TRUE FICTION MAGAZINE
True Fiction Magazine Improvisational Theatre has been a San Francisco favorite for over fifteen years. A TFM performance is a full evening of spontaneous theatre and music, as the troupe takes titles suggested by the audience and creates stories that move forward and backward in time, interweave and intersect, until the final resolution.

TFM's inspiration is the hard-bitten, emotion-driven fiction found in the pulp stories of the 30's and 40's, tempered by their own comic sensibilities, resulting in a myriad of unusual characters and the worlds they live in.

TFM has performed in theatres and festivals across the US and in Finland, Holland and Belgium. In great demand as improv instructors, their members have conducted master classes in Europe, Scandinavia, Japan and New Zealand.

Photo by Brien Burroughs.

For more information visit: www.truefictionmagazine.com

COMEDYSPORTZ
Not comedy about sports, but comedy AS a sport! ComedySportz is the award winning interactive comedy show where two teams of "act-letes" compete for audience laughs and points while improvising scenes, games, operas and musicals based on audience suggestions. A referee governs the action, calling fouls and keeping the match moving at a blistering pace. The audience is always a part of the interactive show, and sometimes even winds up on stage! It's clean, fast and fun for all audiences. A South Bay institution since 1987, they've been named Editor's Choice by the Wave Magazine and Best Local Theatre by the Metro's Best of the Silicon Valley.

For more information visit: www.comedysportzsanjose.com

LANDRY and BODDEN
Veteran improvisers Kurt Bodden and Shaun Landry come together for a hilarious evening of improvisational scenes, stories, and other sublime silliness. Kurt Bodden is a former Company member and instructor at BATS Improv. He completed the training program at The Groundlings, founded Scratch Theatre, and is in the duo Rover Hendrix. Shaun Landry is founder of Oui Be Negroes, producer of the San Francisco Improv Alliance and Festival, and alumna of The Second City Chicago. Both have been seen in How We First Met and The Impossible Film Project, and they're both founding members of the improv ensemble Storytellers Unplugged.

This will be Kurt's first appearance at The Santa Cruz Improv Festival, and Shaun's fourth year.

For more info visit: www.shaunlandry.com and  www.kurtbodden.com 

UN-SCRIPTED THEATER
The Un-Scripted Theater Company specializes in improv theater. While 95% of our shows are hilarious, and all of them have comedic elements, almost none of our shows are "improv comedy." Still confused about the difference? Come to one of our shows and see for yourself!

For more info visit: www.un-scripted.com

BOTH FEET FIRST WITH SIX WHEEL DRIVE
It's longform improv at its archetypal best! Both Feet First and Six Wheel Drive use techniques loosely based on Joseph Campbell's theories of the Hero's Journey, and developed by founder Alex Lamb, previously of the Amazing Spectacles in Cambridge England.

Be astounded as, before your eyes, these players construct a new and unscripted full-length play, so complete with compelling characters, story arc and subplots that it will leave you wondering if everything was planned out ahead of time. But no! It is all unscripted, as you can verify simply by re-reading the previous sentence in full.

The Improv Fest will feature a joint performance with Both Feet First and Six Wheel Drive. Players include past and current members of Loose Cannon, the Funatics, What Now? and Um...Gee...Um.

FREEFALL SPONTANEOUS THEATER
Moment by moment, scene by scene, witness spontaneous theater.

Freefall Spontaneous Theater bridges conventional dramatic theater and comedy improvisation in its unscripted, 100% improvised creation of ONE "long-form" piece. They take a giant leap into the unknown and miraculously land on their feet.

Most improv performances consist of 10 to 15 short, unrelated scenes in a night: a thrill a minute roller coaster ride that can leave you gasping for air at times. Long-form improv takes its time: more of an adventure, an exploration, a quest. Each "freefall" can unfold into multiple characters, story lines and settings, with each actor playing multiple roles. Freefall members bring characters and relationships to life, giving themselves permission to be comedic or dramatic depending on the truth of the characters to guide them. Seamlessly shifting from scene to scene the Freefall players invent it all, never knowing what might happen next.

Freefall was founded in May of 2001. The cast includes: Bob Giges, Arch Mott, Marian Oliker, Mathew Schreiber and Rebecca Setziol. The veteran improvisers came from different established Santa Cruz improv groups in order to explore and develop this challenging, and rewarding, form of improv: the long-form style.

For more information visit: freefall.loon.com

THE FUNATICS
The Funatics! have been performing in Santa Cruz since 2002. Blending upbeat improv with occasional forays into the dark side of humor, the group enjoys taking audience members along for journeys into previously undiscovered worlds of fun and fantasy. A typical show is anything but typical, and so impossible to describe. Suffice it to say that anything goes, from fast-action, short-form games to multi-scene, long-form vignettes. A Funatics show is guaranteed fun, and is sure to showcase the deep affection for each other, and for improv, that the players bring to the stage. Troupe members receive continuing improv education from the wonderful teachers available here, and take regular field trips to attend improv performances in town and around the Bay Area. The troupe's collective goals are: connection, to both each other and the audience; sharing the joy of improv; and, above all, fun. The Funatics! are available for parties and fundraisers, and donates a percentage of its performances to nonprofit organizations in addition to its performance schedule in Santa Cruz. The Funatics! are: Glenda Dixon, Stan Einhorn, Sheryl Loomis, Lee Ann Gray, Terry Thomas, and Karen Menehan.

