TBC Improv

Founding (December 2009)

Lauren Berning, Fernando Fresquez, and Sacha Timaeus each arrived in Edinburgh in the latter half of 2009 and, finding little existing improv community, founded TBC Improv with their first show at the Pleasance Cabaret Bar on December 10, 2009. The show used a competition-style format with workshop members as performers.

Pop-Up Theatre (2015)

In March 2015, TBC Improv opened a pop-up theatre venue at The Tron Tavern in Edinburgh. The following year the venue moved to Monkey Barrel Comedy. The pop-up theatre operated until 2019.

International Expansion

In 2014, founder Lauren Berning established TBC Improv HK in Hong Kong. In 2023, the company established TBC Improv Spain in Barcelona, making TBC one of the few UK improv organisations to successfully operate across multiple international cities.

TBC Improv is Edinburgh's foundational improv organisation, built from scratch in 2009 by three arrivals to the city and now operating internationally in Hong Kong and Barcelona.

TBC Improv's inaugural recurring production was Improv Wins!, which debuted at the PBH Free Edinburgh Fringe in 2010 and drew large enough audiences to expand the company's membership. Improv Games is a competitive team-format show in which house ensembles and Harold-style groups vie for improvisational supremacy in front of a voting audience. The Harold Improv Comedy Show is a dedicated format showcase presenting the Harold long-form structure introduced to Edinburgh audiences through TBC's programming. Absolute Improv! has been highlighted by reviewers at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe as one of the city's essential fringe comedy offerings. The TBC Improv Theatre, opened in March 2015 as a permanent pop-up venue, hosts weekly shows featuring new acts alongside established company members, functioning as the central public stage for Edinburgh's independent improv scene.

TBC Improv was founded on December 10, 2009, when Lauren Berning, Fernando Fresquez, and Sacha Timaeus arrived in Edinburgh expecting to join an existing improv community and found almost none. Their inaugural performance at the Pleasance Cabaret Bar that night marked the beginning of what they named To Be Continued -- a phrase chosen to capture the open-ended spirit of improvisational collaboration. After Improv Wins! became a success at the 2010 Free Edinburgh Fringe, the troupe expanded to include Peter Aitchison, Paul Connolly, Paddy Hare, and Sam Irving as core members, and Fernando Fresquez returned to New Mexico in September 2011. Lauren Berning departed in September 2014 following a second sell-out Fringe run and went on to establish TBC Improv HK in Hong Kong that same year; a Barcelona branch opened in 2023. In March 2015, the company unveiled The TBC Improv Theatre, a dedicated venue that became Edinburgh's first stable home for improv performance and functions as a platform for the broader Scottish improv community. TBC's work is widely credited with seeding the Scottish improv scene from near-zero, and the theater continues to run courses, inclusive community events, and weekly public shows that draw both local performers and international visitors attending the Edinburgh Festival.