English Improvised Comedy in Barcelona

For the past three years, and now a fourth, early November in Barcelona has meant one thing to me: IMPROV INTENSIVE with the BIG IF.

“Improv” or “impro” is short for “improvisational theatre” and the BIG IF is the biggest English-language improv festival in Europe. It’s organised by BIG, the Barcelona Improv Group, founded in 2011. The festival has been taking place in the Gràcia neighbourhood of Barcelona on the first week of November since 2013. This year it takes place from the 2^nd to the 5^th November. In it participants get the chance to take great variety of workshops and watch up to 5 different shows per night. These shows offer the audience the chance to see many kinds of improv styles and groups from all over the world, including mixers that perform for that night only.

The festival has grown enormously since its first edition in 2013. It started with 3 nights of shows and 4 rotating workshops during 3 days and round 100 registered participants, this year’s edition has almost 200 registered improvisers taking up to 29 different workshops led by 17 teachers from around the world and performing shows during 4 nights. The workshops delve on all kinds of performance skills applicable, not just to improv, but to acting in general. These include buffoon, masks, using soundtrack, musical improv, stage presence, storytelling, directing, and performing for children. The shows also present a great variety of styles and formats, making for an evening out in which anyone can find something to their pleasing.

Improv is a type of theatre in which the scenes and stories are made up on the spot, without script, props or anything but the quick thinking and connection between the players. The main point of improv is to “yes and” any situation that comes up. This means accepting what’s going on (YES!) rather than fighting it (negation), and then adding your own personal touch to it (AND…). It has a predecessor in the Commedia dell’Arte of the Italian Renaissance, with its improvised plays based on vague plot outlines and the use of stock characters. Present-day improv comes from the study theatre games for education and developed into a strong network with schools such as Second City and Improv Olympics. Quite a few well-known actors such as Bill Murray and Kristen Wiig started off doing improv.

BIG is the only English-speaking improv group performing regularly in Barcelona at the moment that also offers improv classes and team building workshops for businesses. However it’s far from being the only improv group in the city. There are many other Spanish- and Catalan-speaking groups in Barcelona such as Impro Acatomba and The Modestos which will also be performing during the BIG IF.

In Madrid there are also many Spanish-speaking improv groups (ImproMadrid, Jamming, Impro Impar…) and one English-speaking group. This last one is called MAD Improv and has been going on since January 2014, started by a former BIG performer Benjamin Nathan-Serio. And if you can’t find an on-going improv scene in your town you can always start it yourself…

Photo credit: Alessio Carone

Comments

[Publicado por: Ana Isabella Byrne]

¡Sí Pablo! I'm looking forward to seeing Impro Impar at the BIG IF. I really enjoyed your 7 Words show in the Athens Improv Festival. According to the programme you will open the Saturday show. There are no shows on Sunday.

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