{"id":90980,"date":"2026-04-02T18:57:27","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T22:57:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/?p=90980"},"modified":"2026-04-02T18:57:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T22:57:27","slug":"asheville-improv-festival-returns-may-6-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/latest-news-and-updates\/asheville-improv-festival-returns-may-6-9\/","title":{"rendered":"Asheville Improv Festival Returns May 6-9"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

3 Peat<\/p><\/div>\n

More than three-dozen improv comedy troupes from around Asheville, the greater Southeast and beyond are making it all up \u2014 completely on the spot \u2014 for four nights this spring as the Asheville Improv Festival returns for a second year. Along with several nationally-known headlining acts, the festival spotlights an unprecedented variety of homegrown talent from local improv schools and producers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s more improv in Asheville now \u2014 and more really good improv \u2014 than this town has ever seen,\u201d says George Awad, an Asheville improviser and co-director of the festival\u2019s producer, Double Dip Productions.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Tom Chalmers<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cComing out of Hurricane Helene, we were so excited to show off what makes Asheville unique, and one of those things is improv,\u201d says Awad. \u201cA lot of experienced improvers have moved here, and some have opened schools that have developed dozens of amazing performers. Every troupe auditioned to get into the festival, and it was really hard to narrow it down to this year\u2019s lineup.\u201d<\/p>\n

Invited headliners include the musical troupe Baby Wants Candy, one of the most popular, globally-touring and critically acclaimed comedy ensembles in the world. Closing the festival, they’ll performing two separate hour-long improvised musicals, including the Hamilton<\/em>-inspired Shamilton<\/em>. Sharing the marquee with are: Logan Square Improv,from Chicago; Dan O\u2019Connor, founder of Los Angeles\u2019 Impro Theatre; and Greg Tavares, founding director of Charleston, SC\u2019s, Theatre 99 and an improv author with decades of coast-to-coast teaching credentials.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are so many different styles and forms of improv \u2014 musical, narrative, dramatic, abstract, spoofs on specific genres \u2014 and you\u2019ll see examples of all of that this year,\u201d Awad says. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be an amazing showcase.\u201d<\/p>\n

The festival opens with a slate of performances May 6\u00a0 and two sets of shows May 7 at Wortham Center for the Performing Arts. The festival then moves to NC Stage for three separate lineups May 8, and wraps up May 9 with three shows at The Orange Peel.<\/p>\n

Tickets are on sale for all headline performances, along with all-you-can-see passes. The festival\u2019s complete performance lineup and schedule will be announced the first week of April. Visiting headline artists are also teaching nine improv workshops during the festival.<\/p>\n

For more information and tickets, visit AshevilleImprovFestival.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More than three-dozen improv comedy troupes from around Asheville, the greater Southeast and beyond are making it all up \u2014 completely on the spot \u2014 for four nights this spring as the Asheville Improv Festival returns for a second year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":90993,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[121],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news-and-updates"],"yoast_head":"\nAsheville Improv Festival Returns May 6-9 - The Laurel of Asheville<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"More than three-dozen improv comedy troupes from around Asheville, the greater Southeast and beyond are making it all up \u2014 completely on the spot \u2014 for four nights this spring as the Asheville Improv Festival returns for a second year.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/latest-news-and-updates\/asheville-improv-festival-returns-may-6-9\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Asheville Improv Festival Returns May 6-9 - 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