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IMPROVATHON update #2: Special Guests!
Can you feel it? That’s steady rumble of mad Bright Inventors prepping for THE IMPROVATHON!
Aimee Goldstein is ascending to yogic nirvana to cleanse her mind . . .
Shannon Hill is trying to keep her eyes open for long stretches of time . . .
Benjamin Lloyd is improvising on treadmills . . .
Eric Walker, Jr. is improvising with the ghost of Del Close . . .
Kiersten Adams is doing improvised monologues whilst hanging upside down in playgrounds . . .
Owen Corey is improvising with strangers on the Broad Street line . . .
Suzanne Anderson is practicing intersteller subcrustaceanous improv (we don’t know what that is) . . .
Shea Sonsky is improvising in the hidden language of dogs and cats . . .
Patrick Poole is still learning what a sweep edit is . . .
LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR AMAZING ENSEMBLE BY CLICKING HERE!
Anything to get ready for . . . EIGHT CONTINUOUS HOURS OF IMPROV!
Each hour will go like this:
Brief welcome by BI member (1 minute)
Brief pitch by WPSI staff (2 minutes)
Genre spoof with Bright Invention + special guest (20 minutes)
Long form improv by Bright Invention (30 minutes)
Click here for your free tickets!
But wait! There’s more!
We have some amazing special guests lined up to play in with us!
10 AM: Jack Presby
Jack is currently appearing in episode 1 of Global Curation, the pilot episode produced by ACRidea, that should drop next week. He is also an improvisor with Time Bandits, because improv ain’t just for kids . . .
11 AM: Cait Garozzo
Cait is the Senior Manager for Learning & Development at West Philadelphia Skills Initiative. She spends her early mornings weightlifting and drinking serious coffee. The rest of her free time is spent collecting and reading literary fiction, taking her perfect dog swimming and hiking, listening to podcasts, cooking with her husband, and eating lots of ice cream.
12 Noon: Mary Carpenter
Mary has been improvising in Philadelphia for the past 27 years with ComedySportz, Dangerous Fools, 'Til Death Do Us Part, and many other ensembles. She is an actress, director, teacher and writer as well, who has recently published the book: Do Or Do Not: How To Improvise Like A Jedi. Her next upcoming project is I'll Have What She's Having in May at CSZ Philadelphia.
2 PM: Joy Weir
Joy Weir has been an actor and improviser since 2011. She is also in the upcoming Tongue & Groove performance of "In Bed" on February 7th, 14th (both performances), and 15th. You can also catch her as Rose in Enchanted April at Playcrafters of Skippack opening April 2020.
3 PM: Ralph Andracchio
Ralph Andracchio is an 11 year improv veteran and has traveled all over the US performing and teaching classes and workshops for hundreds of students. Former Artistic Director of Philly Improv Theater, Ralph currently holds the role of Education Consultant for Liberty Improv Theater. When not teaching or performing, Ralph owns his own business and is a transformational life coach helping clients of all kinds make big, bold changes in their lives through the lens of applied improvisation. You can visit him at www.informationcoaching.com.
4 PM: Josh Park
Josh is the Senior Manager for Employer Services at West Philadelphia Skills Initiative. Currently, he lives in Fishtown with the smartest and cutest 7-year-old the world has ever known. He enjoys listening to local music, watching the Phillies, and finding new adventures with his son.
5 PM: Brian Anthony Wilson
Recent Theatre: Looking Over The President's Shoulder (Act II Playhouse), The Resistible Rise of Artuo Ui (Lantern), Gem Of The Ocean (Arden * Barrymore Award) & Thurgood (Olney Theatre Center). Film/TV selected credits : Glass, Oceans 8, Creed, Limitless, The Arrangement, The Postman / Mare Of Easttown, Dispatches From Elsewhere, Wu-Tang: An American Saga, Siren, Bloodline, Gotham, Blue Bloods,The Sopranos & The Wire.
These amazing guests will play in one of our genre spoofs - but we will need YOU to tell us which one to do from this list:
Disney princess movie
Soap opera
Reality show from audience prompt
PBS kids show
Hallmark Christmas movie
Spaghetti Western
Film Noir
Horror
High School play
Remember: we won’t stop improvising until we raise $1,000 for The West Philadelphia Skills Initiative! Save us from ourselves by attending and donating to this amazing organization!
Bright Invention’s
Improvathon 2020
Saturday, February 15th, 10 AM - ???
Inner Rhythms Music and Therapy Center
37 South 42nd St.,
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Please note: there is a staircase up to the venue, which is not wheelchair accessible.
