"The Festival will showcase the best and most innovative comedians and performers." Rosa Sottile on the 2023 Brisbane Improv Festival
The Brisbane Improv Festival returns for its third big year in 2023, running from 22 to 29 July.
Organised by local improv company, Big Fork Theatre, the festival offers performers and punters with opportunities to see some of the best improv performers from accross the nation and internationally, as well as to attend workshop and to showcase their comedy chops.
Rosa Sottile, one of the Directors of Big Fork Theatre, dishes on what goes into organising an international improv festival and what you simply must see before the festival ends on 29 July 2023.
Tell us about the Brisbane Improv Festival in 100 words or less
The Brisbane Improv Festival is a celebration of Brisbane's diverse and talented improv community.
Hosted by Big Fork Theatre since the inaugural festival in 2021, it’s now held at our theatre in Fortitude Valley. Celebrating all things improvised comedy, the Brisbane Improv Festival will showcase some of this city’s best and most innovative comedians and performers as well as visiting guests across eight nights of live shows and workshops.
Image: Kris Anderson
This is the third year of the festival. How has it grown and developed from previous years?
We have more shows and workshops and have new people attending from all over Australia! This year we have participants from WA, SA, NSW, Victoria, Tasmania and Queensland as well as Aotearoa/NZ and the Philippines! This year we also have a huge diversity of formats from horror to musical to drama to classic improvised comedy - it’s something for everyone!
What are some highlights from this year's festival? What are some shows this week that people simply must see?
We’ve had so many great shows already including from Alt City who run all-abilities improv workshops, and this week we have some killer shows: Thursday we have a mash up of improv and stand up comedy in Welcome to the Bomb Zone, a horror (actually scary as well as funny!) improv show from NZ Don’t See This Show Alone, a family friendly show Saturday at 4 Around the Campfire, and the wonderful Newlyweds from Sydney Saturday night to name just a few!
Who is your perfect audience member? Who is going to LOVE this festival?
Anyone who wants to have a laugh and see something totally unique and special! Every improvised show is only performed once and in a festival like this it’s even more interesting and experimental! We have had so many hilarious and exciting new works already and there’s so many more to come.
Image: Kris Anderson
What goes into organising a festival like this with performers from across the country and overseas?
Lots of admin! At Big Fork Theatre we run weekly shows at our theatre so it’s super well set up for a festival, with our classroom and bar and black box theatre. The final ingredient is the wonderful Australasian improv community who put in shows and workshops and take classes and perform and make the festival exist as a magical week of connection and laughter.
What has running the festival taught you about the improv scene in Meanjin / Brisbane? How are we different from the scenes in other cities in Australia and around the world?
There’s a lot of similarities, but the main thing about Brisbane is our dedicated community around our dedicated theatre space. Our friends in other cities (ITS and Improv Conspiracy) have theatres too so we’re not totally unique in that, but we think our Big Fork Theatre improv community is pretty special! It’s a big group of dedicated, community minded people who show up to perform, support each other, volunteer and create art. Most of our performers are regular people with day jobs (like our directors!) and we are brought together because of our love for the art form of improv!
Is there anything else we simply MUST know about the festival?
There’s only a few days left! Jump on the website and grab a ticket before the festival ends for 2023!
The Brisbane Improv Festival runs until Saturday 29 July, with a range of shows on every night until the festival closes. The festival is held at the Big Fork Theatre’s dedicated space at Level 2, 252 St Paul’s Terrace, Fortitude Valley.
Cover image: Shaw Innes