LOOSE CANNON THEATER
Loose Cannon Theater is comedy Improv rich with characters and story. Their quick-edit format keeps audience (and players!) on the edge of their seats wondering, What will happen next? Known for their irreverent antics and attention-grabbing plots, they combine long form with traditional and some not-so-traditional games to make for a diverse and unpredictable night of improv.

Loose Cannon Theater has been playing to adult audiences, as an adjunct to the Fun Institute, since 1996. Our current members are Dixie Cox, Mischa Felix, Jim Gallas, Tim Gillett, Kari Hansen, Clifford Henderson, Duke Houston, Joyce Michaelson, Eric Schneider, and Marilyn Yaqub and the fabulous Tish Eastman on keyboard.

All shows listed at: www.funinstitute.com

SCRIPTEASE
ScripTease, now in their eighth year of public exposure, engages in "High-Risk Comedy Where Improv Meets Strip Poker." Just like your father's improv, ScripTease makes up scenes based on suggestions from the audience. Unlike your father's improv, a ScripTease show has "Strip Scenes." Strip Scenes have certain rules and restrictions that the Teasers must follow: If a Teaser is caught breaking any rules, the ever-vigilant audience yells "Strip!" and the offending Teaser loses an article of clothing. By the end of the show you can tell just how well the Teasers obey rules (or not) by the heap of garments on stage. ScripTease's goal is to expose the world to improv comedy without exposing too much of themselves in the process!

ScripTease members include founders Sara Lovelady and Johnny Davis, plus Daniel Hughes, Mo Kremer, Abby Esposito, and Matthew Mahr. ScripTease performs frequently in the Santa Cruz area, and they work hard for their money—so hard for it, honey.

For a calendar of upcoming events, visit www.ScripTeaseImprov.com.

STAY TUNED! Improv
We have a blast doing improv -- and people tell us it shows!

We can't tell you what our show will be about -- 'cause we are making it up as we go. What we can tell you is that it will be sure to include a cast of funny characters, familiar and new improvised games, scenes pulled out of thin air, and spontaneous musical numbers.

Audience members help influence the direction of our shows by participating in everything from providing scene suggestions and objects to being on stage. You might even be asked to throw something at the players! 

Stay Tuned! has performed several times at First Night Santa Cruz and also in the world renowned Chicago Improv Festival.

Please see our online show schedule to learn when and where we are appearing: www.staytunedimprov.com

Dave Andrade, Nathan Andrade, Ron Barr, Kevin Lohman, Marti Mariette, Max Montgomery, and Julie Pollack look forward to laughing with you soon!

UM...GEE...UM
Um...Gee...Um celebrated our 18th anniversary in February of 2007. The troupe has been part of the Santa Cruz theater scene since 1989, always striving to present quality, in-the-moment theater that involves the audience as it entertains and encourages them to share the joy of story and spontaneity. Um...Gee...Um's mission is to spark discovery and allow the creative spirit to run wild!

Um...Gee...Um performs throughout the year at various venues in Santa Cruz, as well as presenting occasional shows out of town. The Um...Gee...Um Academy of Improv offers beginning through advanced level classes throughout the year, and has introduced hundreds of students to the joys of making it up as they go along. Um...Gee... Um also gives workshops for local schools and businesses and usually teaches a few training sessions for the annual Actors' Theatre Improvathon each fall.

Troupe members have been with the group anywhere from five to ten years. Members have trained in improvisational theater with improv master Keith Johnstone at Stanford and Calgary, Canada; with Bay Area Theatresports in San Francisco and the New Actors Workshop in New York City; and with performance artist Nina Wise and other teachers from around the country in workshops here in Santa Cruz. Some are involved in other theatrical productions in addition to their improvisation work, and they all apply their love and knowledge of improv to their other jobs as teachers, life coaches, editors, engineers, healers and trainers.

Current troupe members include: Suzanne Schrag, Todd Phillips, Chopsy Gutt, Susan Boes, and Bob Burnett (our wonderful musician).

To learn more about Um...Gee...Um, and see many lovely photos of us, visit our website at www.umgeeum.com, or call the Um...Gee...Um hotline at (831) 425-4447 for info about upcoming shows and classes.

YOU HAD TO BE THERE
You Had To Be There has performed for dozens of international heads of state, and been executed by half as many. Davis Banta, Daniel Ruiz, Bob Nasr, Penny Dufour and Brennan Marquez will have their debut at Actor's Theater on July 13th, on a Friday. Clearly, they defy the gods.