The Second International Improv Festival Tilt

3…2…1… Welcome to The Second International Improv Festival Tilt!

We kick off the festival with a fast paced Trailer Show that showcases the performing teams and shows you, the audience, what to expect from their individual shows.

Each team will have a small amount of stage time to introduce themselves, their style of improvisation and do whatever they wish (although we strongly advise them to perform with improv) to get you to come to their show.

This is a great opportunity to get acquainted with improv, Tilt, the teams and different modes of improvisation that you can expect from this years festival.

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The following artists will be performing in the Trailer Show:

Ruutu10 (EST), IMP (FIN), Anne & Frank (from C3467X) (UK), Improgrupp Jaa! (EST), Teatribù (IT), Improteater IMPEERIUM (EST) and Mischler & More (NL).

Ruutu 10 (EST)

Meanwhile

Laughter is liberating.

“Meanwhile” combines the free-flowing feel of long-form with the fast pace and frequent audience suggestions of short-form games. It is a series of scenes punctuated with the word “meanwhile” soliciting the audience for a new setting for the next scene. Running at 25 minutes “Meanwhile” is a thrill ride that keeps the audience engaged by placing them in the director’s seat of the action.

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Ruutu10 unites 10 people from different walks of life who have in common one dream: to do improv at a professional level. Founded in 2013 (and named then Improkraatia) they’ve built up a loyal fan base by performing regular shows in Tallinn and Tartu. They also teach improv classes and travel throughout Estonia performing and teaching improv-related workshops.

Their desire to constantly hone their skills has driven them to learn from instructors outside of Estonia and many of them have trained at the prestigious iO Theater in Chicago.

They perform both long-form and short-form improvisational shows, always driven by their creed: laughter is liberating.

ruutu10.ee
facebook.com/ruutu10

IMP (FIN)

Humanimals

Animal instincts + human nature = a juicy set-up for drama and comedy!

What would an anaconda think of a polar bear if they ever met? What happens when a butterfly falls in love?

According to the ancient legends, we each have an animal spirit inside of us. What if these animal characters started showing through in our everyday lives and relationships? IMP improvises stories about people who are just like you and me – except that, under the surface, they’re more than just human…

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The four stunning Finnish girls, who, by the way, are part of the only Swedish-speaking, non-professional improv team in Finland, bring you an amazing spectacle run on girl power from over the sea. They have improvised together for over two years and love impro. IMP is specialising in long-form drama, experimenting with different styles and techniques. At Tilt they situate their protagonists based on animal characteristics in human conditions and problems. Come and see how it all works out!

facebook.com/IMP.studentteatern
impstudentteatern.wordpress.com

Anne & Frank (from C3467X) (UK)

Anne & Frank: Base Reality

Good improv, great laughs, no gimmicks.

Anne & Frank take your one word suggestion and use the ideas it inspires in them to create a series of base realities from which to develop and explore worlds before organically discovering how these worlds and ideas combine in a unique and unexpected climax. It’ll be fast-paced, slow-paced and varying other paces at varying other points. You’ll laugh. You may cry, but that’s less likely. There’s a possibility for anger, we’ll have to see. Oh, and boredom. Just kidding, there’ll be none of that.

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International improv troupe C3467X took the loudest member of the team plus the guy who never speaks and made them into two-person improv powerhouse Anne & Frank. Anne & Frank regularly perform all over their home city of London and are known for their two-person Harolds and Monoscenes. 2014 has also seen them perform in New York City at the Del Close Marathon, at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the Finland International Improv Festival.

Anne & Frank, also known as Carleen Macdermid and Shem Pennant, are both hugely flattered and excited to be performing at the Second Improv Festival Tilt.

c3something.com/anne-and-frank

Improgrupp Jaa! (EST)

La vida agitada

The slap was for leaving me to raise Karl alone… the kiss was for coming back.

