The Improv Centre

Origins as Vancouver TheatreSports League (1981)

The organization was founded in 1981 out of Keith Johnstone's 1980 Vancouver workshop, registered as a BC Society under the name Vancouver TheatreSports League. The company's first home was City Stage (The Back Alley Theatre) in downtown Vancouver. Colin Mochrie was among the inaugural company members. The company moved to the Granville Island Revue Stage in the 1990s.

Purpose-Built Granville Island Theatre (2011)

In 2011 the Vancouver TheatreSports League opened its own purpose-built 186-seat theatre at 1502 Duranleau Street on Granville Island, naming it The Improv Centre. The new venue allowed the organization to expand to 12 shows per week year-round and accommodates 65,000 or more audience members, artists, and students annually. The theatre seats 48 in cabaret configuration, 18 on bench seating, and 120 in theatre-style arrangement.

Rebrand as The Improv Centre (2021)

In 2021 the organization officially changed its registered name from Vancouver TheatreSports League to The Improv Centre, recognizing that its programming had expanded substantially beyond the TheatreSports format to include Maestro, The Life Game, Gorilla Theatre, and other audience-participatory forms. The Granville Island theatre, which had carried the Improv Centre name since 2011, became the organization's official name.

The Improv Centre is Vancouver's primary improv venue, presenting multiple formats including Theatresports, Maestro, and The Life Game year-round at its purpose-built 186-seat Granville Island theatre.

As the organizational successor to Vancouver TheatreSports League, The Improv Centre represents four decades of Theatresports and improv performance in Vancouver. It was an early adopter of Keith Johnstone's format and one of the first companies to provide improv with a purpose-built theatre on the West Coast of North America. Colin Mochrie trained with the original company and went on to become one of Canada's most recognized comedy performers.