As the National Improv Network moves into its second year, I’ve met so many people who are passionate about improv in so many places that I’ve been to and places I’ve never been before. Among those latter people are the producers of the Kansas City Improv Festival. It was a real pleasure to get to talk, if only briefly with some of the people working on the 2014 Improv Festival and hear about how fantastic that festival can be.

I got to learn a bit about the festival, their direction and their hopes for the year with Ashley Osborn. When she says she hopes to put this festival on troupe’s short lists. I think she may very well pull it off.

Kansas City has had a festival for several years now, but this is one of the first years that there’s been an interest in bringing in national groups. Why the change?

We’ve actually had a festival for 14 years—we just took a little break in the middle. The original KC Improv Festival (called Spontaneous Combustion back in the day) was one of the first independent national festivals, and featured acts who traveled from both coasts. There has been participation by acts from across the country every year, from the big dogs (Del Close, Mick Napier, Armando Diaz, etc.) to up-and-coming groups from Chicago, Minneapolis, NYC, Dallas, and beyond. When we brought the festival back, we continued to bring in national acts, but by invitation instead of application.

Photo courtesy Steve Gibson

Because a lot of traveling performers have never played in K.C., what is the improv scene like? How many troupes and theatres are there? And – purely out of curiosity – does the MO side and the KS side of the river have different styles of improv?

K.C.’s improv scene is healthy, innovative and consistently growing, featuring a variety of seasoned veterans and up and coming troupes. Weekly shows and classes are available at 3 separate venues, encompassing the entire spectrum of short and long form with regular weekly shows and competitive formats. Education has taken off in the area over the last few years, and with it the amount of awesome talent in shows every weekend. Luckily, the talent is thick on both sides of the state line, although most shows fall on the Missouri side in and around the Westport entertainment district. Neither Missouri nor Kansas has claimed a specific style that they keep from the other state, although we could use something new to fight about after the Big 12 broke up.

Since you are bringing in national groups this year, what kind of shows are you hoping to attract? What things have your local audiences not seen yet?

We want to bring in awesome performers-period. We aren’t looking for a specific format or performer, just troupes that are ready to rock our audiences.

Outside of performances, will there be other events for visiting performers? Workshops? Parties?

Absolutely! We will have after parties every night of the festival so we can try to show our performers a good time while they’re here. Also, workshops will be available both weekends, instructors to be determined, so stay tuned. Past workshop instructors include Joe Bill, Mark Sutton, Jill Bernard, Susan Messing, and Nick Armstrong. An added bonus is that we generally try to cart our visiting improvisers around as much as possible so that they don’t get lost and end up at the wrong barbecue joints.

Photo Courtesy of Steve Hevlet

What’s the venue like?

We are using two awesome venues this year. Our first weekend will be held at the Off Center Theater in Crown Center, a shopping district in the middle of the city, only a few minutes from downtown, Westport, and the Country Club Plaza. Of the two, it is our larger venue with audiences on three sides of an amazing stage that is perfect for a fired up improv audience. Our second weekend will be held at the Kick Comedy Theater, a venue that houses improv shows every Saturday night for the KC Improv Company and many other guest troupes. The Kick is in the heart of Kansas City, the Westport entertainment district.

When the festivals not going on, where should people visit while they’re in town? What are the best places to see? And where are the best ribs?

If you’re a shopper, hit up our beautiful Country Club Plaza. If you’re into museums, hit up the Nelson-Atkins Museum, the Kemper Museum of Modern Art, or the Crossroads Art District. If you’re looking for a wild night, hit up the Power & Light District or Westport. If you want the best barbecue you’ve ever had, go to Oklahoma Joe’s, it is in a gas station, just go with it (fellow contenders are Arthur Bryant’s, Fiorellas Jack Stack, & Gates). If you want to witness an amazing local fave and you happen to drink beer, check out the Boulevard Brewery, or just order a Boulevard beer. Also, we have fountains everywhere, look around, its our thing.

If you could have a perfect festival, what would you hope visitors, both performers and audience members would say about it?

Our perfect festival would leave people remembering that it was filled with down-to-earth improvisers, mind-blowing workshops, and kick-ass shows. We work to put on a professional festival that showcases our improv scene while inviting visitors to join us, teach us, and entertain us. We want to be on every troupe’s short list so that they can be a part of the incredible momentum we have going on here in K.C. And barbecue.

It’s not too late. Festival submissions are still open, but they’re ending soon.  Be sure to submit today.

Currently Bill is an instructor at The Torch Theatre and producer for the Phoenix Improv Festival. He tours teaching and performing across North America.