The SF Improv Festival has had to reschedule Larry Hankin’s Street Stories due to scheduling conflicts that have come up on the part of the festival.

We will be working with Larry to get him up here for the show in 2012. We’re very much looking forward to making this happen next year. Check back with the website or facebook for the latest info on when the show will happen.

Thanks to all of you who expressed such interest in the show and for those of you who we refunded advance tickets for this show, contact us for information on getting your comp tickets to the rescheduled show in 2012 (info@sfimprovfestival.com).

The San Francisco Improv Festival is excited to announce the addition of Emily Candini to the already deep bench of talent on Saturday night. Emily will be ‘Messed with’ by the ridiculous and ridiculously skilled Susan Messing in the 8:30 PM show on the Saturday double bill with Uncle’s Brother.

Tickets are selling really fast for this show, so get ‘em now!!

MORE ON EMILY:

Emily Candini is a California native who has been performing for over 20 years.

Obsessively in love with comedy since the age of two, she has always known her path. After years of modern and classical theater she moved to Mecca (Chicago) to study improvisation, writing and sketch with The Second City, iO Chicago and Annoyance theaters.

After six years of writing and acting in exactly one million original shows and improvising in just over a fafillion more shows, she moved to Los Angeles. Emily has won many useless awards including a Ducky (Annoyance Theater) and Del Close Awards (iO Chicago). In the past she has traveled the country and abroad performing in improv and comedy festivals in Los Angeles, Toronto, Chicago and The Del Close Marathon.

In 2010 Emily played Karen in the film All My Friends Are Funeral Singers which went to the Sundance and SXSW Film Festivals. Since arriving in Los Angeles Emily can be seen performing at The Second City, iO West and the UCB Theaters.

You can also find her online in vids like these:

http://bobodenkirk.com/?p=105#more-105

http://vimeo.com/groups/28626/videos/15852686

2011 OCIC Award designatee (is that even a word?) Jim Cranna has just been added to the panel on comedy legend Del Close. Jim will appear with fellow Committee members Chris Pray and Ed Greenberg, along with Del’s co-founder of Improv Olympic (now iO) Charna Halpern and Del Close biographer, Kim “Howard” Johnson. Charna and Howard also co-authored the improvisation classic “Truth in Comedy” with Del.

This is one rare hour of comedy talent and knowledge you don’t want to miss!!

Thanks to all of you who showed up to play on Tuesday!!

The MP3 Experiment was a huge success, with an estimated 2500 people improvising in Union Square to the dulcet tones of Steve, Improv Everywhere’s omnipotent voice on the MP3 track. Check out the video highlight from the event by clicking on the pic above, and take a loook at some other angles from NBC Bay Area and Laughing Squid!

Special thanks to SF Rec and Parks and MJM Management for rolling with an event much larger than anticipated…!

Charlie Todd’s talk and Q&A on Improv Everywhere  (Improv Everywhere Live!) was also excellent and told us how it all got started. Really, Charlie – you look nothing like Ben Folds… It was an hour of behind-the-scenes stories, clips, commentary and your questions answered with the man who started it all – thanks to all who came!

Special thanks to the SF School of Digital Filmmaking for hosting the event in their space at the SF Chronicle building (@ 5th & Mission)!

Our festival retrospective on Del Close, focusing on his early years performing and directing here in San Francisco with The Committee, has just added two new members to the panel – Committee members Chris Pray and Ed Greenberg. These fantastically talented improvisors talk (with Del’s co-authors of the improvisor’s handbook “Truth in Comedy” Charna Halpern, and Kim “Howard” Johnson) about their experiences with Del as an actor, director and not-yet-improv-guru.

Del Close, the man who trained improvisors from John Belushi to Tina Fey, and who served as the House Metaphysician for SNL’s opening season, spent his time in San Francisco forming the ideas and forms he would take with him to Chicago, including The Harold. This man is a legend in comedy and his influence is everywhere in modern comedy. Come hear how San Francisco helped shape his work.

The San Francisco Improv Festival is proud to announce that Jim Cranna is the 2011 recipient of their annual OCIC Award! The festival will be honoring Jim Sunday, August 21st at 5:30pm at the Eureka Theater, located on Jackson at Battery in SF. This is a free event, so please come celebrate with us…!

