Comedians from Gainesville and across the U.S will perform improv for four days during the 10th annual Gainesville Improv Festival in one location, unlike past years.
Individuals and groups will perform twice a night from Wednesday to Saturday at the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in the Squitieri Studio Theatre, said Skyler Stone, an organizer for the event. In past years, the first two nights were held at High Dive, a bar in downtown Gainesville. About 24 troupes will perform, with four in Theatre Strike Force, a UF student improvisation group.
Tickets cost $11 for the public and $8 for students for Wednesday and Thursday’s shows. Friday and Saturday tickets cost $15 for the public and $12 for students.
Stone said he started the festival with his friend Tom O’Donnell. They are both UF alumni and were involved in Theatre Strike Force.
“It really had a large impact on our lives,” Stone, 38, said. “We really wanted to do something to showcase Gainesville.”
Stone, who graduated from UF in 2001, said he likes watching new acts from around Florida. The state didn’t originally have that many troupes, but that has changed, he said.
“We’re always excited to see the improv scene across the state grow and thrive,” he said. “We take a pinch of the credit.”
Stone said he hopes the festival makes people excited to watch comedy.
“There’s an air of magic,” he said. “You kind of are in awe. It’s a spectacle.”
Kira Silverman, Theatre Strike Force’s president, said about 20 members from the organization are performing in four different groups during the festival.
The 22-year-old said she enjoys the festival because it gives her the chance to meet new people.
“You wouldn’t really think that Gainesville has a really big comedy scene,” the UF psychology senior said. “It’s a whole community of people coming together to do improv in one city, and it’s awesome.”
Mark Kendall is traveling from Atlanta to perform his one-man show titled “The Magic Negro and Other Blackness” in Gainesville for the first time.
He said he performs because he likes the simplicity of comedy. He said his show has topics that make people uneasy, such as race relations and racial profiling, but he wants to make the audience laugh.
“If it goes well, you can get a reaction from someone even if they disagree with what you throw at them,” he said.
Contact Kaitlyn Newberg at knewberg@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @k_newberg.