Improgrupp Jaa! welcomes you to their new improv format „La vida agitada“, which is inspired by undying telenovelas like „The Wild Rose“, „The Bold and the Beautiful“, „Dallas“, „Õnne 13“, „Esmeralda“ and so many more. Unbelievable and unexpected stories unfold before your eyes that tell about all that is human – love, greed, kindness, despair and of course desire. What throws fate, or is it chance, on the walks of our protagonists and how can they manage all that? Be there to witness the turns of their passionate lives!

In the roles of their own lives: Alejandra, Jorge, Jesus, Antonella, Inés, Gabriel, Carmen, Isabel, Penelope, Pablo and others.

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Improgrupp Jaa! consists of young amateur actors with different backgrounds, who are interested in exploring the theater world without rules, where everything is created here and now – in the form of improvisation. They have been together since 2009 and performed in different places around Estonia and abroad. They are constantly seeking for possibilities to develop themselves and improv scene in Estonia further.

facebook.com/jaaimproteater

Senja Meriläinen (FIN)

Going So-Low

10 people in one body – at least!

One woman. One stage. One emotion that is common to all of us.

Or at least we have a friend to whom something like that has happened and it was so bad, you know…

Or a friend of a friend…

You know…

Join Senja on an unexpected journey towards an inevitable disaster – and enjoy the ride!

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Senja Meriläinen is an improviser with a big mouth and an even bigger heart.

She started improvising in 2003 in a young, eager and wild troupe somewhere in the deep forests of northern Finland.

Since those times she’s received her training at the Loose Moose Theatre in Calgary, Canada and the IO theatre in Chicago, USA – and on many stages big and small.

In her work she’s combining different approaches and philosophies to reach the ultimate goal of being a funny, sensitive, dramatic, good-hearted stubborn lovable jerk – on stage and off.

You can see her perform in Finland with JadaJada Improv, Tampereen Improvisaatioteatteri Snorkkeli – and in your town if you invite her.

senjamerilainen.wordpress.com

Teatribù (ITA)

Stereotypes

Every city has its stereotypes: what about yours?

One stage, three actors, three stories.

In the sometimes provocative show each character is the protagonist of one story. Each character is a stereotype of the city they are playing in. On the stage of Tilt you are presented with stereotypical people of Tallinn.

The three stories are spoken in three different languages: one is in italian, one in english and one in the language of the country that hosts us (in Tallinn it will be almost silent…)

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Teatribù is the biggest and longest running improv company in Milano (1991), which has a large improv school and more than 150 people between students, amateurs and professionals. They have attended many improv festivals such as Chicago, Würzburg, Atlanta, Edmonton, Seattle, Tampere, Berlin.

As italians they love to work on body language and mimic. In Italy they talk with hands!

teatribu.it
facebook.com/teatribu

Garwood and Keates (UK)

Garwood & Keates

Two chairs, two performers and one word.

The production of ‘Garwood and Keates’ is an hour show that explores people.

Garwood and Keates set out to base their characters in reality, the intricate nuances, the varied rhythms and the relationships. It is strongly focused on relationships. They create an array of characters, relationships and stories in front of your eyes to pleasure and humour the watchers.

This mindful and slow-paced theatrical experience churns some reality and coaxes honesty. It seeks longer scenes over quick laughs and short scenes. As actors they wish to meet their creations and stay with them until they think they don’t need them anymore.

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Two actors that found improvising better. Two strong individuals that came to combine their desires in improv, which aligned without even knowing the prior knowledge.

Nathan Keates is a teacher that has been running workshops for people all around the world and performed in cities like USA; Belgium; Turkey; Germany; UK and many more.

Lindsey Garwood is a wonderful improviser that has been performing for a long time and initiated a new community in Cambridge, UK.

Their focus is to explore and discover. Together, they do various shows and work on their professional improvisation.

NB! Due to unexpected happenings (or as improvisers would say – tilts), Lindsey Garwood will not be able to make it to Estonia this time. Her place will be taken instead by a very multitalented improviser Rama Nicholas from Australia! You can find out more about her on this page under section workshops.

tinyurl.com/improvbristol

Imperium Improv Theatre (EST)

Getting in Touch

The power of imagination!