IMPROVATHON! It's a wrap!
9 improvisers. 6 hours of #improv. 6 special guests. Many cookies/donuts/pringles. And . . . we shattered our goal! $1,025 raised for The William Way LGBT Community Center! Thank you to Arch Street Meetinghouse for being such generous hosts, lots of audience dropping in throughout the day, and our amazing Inventors! Improvathon 2019 has come to an end with great success!
Here’s a slide show! Click on the image to go to the next one!
IMPROVATHON Update!
For Philly Theater Week 2019 we are presenting THE IMPROVATHON! to raise money for the William Way LGBT Community Center. On Saturday February 9th at Arch Street Quaker Meeting House, we will begin improvising at 10 am and won’t stop until we have raised $500 for William Way!
THE WILLIAM WAY LGBT CENTER LOCATED ON SPRUCE STREET, PHILADELPHIA.
Saturday, February 9th, 10 am - ???
Arch Street Meetinghouse, 320 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA. 19106
Here is our schedule of Special Guests!
10 am - 11 am. Tara Demmy! Tara Demmy is a comedian, theatre artist, and teacher straddling both Philly and DC. She trained at the Upright Citizens Brigade NYC, Philly Improv Theater, and completed her Lecoq training at Helikos: International School of Theater Creation in Italy. She is a proud company member of Tribe of Fools where she performed in Fishtown – A Hipster Noir, Antihero, Zombies with Guns, and Shut Your Wormhole. She is a writer and performer with ManiPedi Sketch Comedy. Tara received her masters from
Villanova University and is currently pursing her PhD in Theatre and Performance Studies at University of Maryland. tarademmy.com
11 am - 12 noon. Michelle Pauls! Michelle Pauls is a theatre artist, artist educator and mom. She has worked for many years in the Philadelphia area doing theatre, film work, cabaret singing and improv! In fact, she was one of the founding members of Bright Invention. She also teaches theatre and the like in the college setting. www.michellepauls.com
12 noon - 1 pm. Ed Miller! Ed Miller is an actor, director, and writer from the Philadelphia area. He has worked with the Arden Theatre, Theatre Exile, Swim Pony, The IRC, and Secret Room Theatre. Ed spent 3 years living and teaching in South Korea where he also made time to act, direct, and serve on the board of Seoul Players. He was a founding member of SCI: Seoul City Improv and graced the TV screens for young "English-hungry" Koreans on such programs as "Story Time", "T-Girl!", and "Cooking with Red Hood”. Ed is a current proud member of Tongue and Groove Spontaneous Theatre.
1 pm - 2 pm. Brian Anthony Wilson! Brian has been on numerous Philly stages, feature films like The Postman, Creed and Limitless; and TV shows The Wire, Hack and Law and Order.
2 pm - 3 pm. Sharon Geller! Sharon Geller is a comedic actress who has appeared on Saturday Night Live 4 times. In addition to performing in the national touring company of the off-Broadway show “Old Jews Telling Jokes,” Sharon does radio and TV commercials and teaches improv at the Walnut Street Theatre. She trained with Chicago City Limits. www.sharongeller.com.
3 pm - 4 pm. Joy Wier! Joy Suzanne Weir has been an improviser for the last seven years. She is a company member of Tongue & Groove Spontaneous Theatre. Some of her favorite scripted roles include Leonardo's Wife in Philadelphia Artists Collective's performance of Blood Wedding and Blackberry in Simpatico Theatre Project's Watership Down. She has also been a teaching artist for various companies including Bright Invention's sister company, White Pines Productions. She is very excited, and a little scared, to be part of the Improvathon. Let's get weird.
Each hour will feature:
fun with our special guest!
a spoof of a popular film or TV genre!
Bright Invention’s long form The Sun and its Planets!
The Arch Street Meetinghouse, 320 Arch Street Philadelphia. Site of THE IMPROVATHON!
Free parking - enter on 4th street between Arch and Market!
Complimentary light refreshments served.
Wheelchair accessible.
Stop by any time; see some, leave, and return; BRING FRIENDS!
Donations for William Way accepted in person with cash, check or online through Facebook Donate button located here: donate online.
The Improvathon is a part of Philly Theater Week! Please check out all the other amazing shows being presented - click here!
Bright Invention will be part of another great event the very next day! Rehearsing Improv: It’s not an Oxymoron! Co- presented with Tongue & Groove Spontaneous Theatre, this is a fun and free “peek behind the scene” to see how improvisers create shows! Click here for tickets!
