If you’re an acquaintance of anybody in the Georgetown University Improv Association, you may have noticed a slight change in your Facebook events during the past few days. Suddenly, your invitation to the 15th anniversary of Improvfest this weekend was conspicuously missing the second half of its title. Originally, it boldly advertised an extra-special guest headliner: the all-caps-worthy “MIKE BIRBIGLIA.”
Sadly, the title change was no mistake. On Monday, Georgetown Improv’s most famous alum bailed out. But if you think that means that Improvfest 2011 has lost everything that made it outstanding, different, or worthy of attendance, you’re sorely mistaken.
Improvfest, one of the oldest ongoing festivals of its kind in the country, has been the cornerstone of Georgetown’s improv season since its inaugural performance in 1997. This followed the 1995 founding of the Georgetown Players, a combination children’s theater and improv troupe designed to fill the sizable gaps in Georgetown’s comedy scene. The improv branch of the troupe soon decided that they needed a show that was bigger and better than the normal events they put on during the year, and invited troupes from other schools to join them in the very first Improvfest.
Since that first show, Georgetown Improv has come a long way in remedying Georgetown’s comedic deficit. After over a decade as a single entity made up of two distinct groups, the Georgetown Players split last spring. The Georgetown University Improv Association sprung up as a result, under executive producer Jed Feiman (COL ’12).
“We’re finally big enough to be independent,” Feiman said.
As their breakaway might imply, Georgetown improv has witnessed exponential growth in popularity over the past 15 years, particularly in the time leading up to its independence. Current, newer members of the troupe take for granted the widespread campus interest in the group, especially after the success of January’s show, which was standing room only.
“There were about 50 people standing in the back,” said Michael Holper (COL ’14) (Disclosure: Holper has written for the Voice.) “A lot of my friends couldn’t get in.”
Although Feiman, a member since his freshman year, has never seen a show that didn’t nearly fill Bulldog Alley, he recognizes that, like so many have said about the arts at Georgetown, this was not always the case.
“Since I’ve been here I’ve known that to be the typical show,” he said. “But the year before I was here, I’ve heard stories that [just] handfuls of people showed up.”
But Birbiglia or not, far more than handfuls of people are going to show up for this weekend’s Improvfest, which is expected to sell out both nights of its run. For its anniversary celebration, the festival, which normally features two or three troupes from other colleges, is hosting Ohio State’s 8th Floor Improv. In lieu of more college groups, this year features a guest troupe of old and new alumni. Guests will range from those who performed in Improvfest’s flagship year through the class of 2010, including comedian and former VH1 hostess Alison Becker (COL ’99).
With a group of such talented alumni, many of whom are responsible for Georgetown Improv becoming the success that it is today, one might think that the newer members would be shaking in their unscripted boots. But the confident troupe does not seem too fazed by their older, probably less practiced competition.
“The coherence of the alumni’s team might not be as good as ours,” Holper said. “[But] it’ll be nice to see what their talents are.”
These talents, from current Hilltop residents to alumni to a gifted bunch from Ohio, are sure to make this year’s special-edition Improvfest an exciting celebration of how far comedy has come at Georgetown. And admit it—you don’t really know much about Mike Birbiglia anyway.
