Improv Companies

Founded in 2005, easylaughs is one of Amsterdam's longest-running English-language improv groups, offering weekly shows, regular improv and stand-up comedy courses, and drop-in workshops at CREA (University of Amsterdam).

The third iO Theater training center franchise, launched in 2006 as a joint venture between iO Theater (Chicago) and the Raleigh improv company ComedyWorx. Operated at ComedyWorx's Raleigh space. Listed on the iO Theater Wikipedia article as one of two defunct iO franchises alongside iO West. ComedyWorx itself continued independently after the iO South partnership ended.

The birthplace of long-form improvisation as a codified practice, originally founded as the ImprovOlympic by Charna Halpern and David Shepherd in 1981. Del Close joined in 1983 and together with Halpern refined the Harold into its modern form. The International Olympic Committee forced a name change to iO in 2001. The theatre closed in 2020 due to COVID-19 financial pressures and reopened in November 2022 under new ownership.

The Los Angeles outpost of Charna Halpern's iO Theater, opened in 1997 on Hollywood Boulevard. iO West brought Harold-based long-form improvisation to the West Coast and became a major training center. The theatre closed in June 2018.

Istanbul's pioneering Turkish-language improv theatre company, performing since 2005 and formally incorporated as Doğaçlama A.Ş. in 2011, offering shows, interdisciplinary workshops, and a structured apprenticeship training programme; also organises the Doğaçlama Tiyatro Festivali.

pH Productions is a Chicago comedy company and theater collective mentioned as part of the city’s smaller black-box improv ecosystem.

Co-founded by Ali Farahnakian and Armando Diaz as a home for long-form improvisation, sketch comedy, and stand-up in New York City. Farahnakian trained at iO Chicago under Del Close and Charna Halpern. The PIT also operates a location in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Founded in 2007 by Miles Stroth in Los Angeles. The Pack Theater is an independent improv and sketch comedy venue that provides an alternative to the larger UCB and Groundlings institutions in the LA comedy scene.

One of three improv successor companies formed when The Committee disbanded in 1972, carrying forward a strand of the ensemble improv tradition in the Bay Area. Named alongside Improvisation Inc. and The Wing as direct inheritors of The Committee's approach.

Arguably the first structured school of improvisation, founded by Josephine Forsberg in 1971. Forsberg had served as Viola Spolin's teaching assistant and understudy at the original Second City. The Players Workshop trained Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Betty Thomas, Shelley Long, George Wendt, and David Mamet among others.

The first nonprofit improv cooperative of its kind in the United States, founded by Doug Diefenbach. The Playground opened its first permanent home in March 1999 as a sixty-seat venue. The theatre features four improv groups per night, each performing approximately 25 minutes in whatever form they choose. It vacated its longtime Halsted Street location in 2021 and relocated to North Clark Street.

An improvisational theatre in Greenwich Village founded by Theodore J. Flicker, a former member of the Compass Players. The original Off-Broadway production opened November 22, 1960 and ran for 1,249 performances. The cast included Tom Aldredge, George Segal, and Joan Darling, with later members including Buck Henry and Gene Hackman. The Premise subsequently moved to London's West End.

A 149-seat cabaret-style comedy club founded by John Stoops, intentionally located at the historic site of the original Compass Players. The Revival opened exactly 60 years after the Compass Players first performed in Hyde Park.

Vietnam's first improv comedy theatre, founded in 2015 in Hanoi by Long. The Rotten Grapes has performed over 150 bilingual (English and Vietnamese) shows across Hanoi, Da Nang, and Saigon over eight years, and also offers beginner improv courses.

The Rozzie Square Theater is Boston's only brick-and-mortar comedy club owned by a woman and Asian American, founded in 2018 through a collaboration between CSz Boston and Riot Improv, offering ComedySportz shows and improv classes.

The most influential comedy institution in North America, founded on December 16, 1959 by Paul Sills, Bernie Sahlins, and Howard Alk. The name is an ironic reference to A.J. Liebling's derogatory 1952 New Yorker description of Chicago. The Second City launched the careers of John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, Bill Murray, Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert, and hundreds of other performers. Andrew Alexander purchased the company from Sahlins in 1985.

A fully licensed Second City mainstage franchise, opening in 2002 at the 14th Street Theatre in Playhouse Square, offering improvisational comedy, musical comedy, and avant-garde fare. Cited by Wikipedia's Improvisational Theatre article as one of the Second City franchises that quickly closed due to mismanagement and over-reliance on scripted scenes. The 14th Street Theatre later converted to a private dining space (Cibreo Privato). Company operations ceased approximately 2003.

The Second City's Detroit-area outpost, originally opened in 1993. The Detroit company has produced mainstage revues and operated training programs, extending The Second City's reach into the Midwest.

