Improvisation in California
Cities
Historical Moments
The Committee Opens in San Francisco's North Beach
Alan Myerson and Jessica Myerson, both Second City alumni, opened The Committee on 10 April 1963 at 622 Broadway in San Francisco's North Beach neighbourhood. Named as a reference to the House Un-American Activities Committee, the company presented politically satirical improvisation and ran for nine years before disbanding in 1972, when three successor companies formed: The Pitchel Players, The Wing, and Improvisation Inc.
Gary Austin Founds The Groundlings in Los Angeles
Gary Austin, a veteran of San Francisco's The Committee, formally established The Groundlings as a theatre company in January 1974 in Los Angeles, assembling approximately fifty founding members and naming the company after the standing-audience groundlings of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. The company went on to develop the West Coast's most influential character-based improv and sketch methodology.
The Groundlings Opens Its Melrose Avenue Theatre After Four Years of Renovation
The Groundlings opened its permanent home at 7307 Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles in April 1979, after four years of renovation complicated by building codes and parking restrictions. The 99-seat theatre established the venue that has anchored the company's operations ever since.
BATS Improv Founded in San Francisco After a Sold-Out Theatresports Performance
On 10 November 1986, a sold-out Theatresports performance at the Zephyr Theater in San Francisco drew audience members who joined the original performers to form Bay Area Theatresports (BATS Improv). Co-founded by William Hall, Rebecca Stockley, and Dan O'Connor, BATS Improv became the largest improv theatre and school in Northern California.
ComedySportz San Jose Founded
Jeff Kramer founded ComedySportz San Jose in September 1987, premiering at the Bold Knight restaurant with players recruited from San Jose State and Santa Clara University, establishing Silicon Valley's first sustained improv comedy show.
ComedySportz Opens Its First West Coast Franchise in Los Angeles
In 1988, ComedySportz expanded to Los Angeles under James Thomas Bailey, establishing its first West Coast franchise and first presence outside the Midwest. The Los Angeles operation brought the family-friendly competitive short-form format to one of the largest entertainment markets in North America. The LA franchise demonstrated that ComedySportz could sustain permanent operations in competitive entertainment cities and helped anchor the organisation's expansion beyond its regional Wisconsin origins.
Los Angeles Theatresports Founded, Bringing Keith Johnstone's Format to LA
Dan O'Connor, Ellen Idelson, and Forest Brakeman co-founded Los Angeles Theatresports in 1988 as a licensed Theatresports company in the tradition of Keith Johnstone. O'Connor was also a co-founder of BATS Improv in San Francisco. The company later developed its 'UnScripted' literary long-form format and rebranded publicly as Impro Theatre.
ImprovOlympic West Opens in Hollywood, Bringing the Harold to Los Angeles
ImprovOlympic West opened in Hollywood in 1997, Los Angeles, extending the iO brand to the West Coast and bringing the Harold tradition and Del Close's pedagogical legacy to a new city. iO West provides training and performance opportunities for Los Angeles-based improvisers and becomes an important venue for the city's growing improv scene. The opening represents the first major expansion of an established Chicago improv institution into the Los Angeles market.
iO West Opens in Hollywood as the Los Angeles Satellite of iO Theater
Paul Vaillancourt, a Chicago-trained improviser, founded iO West in 1997 with institutional backing from Charna Halpern, bringing the Harold-based long-form curriculum of iO Chicago to Los Angeles. The theatre launched at the Stella Adler Theater on Hollywood Blvd and later settled at the Palmer Building at 6366 Hollywood Blvd in 2000.
The Second City Opens a Hollywood Company in Los Angeles
The Second City opened a Hollywood company in Los Angeles in 1999, establishing its first West Coast presence. The Hollywood location produced original satirical revues and offered training programs in the Los Angeles market, bringing the Second City format to the city most closely associated with the television and film careers of Second City alumni. The Hollywood company operated until 2004.
National Comedy Theatre Founded in San Diego
Gary Kramer founded National Comedy Theatre in October 1999 at 3717 India Street in San Diego's Mission Hills neighborhood, beginning what would become the longest-running show in San Diego history.
