Festival Review: The Phoenix Improv Festival Rises For the 13th Time!

I had the great opportunity to attend the Phoenix Improv Festival last weekend and this festival has no signs of slowing down. The theme of the Festival seemed to be a throwback to early High School. Which would make sense since the festival just hit puberty at 13 years. But PIF has always been a mature festival from the get go. You know like a kid that has an old spirit? That’s PIF in a nutshell.

The venue is unbeatable to this day. Held at the Herberger Theater which holds a little more than 300 people you are in a theater that would make William Shakespeare jealous. Also, the teams that played were solid, coming from all over the country, New York, Los Angeles, Cedar City, Chicago and of course their local improv scene which has grown tremendously over the past 13 years.

It was great to see the Arizona community come together for this festival. The Torch Theater, JesterZ, NCT Phoenix and Not Burned Out Just Unscrewed were all on hand to hang out with each other, perform and celebrate improv in their state.

One of the many great things about PIF, is they know how to take care of their improvisors. They take cover one night of hotel for your team, den mothers who drive your drunk team everywhere and get you safely to and from parties and workshops. Our Den Mother for King Ten was awesome and made us all sack lunches ala the theme of the festival. Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich, kool-aid and an apple! Thanks Stacey Gordon! The thing I really lov e about PIF is it’s not just a festival, for one weekend out of the year you are a Phoenix Improvisor. They treat you as if you are a part of their family.

For the last two years PIF has tried to do an unconference. How this works is improvisors attend, make up what topics they want to talk about during the morning session and then come back later to chat about those topics. I thought this was great idea, but wasn’t well attended unfortunately. Improvisors really missed out.  I will say that I attended and got a lot of great information from it and the people that were in there did as well. It was a great way to share and exchange information. Topics included everything from diversity in improv to team management. I hope to see it grow.

Bottom line. Look for this festival next year. It’s by far one of the great festivals in the country and has consistently been for the last 13 years. One of the first festivals out West, and I see many more years to come!

Nick Armstrong

Nick is Camp Director and Founder of Improv Utopia an improv retreat for adults in California and Pennsylvania. He is also one of the founding members of the National Improv Network and performer and teacher at iO West as well as member of The Sunday Company at The Groundlings.  He has also taught many workshops around the country. We are always looking for better ways to serve the community. Drop us a line and let us know what you want.

To e-mail nick e-mail nick@nationalimprovnetwork.com. For more information visit: http://www.nickarmstrong.com or http://www.improvutopia.com

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