The Second City's Las Vegas satellite, operating at Bugsy's Celebrity Theatre inside the Flamingo Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip from spring 2001 to summer 2008. Ran nine performers plus a musical director for over seven years before the casino hotel format proved unsustainable. Part of The Second City's aggressive franchise expansion of the early 2000s.

The New York outpost of The Second City, opened on November 16, 2023 in a 12,000-square-foot space in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The facility houses two cabaret-style theatres, seven training center classrooms, and a full-service restaurant and bar.

The Toronto outpost of The Second City, first opened on Adelaide Street East in 1973. Andrew Alexander licensed the Canadian rights from Bernie Sahlins for one dollar and borrowed $7,000 to reopen the theatre in 1974. The company moved through several locations including the Old Firehall on Lombard Street before settling into a 28,700-square-foot space at One York Street in November 2022. Second City Toronto launched the careers of John Candy, Dan Aykroyd, Catherine O'Hara, Eugene Levy, Martin Short, and many others.

One of three improv successor companies formed after The Committee dissolved in 1972. The Wing was performing at The Tivoli when The Committee gave its final blackout. It is one of three documented post-Committee companies (alongside Improvisation Inc. and The Pitchell Players) that briefly continued the San Francisco ensemble improv tradition.

One of Germany's most established improvisational theatre groups, performing competitive improv since the 1990s.

Charleston's home for improv comedy since 2000, a 130-seat theater co-founded by Brandy Sullivan and Greg Tavares offering improv shows Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, plus classes for adults and teens.

The Theatre Guild of Ancón is the oldest continuously operating theatre in Panama, founded in 1950 by Panamanian and American citizens. In addition to classic dramas and musicals, the company produces the long-running improvisational comedy show Improv8.

Keith Johnstone's touring improvisation company based in London, active from approximately 1966 to 1971. Theatre Machine performed Johnstone's improvisational techniques across Europe and was the direct precursor to the Theatresports format he later developed in Calgary. The company demonstrated that improvisation could be a viable performance form in its own right.

A nonprofit improv-centered theater education collective founded in 2022, focused on community empowerment and inclusive improv, and producers of the Make Em Laugh, OK festival.

The first school dedicated to teaching the art of improvisation in the Philippines. Third World Improv started the Manila Improv Festival in 2015, which has grown into Asia's largest improvisational theater festival.

Founded in 2014 in Lyon, Théâtre Improvidence is France's first theatre dedicated exclusively to improvisation, presenting a diverse programme of improv shows and running the École Improvidence training school for all skill levels; it has since expanded to Bordeaux.

Tightrope Theatre is a Vancouver improv company at 2343 Main Street offering weekly Keith Johnstone-style impro shows and classes for all ages and experience levels. The company was founded in Calgary in 2014 and relocated to Vancouver in 2017.

Eskişehir improv company founded February 2009 by Eray Güler and Evren Başer. Organized the 2nd National Improvisation Theatre Festival bringing 11 teams from across Turkey; performed 212+ shows with 10,000+ audience members in their peak seasons.

İzmit-based improv company, one of Turkey's earliest regional improv groups outside Istanbul, active since 2004.

İzmir-based improv performing ensemble and training company, founded 2013–2015. Located at Kıbrıs Şehitleri Cad. No:48, Alsancak, İzmir.

Self-described as the largest improvisational theatre and humour school in the CIS region, Tochka Impro offers courses in improvisation, stand-up, oratory, and acting from its Saint Petersburg base, with regular shows and corporate training.

Comedy bar and venue in Shibuya that hosts weekly improv workshops and monthly all-improv shows alongside stand-up programming. Founded in 2022, it also organises the Tokyo International Comedy Festival.

Tokyo-based bilingual improv company and school founded in 1994 as Tokyo Comedy Club. Operates the Improvazilla monthly show at Crocodile in Shibuya and runs Impro Dojo workshops teaching Johnstone, Second City, iO, and Annoyance styles. Studio Gokko, their black box theatre and school space, opened in 2019.

Improv company active since around 2015, specialising in the Improvisaciones Minimas long-form format. Co-organiser of the FIDI (Festival Internacional de Improvisacion) festival. Facebook-primary presence.

Morocco's leading professional improv troupe (TIM), based in Rabat, performing monthly at Villa des Arts Rabat and the Cultural Complex of Anfa in Casablanca. Organises the Festival International d'Improvisation du Maroc (FIIM), the country's premier improv festival.

Tucson's dedicated improv theater founded in 2012 at 414 E 9th St, offering regular shows and classes for all levels.