Jim Cranna is one of the guiding lights for improvisation in San Francisco. Improv legend Del Close discovered him in 1967 and brought him into The Committee, where he performed until they closed up shop in the 70’s. Jim performed with other seminal Bay Area improv troupes through the years, but possibly the greatest contribution he made was his drop-in workshop on Saturday mornings at Ft. Mason which continued nearly uninterrupted for over 25 years, training and mentoring thousands of Bay Area improvisors & keeping the spirit of The Committee alive in San Francisco.

The event will feature an abbreviated version of the documentary about Jim Cranna’s Fort Mason workshop, “Hug Everyone, Tell Them Your Name” by Ian Hadley, as well as short stories and remarks by members of The Committee and others who have worked with Jim through the years.

Feel the amazement - own a FEST PASS to SFIF 2011!!

_____

Finally! A limited number of festival passes are on sale now, offering general admission seating to every show of your choice. That’s right – every show.

How much are they? A mere $55. That’s almost $300 worth of shows you get for $55. There are a very limited number, so go get your pass immediately and then sign up for Uncle’s Brother and Messing with a Friend, Dr. God with Dave Holmes and Serious V-Neck, Del Close: The Early Years with ‘Truth in Comedy’ authors Charna Halpern & Kim ‘Howard’ Johnson, and all of your favorite local acts on the SFIF 2011 bill!!

Please read the following in your best disclaimer announcer voice:

Please only sign up for the shows you will actually attend. Photo ID required when redeeming your Will Call tickets. The FEST PASS does not include admission to workshops or any shows co-presented with other organizations. Some assembly required.

Hello improvisors!

Just a quick note to let you know the SF Improv Festival is getting you access to 10 hours of professional comedy and script-writing training for $100. I know – CRAZY – right??

That’s just what’s happening with the workshops with iO West mainstage performers Dr. God. Really – some of the most sought-after improv & sketch teachers in LA for as little as ten bucks an hour? Yes. If you do all 5 classes that’s what it works out to – just get your pass and then sign up for the Dr. God workshops you want to take – start saving when you sign up for 3 or more classes. Get your Class Pass now!

Workshops Included:
•  Listen and Repeat with Sean Cowhig
•  Screenwriting with Dr. God’s Justin Ware
•  The Art of Mimicry and How it Leads to Nuclear War with Brian O’ Connell
•  Making Sense of Chaos with Dr. God’s Dave Park
•  Acting for Improvisers: Stop Being Funny and Start Being Real with Neil Garguilo

NOT Included:
•  Any other workshops at SFIF 2011.

Dr. God is comprised of five members: Sean Cowhig, Neil Garguilo, Brian James O’Connell, Dave Park, and Justin Ware. Individually or as a group they have appeared on or created content for Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, Fox, Imagine Television, Warner Brothers, The Reelz Channel, National Lampoon, TV Guide Network, IFC, AMC, MTV, CNN and many impressive names that would probably be insulted that they didn’t make the above list. All five are regular performers in the LA improv and sketch comedy community.

Hello Potential Plucky Volunteer and/or Willing Friend of Potential Plucky Volunteer!

Would you like to see the San Francisco Improv Festival for free, connect with improv gurus from around the country, hook up some seriously powerful audiovisual equipment, or maybe just help people to their seats? Then come on down and volunteer for the SF Improv Festival to make your dreams come true!

We’re filling many different positions across the theater, and we need your help. Please email JOSH@SFIMPROVFESTIVAL.COM for details.

It’s happened!! The work of getting all the people places and things together to finally get tickets on sale and hopefully in your hot little hands is done – FINALLY!

We’re back at the Eureka Theater for 2011 and have the schedule & performers laid out for you on the site, tickets to all workshops and shows available on BrownPaperTickets.com and a great event we will announce shortly that is free and open to participation by improv lovers and the population of the greater SF Bay Area on August 16th at Union Square!!

Come back to this site for more info or follow/like/stalk us on your favorite flavors of social media & content sites below…!!