Lila Theatre Founded in San Francisco
Jill Mueller and Christopher Eickmann founded Lila Theatre in February 2003 in San Francisco, a long-form improv company that renamed to Leela Improv Theatre in 2010.
The Second City Hollywood Company Closes After Five Years of Operation
The Second City Hollywood company closed in 2004 after approximately five years of operation, ending the company's first Los Angeles venture. The closure reflected the challenges of establishing a permanent improv and sketch institution in a market dominated by stand-up comedy clubs and entertainment industry short-term opportunities. Alumni of the Hollywood company continued to work in Los Angeles television and film.
Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre Opens Its Los Angeles Venue in Hollywood
In 2005, the Upright Citizens Brigade opened its Los Angeles operation at 5919 Franklin Avenue in Hollywood, extending the UCB training and performance model to the West Coast. The Franklin Avenue venue offered shows and a training centre, establishing UCB's presence in the entertainment industry's primary market. The Los Angeles operation became one of the most prominent improv institutions in the city and a major employer of UCB-trained performers in the television and film industry.
The Second City Opens Hollywood Training Centre at 6560 Hollywood Blvd
The Second City opened a training centre at 6560 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles, in 2005, expanding its geographic footprint to the West Coast. The Hollywood location operated as a training-focused satellite rather than a full resident producing company, offering courses across improv, sketch, musical comedy, writing, and stand-up in a 49-seat theatre.
Miles Stroth Founds the Miles Stroth Workshop in Los Angeles
Miles Stroth, a former student of Del Close who had taught at iO West, founded the Miles Stroth Workshop in Los Angeles in 2007. The organisation began as a teaching enterprise and grew into a performing venue; it rebranded as The Pack Theater in 2015 with five named co-founders.
Finest City Improv Founded in San Diego
Amy Lisewski founded Finest City Improv in September 2012 to provide San Diego with a dedicated long-form improv performance and training space, beginning with classes at the Ocean Beach Playhouse.
Moment Improv Theatre Founded in San Francisco
Marcus Sams founded Moment Improv Theatre in San Francisco in 2014 at 533 Sutter St, establishing one of the first African American-owned improv theatres and training centers in the United States. The organization operates in the San Francisco Harold tradition with an emphasis on authenticity and inclusive community-building.
Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre Opens a Second Los Angeles Venue on Sunset Boulevard
In 2014, the Upright Citizens Brigade opened a second Los Angeles location at 5419 Sunset Boulevard, a larger facility incorporating a theatre, training centre, production offices, and a performance space called the Inner Sanctum. The Sunset Boulevard venue significantly expanded UCB's West Coast capacity and represented the organisation's peak physical footprint before the pandemic. The Sunset location was sold in December 2020 during the COVID-19 shutdown.
iO West Closes Permanently in Los Angeles After Twenty-One Years in Hollywood
On February 24, 2018, iO West closed permanently at 6366 Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, ending twenty-one years of West Coast operations. iO West had been founded in 1997 by former iO Chicago student Paul Vaillancourt and grew into one of the most prominent improv training venues in Los Angeles, training thousands of performers over its two decades. The closure consolidated iO Theater's operations entirely to Chicago after years of bicoastal presence.
Mockingbird Improv Founded in San Diego
Mockingbird Improv was founded in San Diego, California in 2021 as a nonprofit, continuing the improv community of Old Town Improv Company following that organization's closure in 2020.
Second City Hollywood Closes After 17 Years
Second City Hollywood closed in October 2022 after seventeen years at 6560 Hollywood Boulevard. In June 2023, The Second City announced it would no longer pursue a brick-and-mortar Los Angeles space.
Includes moments from child regions. View full timeline →
How to Reference This Page
The Improv Archive. (2026). California. Retrieved March 17, 2026, from https://improvarchive.org/locales/north-america/united-states/california
The Improv Archive. "California." The Improv Archive, 2026. https://improvarchive.org/locales/north-america/united-states/california.
The Improv Archive. "California." The Improv Archive, 2026, https://improvarchive.org/locales/north-america/united-states/california. Accessed March 17, 2026.
The Improv Archive is a systemically maintained repository. The archive itself acts as the corporate author.