A long-form show where four actors form a complete narrative.

The story takes off as the four meet each other and we learn about their characters’ relationships. At first one improviser is chosen and lets the audience dress him/her up. This gives us the lead for our story. Who is he/she? Why is he/she dressed like this? What makes him/her happy? Who are the people around him/her? What crazy adventures and touching scenes does he/she takes us to – these (and more) are the questions improvisers try to answer as they go along with the story and discover the unknown.

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The Imperium Improv Theatre was formed in 2014. However, the group itself goes back a long way and has improvised together since 2009, when first met as part of the first professional improv group in Estonia.

They perform both long-form and short-form improv, do corporate gigs, organise workshops, perform at private shows at different events and venues: as long as it’s improv – they love it!

As improv is rather new to Estonia, Imperium considers it to be their mission to introduce this exciting form of theatre in their neck of the woods. They enjoy performing improv and watching it conquer the hearts of the audience!

All the members in their group are professional actors. In addition to Imperium they work as freelancers in different theatre, television and movie projects. Some of them are involved in drama troupes of Estonian theatres. The improv troupe also includes three talented musicians and two amazing theatre lighting designers, who help on the mission to spread the love for improv in Estonia.

improimpeerium.ee
facebook.com/improimpeerium

Improvisaatioteatteri JOO! (FIN)

Murder Mystery

Someone will die – you decide who!

„Murder mystery“ is a long form show that brings to the audience many interesting and somewhat suspicious characters.

As it is common to murder mysteries, the lives of these people will intertwine and eventually it gets to a point when someone gets murdered. Who is who? Who is the poor victim and who is the murderer? This is up to the audience to decide!

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JOO! has been together for 15 years. By devoting to the group and performing well together they hope to stay together for some 50 years more! As improv groups tend to be, they are a family of different people sharing love for improv and for each other. JOO! has done a lot of musical improv and will keep doing that also in the future. They are one of a kind and proud of it!

joo.fi
facebook.com/pages/Improvisaatioteatteri-JOO

Mischler and More (NL)

002

Two actors, one story, no script.

Mischler & More is a two person improv team that specializes in improvised genres. Taking just one or two suggestions from the audience as inspiration, Mischler & More will create a fully improvised story for your entertainment.

Each genre is presented with attention to the character, story, language and themes of that genre. In “002” Mischler & More recreate the world of that most sophisticated of spies, James Bond. With villains, gadgets, girls, stunts and martinis that are shaken not stirred.

As ever they pay close attention to the genre and the world it creates. So join the adventure!

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Peter More and Nicole Mischler have been improvising together for more than 15 years in Amsterdam, Zurich and Edinburgh. They have been performing their duo show for two years and played in many theaters in Amsterdam and the Netherlands. They have been presented at the Chicago Improv Festival and the Slapdash Festival in London.

Peter More has been improvising for nearly 20 years. He started in London and soon found himself in Amsterdam. Here he performs and teaches regularly with Easylaughs, Dizzy and the Pit Kittens, duo Mischler and More, and on his own. He has performed in festivals in London, Scotland, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Finland and Chicago.

Nicole Mischler comes from Washington D.C. and studied improv in Chicago. She is a founding member of Easylaughs and performed with Problem Solved and Blind Date in Amsterdam. She is Capricorn and left-handed. She teaches and performs improvisation all over the Netherlands. She has directed and performed in Washington D.C., Chicago, Amsterdam and Edinburgh.

facebook.com/MischlerMore

Adam and Emily (USA)

At the Movies

Your favorite movies the way we remember them!

Based on the plot description of a movie provided by an audience member, Adam and Emily turn that chosen film into a vaguely remembered improvised show.

Weaving in and out of scenes and playing a variety of characters, Adam and Emily provide the audience with a crazy cinematic experience…on the stage!

