The Magnet Theater 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 ...

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

and improv school 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 ...

. The Magnet Theater was founded in March 2005 by Armando Diaz, Ed Herbstman and Shannon Manning. Diaz, Manning and Herbstman were friends from

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, where they studied under improv guru

Del Close Del Close (March 9, 1934 – March 4, 1999) was an American actor, writer, and teacher who coached many of the best-known comedians and comic actors of the late twentieth century. In addition to an acting career in television and film, he was ...

at Improv Olympic. Diaz also co-founded the

Peoples Improv Theater The Peoples Improv Theater (PIT), also known as the PIT, is a comedy theater and training center in New York City, founded by comedian Ali Farahnakian in 2002. Shows combine improvisational comedy, sketch comedy, stand-up, theater, and variety. Ea ...

(PIT), where Herbstman taught. Armando Diaz and Sean Taylor currently own and operate Magnet Theater. The Magnet offers performance and writing classes to people of all experience levels. The Magnet is also home to the

New York Musical Improv Festival The 'New York Musical Improv Festival'' (NYMIF) is a four-day festival held every year at the Magnet Theater in New York City. Founded in 2009 by T.J. Mannix and producers Robin Rothman, Melanie Girton, and Mary Archbold, NYMIF celebrates a form o ...

founded by T.J. Mannix and Co-Produced by Robin Rothman. Celebrating its 11th annual event virtually in July 2020, NYMIF brings together hundreds of musical improvisors and musicians from Austin to Boston, Chicago to L.A., Toronto to Vancouver and beyond. Performers have included Baby Wants Candy, Broadway's

Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson ''Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson'' is a rock musical with music and lyrics written by Michael Friedman and a book written by its director Alex Timbers. The show is a comedic historical rock musical about the founding of the Democratic Party. It r ...

The Improvised Sondheim Project ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

, members of Freestyle Love Supreme and North Coast. Many Magnet instructors and performers write and lend their voices to ''The Truth''.

References

External links

Magnet Theater
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See also

References

External links