Sarasota Improv Festival Set for Today, 7/20 & 7/21

FST's 4th Annual Sarasota Improv Festival returns for two-nights of comedy with 10 Improv groups today, July 20 and tomorrow July 21. Acts from Chicago, Boston, Austin, Miami, Atlanta (and everywhere in between) will perform on the Cabaret stage.

Pricing varies for the weekend, with passes available for the weekend at $49, nightly at $29, and per individual show at $10/each. Workshops are also available for $29/each. Tickets may be purchased online at www.FloridaStudioTheatre.org, by calling the box office at (941) 366-9000, or visiting the theatre in person at 1241 North Palm Avenue in Downtown Sarasota.

In one-hour slots, groups will perform different types of Improv shows: traditional Improv games, long-form comedy, short sketches and musical improv. Returning to the fest after sold-out appearances on FST's stage are Available Cupholders (Austin, TX), Dad's Garage (Atlanta), SAK Comedy (Orlando), Jester Theater (Orlando), ImprovBoston (Boston), Just the Funny (Miami), Lazy Fairy (Sarasota), and the "home team" troupe to kick it all off, FST Improv (Sarasota). Sure to be audience favorites are new kids on the block, Stacked: All-female Musical Improv and The Hitmen, both from Chicago.

The festival also includes opening night and closing night parties at downtown restaurants The Broadway Bar and Maximo (respectively); multiple Improv workshops taught by the talented visiting artists on Saturday; and the popular closing night Improv Jam with all the Improv artists working together to create new and original sketches.

The full Sarasota Improv Festival schedule is below:

Performance Schedule
July 20-21, 2012
In the Goldstein Cabaret and Keating Theatre
$49 Weekend Passes
$29 Night Passes
$10 Individual Show Tickets

Friday, July 20, 2012
6 p.m – FST Improv (Sarasota) – Cabaret
7 p.m. – Just the Funny (Miami) – Cabaret
8 p.m. – ImprovBoston (Boston) – Cabaret
9 p.m. – Dad's Garage (Atlanta) – Cabaret
10 p.m. – The Hitmen (Chicago) – Cabaret
Opening Night Party @ Broadway Bar

Saturday, July 21, 2012
5 p.m. – Vintage Whine (Sarasota) – Cabaret
6 p.m. – Lazy Fairy (Sarasota) – Cabaret
7 p.m. – Stacked (Chicago) – Cabaret
7 p.m. – Dad's Garage (Atlanta) – Keating
8 p.m. – Jester Theatre (Orlando) – Keating
9 p.m. – Available Cupholders (Austin) – Keating
10 p.m. – SAK Comedy Lab (Orlando) – Keating
11 p.m. – All Play – Keating
Closing Night Party @ Maximo

Improv Workshops
Saturday July 21, 2012
$29 per workshop

11AM – Finding Character Through Movement
Instructor: Eve Krueger from Dad's Garage

11AM – Free Form Improv
Instructor: Will Luera from ImprovBoston

3PM – Exploring the Harold
Instructors: Bill Stern and Ace Manning from Available Cupholders

3PM – Super Quick Character Generation
Instructors: Jeremy Sweetlamb, Kaci Beeler, and Michael Joplin from Available Cupholders

FST's Improv program has a history of rapid growth: from its humble beginnings in 2001, as a weekly class that served five students, within two years Improv opened its first performance season – which promptly sold out. Since that time, the program has grown into an annual event, running through FST's winter season (September - April), and then throughout the entire summer season (June through August). FST Improv has attracted young Gulf Coast audiences, spawning a youth arts culture that includes other improv troupes and performance groups. This is a program that is ripe for expansion; currently FST Improv plays to sold out audiences each week, doling out equal parts fun and social commentary in short, comic sketches, a form of theatre that shares the same Greek roots as classical theatre.

Florida Studio Theatre is grateful to the Sarasota Improv Festival Sponsors: Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Spotlight Graphics, Broadway Bar, Maximo, SRQ Media Group, and the Sarasota County Tourist Development Tax Revenues. Generous hotel sponsors include: Marriott Inn and Suites, Hotel Ranola, Hotel Indigo, Hyatt Place, The Cypress Bed & Breakfast Inn, Ramada, and the Helmsley Sandcastle Hotel.