The St. Louis improv scene has long felt like a hidden gem in the city’s already robust arts community, but The Improv Shop is putting it front and center with the Made (Up) in St. Louis improv showcase at Delmar Hall on August 24 at 8 p.m.
Ryan Myers, director of business services and an instructor at The Improv Shop, notes that this showcase is not only meant to show off some of the best improv performers the city has to offer, but also to celebrate 15 years of The Improv Shop in St. Louis.
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“We were founded in 2009 and started off in basements and bars, then fast-forward 15 years, and now our venue has two stages, a bar, a restaurant, and a paved parking lot.” Myers says. “Over the years, we’ve done some traveling to other cities with great scenes, but every time we come back home, we realize that there’s a lot worth celebrating here and a lot of really talented people in this city.”
The program for Made (Up) in St. Louis consists of performances from five local longform improv teams who are regulars at The Improv Shop. Longform improv differs from the types of short-form improv games people may know from programs such as Whose Line is it Anyway? and instead functions more like an improvised play.
Myers sees this showcase as a way to highlight the exciting ways performers are approaching longform improv. The 12-person team YAK (You Already Know), who is opening the showcase, will be performing a style called “telerondo,” created here in St. Louis by one of its members. Myers says the style is a bit like a game of improv telephone, where two performers will be onstage at any given time, and someone from the team will come in from backstage, tag into the scene, and try to pick up where things left off without any context. The team Touch Baseball, on which Myers performs with fellow instructor Ashley Rube, creates improvised scenes that feel like a 15-minute, one-act play. In addition to different styles, Myers also hopes to highlight the way improv brings people together both on and off the stage.
“It’s all about facilitating environments where people feel comfortable and safe being their most authentic self and doing the stupidest things onstage,” Myers says.
This kind of community also extends to teams that are carving out spaces in an artform often dominated by white men. Teams like Some Black People, an all-Black team, and Toxic, an all-femme team, will also be performing as part of the Made (Up) in St. Louis showcase.
The final team on the bill is Mrs. Somebody, another two-person team featuring The Improv Shop owner Kevin McKernan and general manager Andy Sloey. Even though McKernan and Sloey perform less frequently than some other teams on the showcase, they’ve been friends for more than two decades and performing together for more than 15 years, which Myers notes can lead to some real magic moments.
“It’s not everyday you get to see two people who have been close friends for 25 years get to improvise together,” Myers says. “When I was coming up through the program as a student, Mrs. Somebody was one of the shows I saw and thought, Oh, this is magic. This is raising the ceiling for what this artform is capable of.”
The upcoming showcase is as much about performers celebrating each other as it is celebrating the ever-growing St. Louis improv scene, which Myers notes is currently one of the biggest active scenes in the country with more than 300 students. More than anything, he hopes that this showcase will open more folks up to St. Louis’ improv talents, while celebrating the people who helped build and continue to grow the scene
“It’s a really special thing we have going here in the city,” Myers says. “This show is an opportunity to celebrate everyone who has come through and taken classes and done shows, and also looking to the future about how we want to expand next and impact the greater St. Louis arts community as a whole.”
For more information about Made (Up) in St. Louis and to purchase tickets, visit the thepageant.com.
