ImproMafia

Founding (2004)

Wade Robinson and Luke Rimmelzwaan founded ImproMafia in Brisbane in 2004 with the stated goal of spreading and celebrating the joy of improvised performance. The company began on pub stages and over two decades grew into Brisbane's most established improvisation company. Robinson, the company's Training Director and President, was a member of the first Queensland team to win the National Theatresports Championships.

Programming and Formats

ImproMafia has always specialised in Keith Johnstone's Theatresports format alongside its own style of long-form genre plays featuring extravagant costumes, larger-than-life characters, and inventive stagecraft. The company runs workshops, festivals, touring productions, schools training programs, and corporate engagement work.

Rebrand to Improv QLD

The company later rebranded from ImproMafia to Improv Queensland (Improv QLD), though its website continues to acknowledge its 2004 founding and identity. The rebrand reflects the company's growth beyond its original name while the core team and founding mission remain continuous.

Improv QLD (formerly ImproMafia) is Brisbane's founding improv company, built since 2004 on Theatresports and original long-form work that has made it the city's most established venue for competitive and narrative improvisation.

ImproMafia was founded in Brisbane in 2004 by Wade Robinson and Luke Rimmelzwaan, establishing itself as Queensland's earliest dedicated improvisation company and building its identity around Keith Johnstone's Theatresports format alongside original long-form genre plays. Starting on pub stages, the company expanded progressively into workshops, schools programs, festival appearances, and corporate training, broadening its reach across Queensland over two decades. The company later began operating under the name Improv QLD, reflecting a geographic rebranding that signaled ambitions beyond Brisbane.

As Brisbane's longest-established improv company, ImproMafia built the foundational infrastructure for unscripted performance training in Queensland, introducing Theatresports methodology to generations of performers through its workshops and educational programs. Its expansion into schools programming extended improv training to student populations who might not otherwise encounter the form. The rebranding to Improv Queensland positions the organization as the province-wide home of improvisation, with its two-decade track record lending institutional weight to that claim.