This past weekend, I was very fortunate to be able to teach and perform with my group Switch Committee at the HUGE Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota for Eighth annual Twin Cities Improv Festival. We had met Butch Roy, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Huge Theater, and Hannah Catherine Wydeven when they were performing as Michael Keaton at the Phoenix Improv Festival in April. We had talked about the possibility of Switch Committee coming out to Minnesota for the festival to which we all replied, in unison, “ABSOLUTLEY.” You could call it networking, but I just call it meeting new friends with the same interests as ours. Both of them are great. For the trip, we left at 9:30pm on Friday night and made the 6 ½ hour trek up to Minnesota. Despite some bumper to bumper nighttime construction and one lane highway traffic for a little while, it wasn’t that bad. We actually spent the ride singing 90s hits while I played DJ using Spotify. One continuous song I kept playing, for no reason whatsoever, was Haddaway’s “What is Love”. More on that…never.

Following breakfast, we arrived at HUGE and I must say, this place is BEAUTIFUL. I loved every single detail about the theater. There were writings on the wall (because the walls had dry-erase paint) and writings on the floor. Yes, there are things written on the floor like the words “theater” and “restrooms.” The reasoning behind this is because, according to Butch, “People tend to look down when they walk into a new place.” That’s genius! In addition, another cool factor, at the right angle (standing outside in front), you can see that the inside of the theater says ‘HUGE’ because there are giant letters on each of the walls inside.

In my opinion, one of the most inviting and accommodating things a festival can do for their performers is to hook them up with swag bags or something ‘personal’ that basically says “hey welcome to our festival!” Twin Cities did just that. The red bags we were given were filled with knick knacks and trinkets, a show schedule, as well as our performer badges. It seems like a small thing, but to me it’s something that attributes to an overall great experience. I’d show a picture of the HUGE Theater sticker, but it’s currently on the back of my phone (along with a Phoenix Improv Festival sticker). REPRESENT! Jill Bernard, Co-Founder and Director of Education of HUGE, as well as overall joy to be around, tried to find me a ‘HUGE’ shirt, but all that was left was an XXL. This was, of course, after we joked about how there probably wasn’t any shirts small enough. A real life joke come true. Ironically, the shirt WAS huge. (Queue laugh track). In addition, they provided coffee, donuts, and muffins for everyone taking the workshop. Did they need to do that? No. But they did and that’s awesome. Our workshop went really well and included a lot of screaming, crawling, and jumping all over for all of those involved. Thank you everyone who took it!

Later that night we performed and jumped on and off of pretty much everything in the theater. We threw our bodies all over the stage and hung from the rafters because in that scene (justifiably) the building was on fire and later it was because we were stuck in a tree house. That scene involved carefully dropping me over the wall and down into my partner’s arms. A scene that, if it went wrong, would probably have been my last improv scene ever.

Furthermore, one of the amazing things about this theater is that the stage is unlike any other stage I’ve ever performed on before. Repeat: Unlike any other stage I’ve ever performed on before. That’s because it’s actually made out of material that, to my knowledge, no other theater is using. I got a chance to speak with Butch, who told me, “The stage is made up of a super compressed paper called Skatelite, which is made for outdoor skateboard parks and BMX ramps. It can be manufactured in a curve or purchased as flat sheets. The material is impervious to water or really any liquid and it is black all the way through so even if it did manage to get chipped somehow it would require no paint.” I’ve never heard of any stage using this before, but definitely think more theaters should as stages are under constant wear and tear.

Following the festival, there was an after-party at one of the local performer’s (Beard Men Improv) houses. Just another example of how warm and welcoming the Minnesota improv community is to out-of-town performers. We were invited to come to someone’s house, who we didn’t know, to hang out simply because we were all a part of a something together.

In the end, I absolutely loved this festival and thought it was very well run. I very much enjoyed Minnesota as it was the first time I’d ever been there. The weekend went off without a hitch. They are definitely doing it right and the fact that the festival has been running for 8 years speaks for itself. Before I finish up, there were so many hidden gems within the theater that I’d like to make mention of. There are cool drawings and posters through the theater that need to be mentioned.

If you were performing this past weekend, you are also aware of the one word mantras spread around the green room. Maxims like the three simple, but very powerful words written in the greenroom for the performers to see. Breathe, Enjoy, and Play. Simple yet paramount reminders before going on stage.

Thank you Twin Cities Improv Festival and HUGE Theater. You were awesome!

Photos courtesy of Tamara Bredemus

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is a graduate of iO, The Second City Conservatory, and the Annoyance Theatre in Chicago. Ryan performs improv comedy with his independent team Switch Committee as well as on the Playground team Desperado. In addition, he is an Associate Producer for Big Little Comedy, which is responsible for the Big Little Comedy Festival each year. In 2013, he completed an entire month of comedy by performing 31 days in a row for the month of January. He’s a frequent blogger (here, The Second City Network, and the iO Water Cooler) Instagramer, Pinterester, and Tweeter in his spare time. You can follow the madness @TheRyanNallen.