Reno Improv

Founding (2015)

Ben Craig first encountered improv at Second City Chicago in the mid-1990s, originally using it to improve public speaking. He later performed with Second City Las Vegas and moved to Reno in 2004, finding no active improv community in the city. Aurora Boles began studying improv in 2011 for confidence and presentation skills. In 2015 they co-founded Reno Improv out of the Potentialist Workshop with an explicit mission centered on fun, challenge, playfulness, and accessibility.

Nonprofit Model and Community Focus

Reno Improv incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit to make training affordable and remove financial barriers to participation. The founders' backgrounds in improv as a personal development tool informed an organizational identity that prioritizes inclusion over elite performance, welcoming participants from all experience levels and backgrounds.

Ongoing Operations

Reno Improv continues to operate in Reno as the city's primary improv organization, offering classes, workshops, and performances through its nonprofit structure.

Reno Improv presents community-focused long-form improv with an emphasis on inclusion and accessibility. The nonprofit model enables a mission-driven approach: keeping training affordable, welcoming all skill levels, and positioning improv as a tool for confidence-building and public speaking development alongside theatrical craft. The organization explicitly serves Reno's diverse community rather than a self-selecting performing arts audience.

Reno Improv stages "Some Things May Never Happen," a fully improvised musical created fresh each performance by an ensemble cast working entirely from audience suggestions. The Improv Olimpix is a monthly short-form competition in which two teams of northern Nevada improvisers face off in games and challenges with audience members acting as judges. The Playground provides an ongoing performance venue for students progressing through the training program, while Indie Night showcases independent and visiting ensembles. Specialty curriculum performances in musical improv and the Harold form round out the regular schedule.

Reno Improv grew from Ben Craig's recognition that Nevada's second-largest city lacked any established improv community. Craig had discovered the art form at Second City in Chicago in the mid-1990s while seeking to build public speaking skills, later performed with Second City in Las Vegas, and moved to Reno in 2004. In 2015 he co-founded Reno Improv alongside Aurora Boles, Vince Salvatore, and Robert McGrath, with the Potentialist Workshop serving as the organization's first home. The founders built the company on principles of kindness and inclusion, deliberately keeping training affordable through a 501(c)(3) nonprofit structure.

The organization has grown to encompass 30 to 50 active performers and 50 to 100 students, offering classes in English and Spanish through an Improv en espanol track that reflects Reno's demographic diversity. By emphasizing improv as a vehicle for public speaking confidence and personal growth rather than purely comedic performance, Reno Improv has attracted participants from educational, corporate, and community backgrounds who might not seek out a traditional comedy venue.