Eager improvisational comedy fans and supportive families gathered last week for the eighth annual Gainesville Improv Festival.
From Wednesday to Saturday, the festival celebrated improvisational and sketch theater, featuring 24 groups from Florida and across the country.
The groups performed pure improvisation, scripted comedy and musical comedy acts.
The festival also included a series of educational workshops for attendees featuring comedy instructors from across the U.S.
The festival held performances at High Dive, 210 SW Second Ave., and the Squitieri Studio Theatre, located inside the UF’s Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.
The four-day festival featured two shows per night with three acts performing.
And to make sure local flavor was present, each show featured a North Florida improv comedy group.
The Shock T’s, a musical comedy group from Chicago, made their Gainesville debut Saturday night, performing in a nearly sold-out show at the Squitieri Studio Theatre.
During the performance, the group performed original songs.
In one song, they sang about people not enjoying William Shakespeare’s literature.
The group consists of Sarah Shockey, Tyler Paterson and Tim Dunn.
Shockey, 25, said she met Paterson, 29, and Dunn, 28, while taking classes at the Second City, a comedy theater and improvisation school located in Chicago.
Shockey said one way the group creates new material is by continuously bouncing ideas off each other.
“It’s all a collaborative effort,” she said. “It’s like quilting little, fun ideas together.”
The festival also featured a performance from UF’s own Theatre Strike Force.
Adriana Robles, a 19-year-old UF telecommunication sophomore and a second-year Theatre Strike Force member, said she was excited to perform with her group in front of some of her comedic heroes.
At the same time, she said, it was a challenging experience.
Robles added that she credits the festival’s success to the support among comedy groups within the improv community.
“We all tell each other we have each other’s back,” she said. “Everyone’s got your back.”
Members of UF’s Theatre Strike Force perform during the last night of the 8th Annual Gainesville Improv Festival at Squitieri Studio Theatre on Saturday.