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Adam and Emily are two veteran improvisors from New York City that have been working together as a comedy team since 2007. They first met in an improv 101 class at the Upright Citizens Brigade and have been inseparable ever since. Much like Nicholas & May and Burns & Allen, Adam & Emily bring that old school comedy style with a dash hip and hilarious weirdness.

Adam Taylor started improvising in 2005 in order to get over a bad breakup. He began studying simultaneously at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater and the Magnet Theater where many prominent teachers worked through his many problems.

Emily Bryan is a New York based comedian, photographer, and burlesque performer. As a comedian, she has been performing stand up, sketch, and improv for over ten years in Dublin, Boston, and New York. She has written for and performed in over a hundred shows.

Carleen Macdermid (UK)

The One Act

Slice of life improv entirely set in one location. The improvisers invest in their characters, each other and the location, creating a grounded, relationship based scene, which they can then use as a jumping off point to investigate the fun and humour to be found in this world, and only this world, which they have created. With no sweeps or tag outs to save you it’s longform improv without the safety net.

Meant for – improvisers with stage experience.

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Improvising for 18 years and teaching for almost as long Carleen Macdermid is a London based Australian who is passionate about improv, cricket and cheese. As part of C3Something Carleen runs a series of improv nights around London and teaches in affiliation with the Nursery Theatre. She trained at UCB in New York but has taken a variety of classes and courses with teachers and schools in the US, Europe, the UK and Australia.

Rahvaülikooli teatrikeskus, second floor hall.
Workshop fee: 16€. Booking: [email protected]

Fabio Maccioni (ITA)

Choir Improvisation

A deep experience of listening, connection and playfulness.

Two years ago, after 10 years of improv theater, I had the chance to meet vocal improvisation; it was an experience of pure joy and energy, and soon I fell in love with this art form. I don’t feel like I’m cheating my love (improv theater), actually I do feel like having found a new side of the soul of the love of my life! Because vocal improv is made of listening, connection and making your partner look good. And it’s made of joy and play! I also may definitely say that vocal improv is making me a better and humbler improvisor. In this workshop I will propose a taste of the work I’m still doing with Oskar Boldre, a disciple of Bobby McFerrin.
Exercices and games of group listening, feeling free, singing together like a vocal jazz band and singing in duo as two bodies in resonance.
Then we’ll play improv scenes inspired by our work.

Meant for – everybody!

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Fabio Maccioni is an improviser from Milan and been part of Teatribù since 2003. He is honored to have become a teacher in 2008. Since then he has taught impro magic in Italy but as well in France, Switzerland, Germany, and during international festivals (Nancy, Strasbourg, Geneva, Würzburg).

He has studied improv in Milan (and keeps on studying!), in Spain (Valencia), in Seattle (with Randy Dixon), in Edmonton and recently he graduated from iO-Chicago (2014 Summer Intensive).
He likes commedia dell’arte, he likes physical theater, he likes clown. He dances. He sings. And these art forms are very enriching for him as an improviser.

Rahvaülikooli teatrikeskus, third floor hall.
Workshop fee: 16€. Booking: [email protected]

Senja Meriläinen (FIN)

Feel It

Emotions live in our bodies. We carry them with us in the way we stand, walk, breathe and talk.

In “Feel it” we will take emotion in improvisation to the basic physical level, which will help you maintain a good kind of tension with your partners on stage, make your characters more alive and more interesting both to the audience and you, and actually will make improvising a lot easier!

Whether it’s a fun, witty scene you want to create or the dramatic moment that everybody in the audience will remember for the rest of their lives, taking it to the level of physical reactions will give you new tools.

“Feel it” is a good place to be, whether you have a lot or very little experience in improvisation, since we’ll all face challenges of our own during the work – and feel good.

Meant for – everybody!

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Senja is an improviser with a big mouth and an even bigger heart.

She started improvising in 2003 in a young, eager and wild troupe somewhere in the deep forests of northern Finland. Since those times she’s received her training at the Loose Moose Theatre in Calgary, Canada and the IO theatre in Chicago, USA – and on many stages big and small.

