Improv Asylum is an

improvisational comedy Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted: created spontaneously by the performers. In its purest form, the dialogue, a ...

theater in the North End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts,

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The theatre was founded in 1998 by Paul D'Amato, Norm Laviolette, and Chet Harding. The theater produces multiple shows per week including its critically acclaimed

mainstage MainStage is a music application developed by Apple Inc. designed for use in live performance. Features MainStage might be thought of as a companion app to Logic Pro. It works in much the same way and bears a similar user interface. The focu ...

show. The mainstage show is a blend of both

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is ...

and

improvised Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

scenes.

History

In December, Improv Asylum hosts "No Rest for the Wicked Funny," a 24-hour charity show for Globe Santa, a fund to purchase holiday gifts for underprivileged children. In the spring of 2010, Improv Asylum produced "You're a Good Man, Scott Brown," an original musical satirizing the

United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, 2010 The 2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts was a special election held on January 19, 2010, in order to fill the Massachusetts Class I United States Senate seat for the remainder of the term ending January 3, 2013. It was ...

. Written and directed by Jeremy Brothers, the show garnered the attention of Senator

Scott Brown Scott Brown may refer to: Sportsmen *Scott Brown (American football), American college football coach of Kentucky State * Scott Brown (baseball) (born 1956), former Major League Baseball pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds *Scott Brown (footballer, bor ...

and his wife, WCVB reporter Gail Huff who both attended the performance on March 31, 2010. In addition to the theater in the North End, the Improv Asylum has also held shows in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. In 2021, Improv Asylum added a New York expansion under the name Asylum NYC. New York facilities are at the former

Upright Citizens Brigade The Upright Citizens Brigade is an improvisational and sketch comedy group that emerged from Chicago's ImprovOlympic in 1990. The original incarnation of the group consisted of Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts, Matt Walsh, Adam McKay, Ri ...

Chelsea Space on Manhattan's west side. The Asylum also offers a training center where students can learn the art of improvisation.

References

External links

Official websiteThe Improv Asylum North End
{{Boston theatres 1998 establishments in Massachusetts Comedy clubs in the United States North End, Boston Theatres in Boston