Cranking up THE HEAT: International improv festival returns to Granville Island

A showcase of local and global improv talent will return to Vancouver for a third year from Jan. 27 to 31 organized by The Improv Centre on Granville Island. 

This year’s edition of THE HEAT: An International Improv Comedy Festival will feature Michelle Impro and Teresa & Folusho from London, England, Dumb John Improv from Chicago, and Second Breakfast from Aotearoa, New Zealand, as well as Vancouver teams from the centre.

The idea for the festival was to expand the centre’s connections to a global stage, invite talent from around the world, and give performers an opportunity to share their personal style. THE HEAT’s key goal is to also connect improv lovers and performers in the city, says Alan Pavlakovic, artistic director for The Improv Centre.

The opening night on Jan. 27 will have all teams perform together, followed by a talkback session giving the audience an opportunity to stay and chat with representatives from each team about their improv journeys. 

“We’ll talk about where the troupes came from, how they developed themselves, how they initialized themselves, but there will definitely be some time for questions and communication with the audience,” Pavlakovic says.

“[The talkback] is one of those things we want to offer to help build connection between players and audiences, between Vancouver’s improv community and the general, global improv community at large.”

Throughout the festival, each night’s performance will pair two teams in the first half, followed by a spotlight showcase featuring one team’s signature style in the second half.

The festival will also feature a Community Jam on Jan. 31, where improv enthusiasts can walk on stage and perform with the artists. The Community Jam is a monthly event at The Improv Centre, and this version is special because the visiting teams’ members will also take part, Pavlakovic says.

Applications for visiting teams opened in the spring through the festival’s website and social media channels. The Improv Centre also researched global teams and reached out to them directly.

“The nice thing is, now that we’re in our third year, the teams that were here the last couple years have also been promoting it and sending it out to different teams they know from around the world,” says Emily Schoen, the centre’s education and DEI coordinator.

Schoen says many people attended the festival because word spread after last year’s festival through regular audiences at The Improv Centre and people wanting to see performers from their home countries.

“We had some of the players [participate in] our festival, and then they went around and performed at other places — not just in Vancouver, but in different parts of Canada,” Schoen says.

Pavlakovic says THE HEAT festival is a great way to help build community and foster connections with talent from all over the globe.

“Even looking out into the audiences, we see some really incredible new faces or recurring guests who are actually part of our community,” Pavlakovic says, adding the craft of improv encompasses many different styles that artists can use to create shows and scenes.

“It’s a really great sharing of information and stylization. We get to try new things during this festival that we don’t necessarily focus on in the rest of the year.”

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.theimprovcentre.ca/the-heat.