In her work she’s combining different approaches and philosophies to reach the ultimate goal of being a funny, sensitive, dramatic, good-hearted stubborn lovable jerk – on stage and off.
As a teacher she is very sensitive when needed, but charge a massive energy load to my groups when needed.

Rahvaülikooli teatrikeskus, second floor hall.
Workshop fee: 16€. Booking: [email protected]

Nathan Keates (UK)

Chaos and Freedom in Improvisation

Chaos and Freedom in Improvisation – Time to vamp up the anarchy, destruction and chaos. In the workshop, the exploration will focus on play and game. The concepts involved in how improvisers work together for the purpose of the unknown and unforeseen. We will rally the mess and incohesion to drive forth the artistry and beauteous harmony. Exploring chaos and breaking rules from the point of view of games and design; we will enhance the performance of the players to play. Creating through playfulness has always been my focus and now is the time to express yourself through it too.

Meant for – improvisers with stage experience.

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Keates, Nathan is an improvisation facilitator and a performing arts teacher, only a distinction on subject. Keates, Nathan, also is a improviser and clown. He is so addicted to improv, impro, improvisation that he researches the topic. Therefore, he is a teacher, improviser, clown and researcher. Keates has been teaching improv for eight years and developed his theories, focus points and knowledge-base.

Rahvaülikooli teatrikeskus, third floor hall.
Workshop fee: 16€. Booking: [email protected]

Rama Nicholas (AU)

Close To You

[This workshop is sold out]

I created this workshop because I felt like there was a need for the exploration of this work after seeing so many scenes wimped out on when it came to performer commitment to love scene. The workshop is designed to help improvisers explore their fears around intimacy on stage, practice their acting skills when it comes to love scene’s, build trust and break down barriers with an ensemble and impro partners. I ask improvisers to share their fears around performing intimate scenes and I challenge them to separate themselves from their character to be able to fulfil their characters journey.

Performing love scenes is a skill like any other that can be learned, it just takes trust, bravery, honesty, a willingness to be vulnerable and a willingness to take risks that perhaps you have never taken before.

Meant for – improvisers with stage experience.

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Rama Nicholas is an actor and improviser with more than 20 years experience in the industry. Residing in Melbourne, Rama has been a member of Impro Melbourne’s Ensemble cast for over 13 years where she has performed, produced and directed many productions. She is the creator and director of the higly acclaimed show ‘The Wishing Tree’ and an award winning one-woman Grimm fairytale musical ‘After Ever After’. In January 2013 she returned from a European tour where she showcased her most recent improvised creation ‘Close to you’.

Rama has a strong commitment to her craft, her goal is to inspire, challenge and entertain her audience. Rama’s curiosity and creativeness leads her to pushing the boundaries, to create new and interesting work as an actor, improviser, teacher, comedian and storyteller.

For more info on Rama, visit ramanicholas.com.

Tallinn Secondary Science School (Estonia pst. 6), black-box. Gathering in front of the Tallinn Secondary Science School at 10.45.
Workshop fee: 20€. Booking: [email protected]

Peter More (NL)

Genres

Through movies, television and books, we’ve all had a lot of exposure to genres. Often we know more than we think, and as a group we usually know more than enough. This workshop not only explores the genres that you find difficult but also shows that genres are not something to be scared of, but to be embraced as a method of creating scenes and stories that are in a world that is instantly recognisable to the audience. Never again be stumped by the smart-arse in the audience calling out something he’s never seen himself.

Level of difficulty – for everybody!

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Peter has been involved with improv for coming up to 20 years. Originally from the UK, he currently lives in Amsterdam. He performs regularly with easylaughs, Mischler and More, Dizzy and the Pit Kittens, and on his own. He believes that doing is the best way to learn. He especially likes to teach about improvising in movie genres and telling stories without really trying to tell stories.

Rahvaülikooli teatrikeskus, third floor hall
Workshop fee: 16€. Booking: [email protected]