There’s nothing quite like watching a stage of professionals trying to keep a straight face while responding to a truly bananas audience suggestion. 

In recognition of that fact, Vancouver’s Improv Centre is welcoming performers from around the world for the first-ever edition of THE HEAT: a short-form improv showcase mixing up players from different teams and seeing what shakes out.

There are five teams from around the world coming to “yes, and” alongside improvisers from our very own Improv Centre on Granville Island: Toronto duo RN&Cawl; Degrees of Error from Bristol, UK; Atlanta, Georgia’s Dad’s Garage; fellow west coasters Glass Clown from Los Angeles; and SPIT Manila, all the way from the Philippines.

We’ve caught up with all the visiting troupes to find out what the improv-a-palooza has in store for Vancouver comedy fans. 

What’s the improv scene like in your city? 

RN&Cawls: Booming! Toronto is home of The Second City, as well as companies like The Comedy Bar, Social Capital, The Assembly, and The Bad Dog Theatre. As a performer or audience member, you’ll have a bunch of options.

Degrees of Error: Bristol is a phenomenal city for improv. We’re affiliated with The Bristol Improv Theatre, which is the first theatre dedicated solely to improv in the UK. There are other brilliant sources of improv, including The Wardrobe Theatre’s improvised soap opera Closer Each Day! It’s been running continuously for 12 years—you can catch a bunch of our improvisors in that show. 

Dad’s Garage: Atlanta, Georgia has a solid scene of established and emerging improv and comedy groups and theatres. There are so many talented artists who call Atlanta home and come together to create a unique scene that we play a part in, so it’s an exciting time right now.

Glass Clown: The improv scene in LA is vibrant; there are loads of opportunities for indie teams and there are many house team opportunities, as well.

SPIT Manila: The Manila improv scene is young but growing steadily! We have one major improv school, Third World Improv, where most improvisers study, and we have a growing number of independent groups producing shows and holding jams, too. Despite being a “smaller” community compared to other cities, Manila holds the largest improv festival in Asia—the Manila Improv Festival—which had its sixth run in 2023. 

What sets your troupe apart from other local improv groups? 

RN&Cawls: Mostly our height. We perform an improvised one-act play, which doesn’t happen so often in Toronto. But when it comes down to it, we’re both taller than the average improviser. 

Degrees of Error: We really embrace the trappings of the murder mystery format. From having our actors in full period costume, to sticking to one consistent character throughout the show, we work within the confines of a typical whodunnit to subvert what you’d expect from a typical Agatha Christie story. 

Dad’s Garage: We also produce original scripted work (“plays” to you theatre people) along with our improv shows, with a couple of world-premiere productions in an average year. We created the improv-scripted hybrid Invasion: Christmas Carol in which a scripted cast performs the show while incorporating an improvised character who changes every night.  

Glass Clown: We have a love for each other that’s palpable. We all happened to take the same class three years ago and we’ve been bonded ever since. Our chemistry is evident on stage and off stage. We’re like a family. 

SPIT Manila: SPIT definitely has some solid experience under its belt, having gone through decades of performing on all sorts of stages around the world, from TV guestings to airplanes to small bars to borrowed sets of plays. There is also a diverse flavor that we’re proud to have, because our cast is so varied in age, career, and background.

Is there an improvised audience suggestion that has stuck with you?

RN&Cawls: WIthout suggestions, improvisers would be stuck. We usually get recurring suggestions like “stop,” “find better performers,” “we want our money back,” “this isn’t good,” or, “I hate your improv.” All we can say is thank you. We love our audiences.  

Degrees of Error: This year at the [Edinburgh] Fringe we had a few real unforgettable suggestions—including “a convention for People Who Are Scared of Their Own Voices.”

Dad’s Garage: A recent favourite was asking for an emotion and getting “anxiety from waiting on the results of an important medical test.”

Glass Clown: The word was “villain,” and we had a very “evil” set as a result.

SPIT Manila: Most recently for our Beauty Pageant format, we had a lot of fun with the suggestion “Ms. Crochet 2023!”

Have you ever been involved in an international improv event like THE HEAT before? What do you hope to get out of it? 

RN&Cawls: We’ve been lucky enough to travel to loads of countries and fests. Meeting and connecting with other improvisers is always a big win. We’ve made lifelong friendships based on a shared love of performing, without knowing what those performances will look like.

Degrees of Error: This will be Degrees of Error’s first international improv festival! We’re excited to really drill down into the improv specifics of our show and learn from other performers from all around the world.  

Dad’s Garage: Dad’s regularly performs at festivals around the world, including here in Vancouver. Meeting and playing with improvisers from different backgrounds and styles is an amazing creative resource, and we’re looking forward to seeing everyone and learning from each other. 

Glass Clown: This is our first time—we’ve been to festivals before, but never an international one. We hope to make new friends out of our fellow improv nerds from around the world.  

SPIT Manila: We’ve been to other international festivals, but nothing that puts us together with other groups in a shortform showcase like THE HEAT before. We hope to get a brand-new experience that will tickle us, inspire us, and challenge us all at the same time. 

Finally, what kind of thing can audiences expect from you? 

RN&Cawls: We thrive on making each other laugh. Surprising one another with fun offers and ideas. While we have yet to ever achieve this goal, we’re going to try as hard as we possibly can. 

Degrees of Error: We do love to set each other up on stage. Setting up your fellow performers to do seemingly impossible tasks—including songs, accents, feats of action—can be risky, but we’ve worked together so often that we trust each other to make everyone look good. The great thing about improv is that if you attempt it and nail it then it’s impressive and hilarious, and if you miss it then it’s just hilarious!

Dad’s Garage: If it's a Theatresports match, get ready for a lot of energy and some games you probably haven't seen before. If we’re doing a longform set...pretty much the same.

Glass Clown: We are a high-energy, goofy, fun group. We truly are spontaneous; we don’t rely on any old jokes, as we prefer to live in the present moment with the audience. That said, you can definitely expect a few grounded scenes, a goofy group game, and everything in between.

SPIT Manila: Our Filipino flair for emotionally truthful, relationship-centric storytelling, with just a dash of teleserye-esque dramatics that will definitely come through.

THE HEAT—An International Improv Comedy Showcase

When: January 23 to 27, various times 

Where: The Improv Centre, 1502 Duranleau Street, Vancouver 

Tickets: Sliding scale from $13.50, available here