Founded by Randy Dixon in 1983, Unexpected Productions performs in a 90-seat theatre inside Seattle's Pike Place Market. The company is known for its long-form narrative improv format and has been a fixture of the Seattle arts scene for over four decades. Dixon is recognized as an innovator in narrative long-form improvisation.

Tucson nonprofit improv and sketch comedy theater dedicated to community-based performance and accessible training programs.

Founded on February 4, 1999 by the UCB Four: Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts, and Matt Walsh. UCB became the dominant force in New York City long-form improvisation and launched the careers of countless performers. The theatre closed its Hell's Kitchen location in April 2020 due to COVID-19 and reopened in September 2024 at a new East Village location under new ownership by Mike McAvoy and Jimmy Miller.

The Los Angeles branch of the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, opened in 2005 on Franklin Avenue in Hollywood. UCB LA became the dominant long-form improv theatre on the West Coast and a pipeline for television comedy writing staffs. The theatre permanently closed its Franklin Avenue location in 2020 due to COVID-19 and has since sought a new LA venue.

A homegrown Anchorage improv company founded in 2013 and recognized as a pioneer of longform improv in Alaska, performing rotating long-form and short-form formats.

Valencia's English-language performing arts community specialising in long-form improv, theatre, and stand-up, offering classes, shows, and drop-in sessions.

A Vancouver improv company founded in 1980 by a co-operative of actors, with Colin Mochrie among the inaugural members. The company performs Keith Johnstone's Theatresports format and has operated its own theatre on Granville Island since 2011, branded as The Improv Centre. Ryan Stiles also performed with the company early in his career.

A Las Vegas improv training center founded in 2018 offering classes, workshops, coaching, and corporate team training through the Functional Improv methodology, in-person and online.

Founded in 2002, Verbavolant is the first dedicated school of theatrical improvisation in Rome, offering beginner and advanced improv and text theatre courses and affiliated with Italy's national Improteatro network.

Vermont's premier comedy venue opened in 2015, offering standup, improv, and sketch shows in a 140-seat cabaret room, plus adult improv and sketch classes and the annual Big Pond Improv Festival.

Villain Theater is a Miami improv and performance theater offering multi-level classes rooted in long-form improv fundamentals, character work, and scene performance.

A professional nonprofit theater founded in 1994 (formerly Dreamcatcher Rep) producing plays, improv comedy, and new play readings, with ongoing adult improv classes at the Oakes Center.

Founded in 2003, WIT is Wellington's improv company, producing shows and workshops in New Zealand's capital city. The troupe performs various improv formats and has been part of the growing Australasian improv network.

An experimental improv and sketch theatre founded in early 1993 by Don Hall, Joe Janes, and other graduates of the Second City Training Center's Level 5 program. The name stands for either 'What Now Entertainment Productions' or 'What No One Else Produces' depending on the source. WNEP found its first permanent home in 2000.

DC's premier destination for longform improv, founded in 1986 and formally reconstituted in 1998 as a consensus-based artist collective. WIT presents regular ensemble performances at Studio Theatre and runs a multi-level improv training program reaching over 20,000 audience members annually.

Wayward Improvised Theatre performs short-form, long-form, and narrative improv shows at Arts Court in Ottawa, Ontario.

The Wellington Improvisation Troupe (WIT) is Wellington's longest-running improv company, operating for over 20 years and based at Toi Poneke, offering introductory classes through the Wellington Community Education Centre and regular Tuesday night training sessions.

Whole World Improv Theatre is a Midtown Atlanta improv theater and training center offering regular shows, improv classes, and community performances since 1991.

Port Elizabeth improv comedy show where the audience sets the scenes and performers improvise on the spot.

Iowa's dedicated improv theater, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit with improv teams, ongoing conservatory classes, and public shows including jams and showcases.

A Portland-based improv ensemble founded in 2019 that combines improv comedy with non-fiction storytelling, performing monthly at the Portland Media Center.

Long-running improv academy and performing company based in Beyoglu, founded 2003. Operates Yota Sahne with approximately 1,500 shows performed; offers regular workshops and academy training.

Shenzhen-based English-language short-form improv group founded in 2016, with a multinational cast. ZIP Improv performs regular shows at venues including Luna and Mambo and is part of Shenzhen's active expat improv community.

Zmack has been performing improv comedy in Shanghai for over a decade, growing to include over 40 professional improvisational actors from dozens of countries. The company performs in English, Chinese, and French, with multiple teams including ZhiMaKong (Chinese-language improv). Zmack uses a 'Pay What You Want' admission model to keep improv accessible.

Zurich's destination for English-language improv comedy, producing fast-paced interactive shows. The community includes troupes like Hoi Polloi and hosts the Zurich Improv Comedy Festival.