The first Brisbane Improv Festival: "Those heightened stakes inspire some of the wildest leaps, connections and ideas."

Brisbane has a wealth of specialist performing arts scenes. And one of its indie crew are hitting the big time with the Brisbane Improv Festival. From the 18-21 Feb 2021, you can expect to spend a hilarious long-weekend celebrating all things improvised comedy. Over the four days there are a range of shows from local and interstate crews, workshops where you can skill up, and even a special family friendly event on the Saturday afternoon.

NEHIB had a chat to Taylor Edwards, who is one of the founders & directors of Big Fork Theatre, Brisbane’s home of improv and sketch comedy and producers of Brisbane Improv Festival. Taylor trained at iO Theatre in Chicago and has been improvising for about 8 years. She is also a sketch and stand up comedian regularly seen in comedy rooms around the city.

Image supplied: Big Fork Theatre

Improv comedy seems to be one of those niche scenes that you kind of hear about on the sidelines until suddenly, bam! You realise it’s everywhere and everyone is into it. So, how big is the improv scene in Brisbane anyway?

I’d say it feels a bit like Brisbane itself – big enough to be noticed but everyone still knows each other. There are a couple groups doing different styles of improv, plus indie teams form and new productions are staged - you can catch an improv show at least weekly. At Big Fork Theatre our focus is on Chicago and American long form improv, which turns a single suggestion into a 30 – 60 minute show. We have a big community of improvisers (70+) involved in jams, training, or performing, plus more take a class with us. Part of our mission is to grow the scene bigger and more diverse and we’re working to make improv welcome and accessible for all. 

How long has Big Fork Theatre been making events in Brisbane?

Image supplied: Big Fork Theatre

Our first improvised show was at the 2015 Brisbane Fringe Festival at Visions Gallery in the old ice cream factory above the Boundary St Markets – almost everything in that sentence has now closed down! We’ve been performing weekly shows for the last few years at the Paddington Substation. We’re often at festivals like the Brisbane Comedy Festival and Anywhere Festival.

What it is about improv that makes it so fascinating for performers and audience alike?

I think it’s the exciting combination of the complete unknown and in a weird way teamwork. Improv is genuinely surprising for the audience but also as a player, I have no idea where the show will go or what I or my scene partner will do. This might sound scary but those heightened stakes inspire some of the wildest leaps, connections and ideas that would be difficult to replicate in any other setting. And It works because you and your scene partner are fully committed to supporting each other going down the rabbit hole. It kind of feels like each scene is an exciting silly secret you are building with the audience and at the end of the night it only lives on as a memory.

A whole festival huh! What made you want to take it to the next level and put on a massive four-day event?

Covid was obviously a hard time for everyone in the performing arts, and improv was no exception. We wanted to put on a festival to celebrate the enduring spirit of the Brisbane Improv community and give an opportunity for a bunch of great teams, shows and ideas that were developing during lockdown to hit the stage.

What’s the secret to a really fun and watchable improv show?

Trust and not over thinking anything, just having fun and being fully in the moment with your scene partner. If you’re not having fun everyone knows it.

Image supplied: Big Fork Theatre

What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen happen at an improv show?

I’ve seen so much that doesn’t makes sense and I still get surprised. It’s the bane of improv shows in that, much like your dreams, trying to explain them afterwards is often futile. We were invited to perform at a 72-hour improv marathon in New York in 2018. At 4am I saw a show called 6 Improvisers Play 3 Men in Trench Coats and they almost brought down the lighting rig improvising on each others shoulders. I saw a show with Ben Schwartz performed entirely in the dark that ended with a dinosaur being hatched live on radio to sing the Frasier theme song. There are some shows I just start laughing at remembering going to them but have no memory of what on earth actually happened in them.

I often forget scenes I’ve done as soon as I get off stage, but people will tell me about a scene of mine they loved 5 years ago so I’m glad it made an impression! I’ve done scenes set inside people’s bodies or with characters that were just faces in a wall. Anything’s possible.

From the program, can you recommend…

A show to challenge your world view: Untitled Relationship Experiment – exploring queer relationships in raw, honest detail from mundane to strange. A grounded, vulnerable and very hilarious offering.

A show to take your mum to: Hard Boiled Dick & Never Before Musical – These shows use genres your mum has heard of, plus who doesn’t love a song! And for sci-fi mums out there there’s Improvised Doctor Who – if you know you know.

A show to take a tinder date to: Cool Story Bro – features guest storytellers telling true tales from their lives to inspire improv. How better to break the ice than by outsourcing the personal details to the professionals?

A show to hang with your BFF: Any of the Duo Shows – Duos Triple Bill, ChavProv and Culprits, or Cattle. Hang out with your mate and your two new friends on stage! I can guarantee you will leave with a new in-joke.

Director’s pick of the festival: For me it has to be Wer’ Ya From? – A show for anyone who’s ever been asked (or done the asking), Wer’ Ya From boasts a talented multicultural cast dishing on culture and heritage.

Brisbane Improv Festival runs 18-21 February 2021, hosted at Ron Hurley Theatre and Seven Hills Hub. Tickets and program at brisbaneimprovfestival.com