Grand Rapids Improv Festival returns for 11th year

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Thursday through Saturday, visitors to The Comedy Project in Grand Rapids can attend the 11th annual Grand Rapids Improv Festival, a weekend showcase of regional improv comedy groups.

“We bring people in from all over the Midwest,” Kristin Hirsch, director of the Grand Rapids Improv Festival, said. “It’s a sampler platter of the different kinds of improv, of the different groups that are out there.”

With two or more shows each night, attendees can stay for a single performance or the entire evening, enjoying a full bar and a chef pop-up Friday.

“You can buy a nightly pass and we also have a full festival pass,” Hirsch said. “That gets you into everything all weekend.”

Improvisers and audience members attend the Grand Rapids Improv Festival with shows at The Comedy Project. (Courtesy Kristin Hirsch)
Improvisers and audience members attend the Grand Rapids Improv Festival with shows at The Comedy Project. (Courtesy Kristin Hirsch)
Improvisers and audience members attend the Grand Rapids Improv Festival with shows at The Comedy Project. (Courtesy Kristin Hirsch)

As a unique form of theater, improv comedy includes a team of actors working together — along with the audience — to spontaneously create a story or scene.

“That’s the great thing about improv: It’s based on audience suggestion,” Hirsch said. “There can be some audience participation and it feels like a very communal kind of theater.”

Improvisers and audience members attend the Grand Rapids Improv Festival with shows at The Comedy Project. (Courtesy Kristin Hirsch)
Improvisers and audience members attend the Grand Rapids Improv Festival with shows at The Comedy Project. (Courtesy Kristin Hirsch)
Improvisers and audience members attend the Grand Rapids Improv Festival with shows at The Comedy Project. (Courtesy Kristin Hirsch)

Festivalgoers looking to try improv themselves can attend one of two different workshops on Saturday for $30, each led by experienced improv comedians.

Single tickets $20 per show and a full weekend pass is $120. For more information on tickets, visit the Grand Rapids Improv Festival website.