in Merionethshire, Wales on 25 December 1973. He was educated ...

(''

The Office ''The Office'' is the title of several mockumentary sitcoms based on a British series originally created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as '' The Office'' in 2001. The original series also starred Gervais as manager and primary charac ...

'') * Kevin McKidd ('' Trainspotting'', '' Dog Soldiers'', ''

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

,''

Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series focusing on the personal and professional lives of surgical internship (medicine), interns, residency (medicine), residents, and attending physician, attendings at the fictional ...

) * David Reed ('' The Brothers Faversham'', '' It's Kevin'') *

Al Smith Alfred Emanuel Smith (December 30, 1873 – October 4, 1944) was the 42nd governor of New York, serving from 1919 to 1920 and again from 1923 to 1928. He was the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party's presidential nominee in the 1 ...

(''Enola'', '' The Cut'') * Thom Tuck ('' The Brothers Faversham'')

External links

The Improverts official site

References

{{reflist Improvisational troupes Clubs and societies of the University of Edinburgh Student theatre in Scotland Amateur theatre companies in Scotland Student comedy troupes