About Kansas City Improv Festival 2018

About Kansas City Improv Festival 2018

The KC Improv Company is pleased to announce that we have opened submissions for the 18th Kansas City Improv Festival, going on August 16-19 and August 23-25. Come play with us!

In 1994, Kansas City hosted one of the first improv festivals in the United States, and in the years since then we've brought in renowned improvisers such as Del Close, Mick Napier, Susan Messing, Jill Bernard, Joe Bill, and hometown hero Jason Sudeikis. Last year we had Laurelly, 3Peat, and Courtesy Shuttle, and this year we want YOU to be part of the fun!

Why is the KCiF a great festival to play?

• The people! We treat our performers like the rock stars they are. Because you’re awesome, and we’re excited to become best friends.
• The theater! The Kick Comedy Theater in Westport is a fantastic neighborhood in a vibrant part of town, and it’s connected to The Green Room, one of our favorite hangouts for burgers and local craft beer. Did we mention they have a brewery on site? It’s pretty f@*%ing cool. Eat, drink, watch improv, and be merry!
• The workshops! We bring in high-quality instructors so you don't have to stalk them on Facebook. (Or in reality.) Yum, talented people teaching you! Steal their sparkle!
• The inspiration! You know what you do, and you know what people in your circle do, and frankly, you're usually too busy doing your thing to find people to inspire you. Branch out. As a festival performer, you’ll get a free pass to see any and all of the shows on the night that you perform, so you’ll get to watch and hang out with improvisers who surprise and delight you.
• The perks! We will have food available for you before and during the shows, as well as fabulous after parties every evening after the last show. Please plan on arranging your own travel and lodging; however, if we can offer other perks to you (and rest assured we’re already working on those!) we will let you know ASAP.
• The city! Kansas City is incredible—and we should know. Yes, we’re the home of baseball’s 2015 World Champion Royals, but Kansas City has TONS more to offer (www.visitkc.com)! We are the barbeque capitol of the country (don’t believe us? Just try Joe’s, or Gates, or Jack Stack Fiorella’s, or Arthur Bryant’s, or Char Bar, or...), we have amazing FREE museums, we have the ONLY National WWI Museum and Memorial (www.theworldwar.org) in the US, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum (www.nlbm.com) in the historic 18th and Vine district...we could keep going but you get the idea. We’re pretty proud of our historic and vibrant city!

This year’s festival stretches over two weekends: August 16-19 and August 23-25. We are looking for local and national troupes with seasoned improvisers: most KCIF performers have two years of experience and regularly coach and perform with their teams. If this is you (and we know it is) this is what we’re looking for in your submission video:
• A minimum of 20 minutes of your group performing
• From within the last year
• Reflective of your current cast
Please include the time-stamp of when your group's set starts (if necessary).

Submission Fee Info:
Early Bird Submission Fee: $20 – April 1 – 15
Regular Submission Fee: $25 – April 16 – May 1
Late Submission Fee: $30 – May 2 – 21

Selected troupes receive a 20-25 minute set. Though we’d love to be able to offer longer sets, in order to provide our audiences with as much laughter from as many fantastic troupes as possible, we cannot extend the performance time past 25 minutes.

So, submit today! We can’t wait to play with you!

Kansas City Improv Festival: Made Up, Made Here.