The Court Jesters is a professional improv company founded in 1989 and based in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, New Zealand. It is a subsidiary of the Court Theatre professional theatre company, acting as a second company within the theatre. The group provide entertainment for corporate and private clients, run weekly community improv workshops and an annual

Theatresports Theatresports is a form of improvisational theatre, which uses the format of a competition for dramatic effect. Opposing teams can perform scenes based on audience suggestions, with ratings by the audience or by a panel of judges. Developed by di ...

competition for high schools, as well as performing their own weekly or twice-weekly

improv 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 ...

show, ''Scared Scriptless''.

History

Origins

Theatresports at The Court Theatre began in 1987 under the direction of Bryan Aitken and Judie Douglass. This was largely due to the upswing in popularity of improvised theatre internationally and the desire to introduce it to a New Zealand audience. The popularity of the style led to the formation of a permanent improvisational wing of The Court Theatre under the moniker "The Court Jesters" in late 1989. In 1990 the Court Jesters manager Michael Robinson (working alongside Jim McLarty and

Lori Dungey Lori Dungey (born 1957) is a New Zealand actress. Dungey was born in Canada and came to New Zealand when she performed in an arts festival during the Commonwealth Games in Auckland in 1990. Dungey subsequently became the artistic director of the ...

) began a late-night improvised comedy show titled ''Scared Scriptless'' at The Court Theatre. Scared Scriptless still runs to this day, and as such is the longest-running (and continuously running) show in New Zealand. Original members of the company were John Hudson, Patrick Duffy, Geoff Dolan, KC Kelly, Greg Cooper, Ross Gumbley,

Cal Wilson Cal Wilson (born 5 October 1970) is a New Zealand stand-up comedian, author, radio and television presenter. Early life After attending high school in Christchurch, New Zealand, Wilson completed a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Canterbu ...

, Simon Peacock, Susan Fogarty, Matthew Gould,

Kevin Smith Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American filmmaker, actor, comedian, comic book writer, author, YouTuber, and podcaster. He came to prominence with the low-budget comedy buddy film ''Clerks'' (1994), which he wrote, directed, co ...

, Craig Cooper,

Carl Nixon Carl Nixon (born 1967) is a New Zealand novelist, short story writer and playwright. He has written four novels and a number of original plays which have been performed throughout New Zealand, as well as adapting both Lloyd Jones' novel ''The ...

, Andie Spargo, Paul Letham, and Michael Robinson.

1990s

During the rest of the 1990s, though some members left for television and film work in Auckland and overseas, the Jesters expanded their repertoire with corporate entertainment and teaching improv/theatresports to high schools (as part of the "Theatresports in Schools" programme) and community improvisation classes. The Jesters also had considerable success with dinner theatre including a show at Mona Vale called ''The Wedding''. In 1994 The Court Jesters sent a team of improvisors to the World Theatresports Championships in

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' ...

. Teams from the UK,

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Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

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America 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 ...

, New Zealand,

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and other countries competed. New Zealand's team, comprising Simon Peacock,

, Susan Fogarty and Greg Cooper, won the competition. The late 90s saw the company push the boundaries of improvisational practice through script-based improv works such as ''I Spy'', ''The X-Philes'', ''Blood'', and ''Doctor Pussy Finger Says No To Tomorrow''. The company's first fully scripted work was ''The Complete History of New Zealand (Abridged)'', first presented in Christchurch in 1998. Their only other fully scripted play was ''A Fistful of Dolores'' which premièred in 2002. ''The Complete History of New Zealand (Abridged)'' continues to be presented throughout the country, most recently performed in

Hagley Park, Christchurch Hagley Park is the largest urban open space (164.637 hectares)Ross Gumbley (another original Court Jester who had moved to

Centrepoint Theatre Centrepoint Theatre is a theatre and theatre company in Palmerston North in New Zealand. Established in 1973, the theatre has employed more than 2500 actors and produced more New Zealand plays than any other theatre. History The theatre open ...

in the mid 90s, and then returned to take the position of Associate Artistic Director of The Court Theatre in 2000) took a much more active role in the performance side of the company. At the beginning of 2006 the Court Jesters enjoyed a marked surge in numbers at Scared Scriptless (coupled with a change of the start time to 10pm) and continued to build audiences, often moving the show to the larger Court One venue to accommodate ticket sales. Ross Gumbley was appointed Artistic Director of the Court Theatre in March 2006, effectively securing the company's position. In May 2006 the company received improvisation tutelage from

Keith Johnstone Keith Johnstone (born February 21, 1933) is a British and Canadian pioneer of improvisational theatre, best known for inventing the ''Impro System'', part of which are the Theatresports. He is also an educator, playwright, actor and theatre direct ...

to couple the rise in financial success with increased artistic standards. Scared Scriptless ended its 2006 season having set a new record for box office sales. In 2007, as part of the launch of The Court Theatre's "Forge" programme, the Jesters presented several limited season shows exploring new concepts, such as themed shows or "long-form" narrative structures. The shows included ''The Early Early Late Show'' (family-friendlyshort-form improv), ''Radio Ha Ha'' (a themed show set in the

golden age of radio The Golden Age of Radio, also known as the old-time radio (OTR) era, was an era of radio in the United States where it was the dominant electronic home entertainment, entertainment medium. It began with the birth of commercial radio broadcastin ...

), ''Chatterbox'' (a comedic form of

playback theatre Playback Theatre is an original form of improvisational theatre in which audience or group members tell stories from their lives and watch them enacted on the spot. History The first Playback Theatre company was founded in 1975 by Jonathan Fox and ...

with local celebrities) and ''A Very Merry Scriptless'' (a Christmas-themed show for family audiences). As a part of the 2008 Forge season, the Jesters staged ''Pulp William'' (a long-form mash-up of the Shakespeare and Tarantino genres), "Scriptless Uncut" (an

Oscars The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

-themed improv show) and a return season of ''A Very Merry Scriptless'', this time as a partially-scripted/partially improvised retelling of Dickens' ''

A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. ''A Christmas C ...

''; in 2009 the show similarly tackled the nativity and the

Magi Magi (; singular magus ; from Latin ''magus'', cf. fa, مغ ) were priests in Zoroastrianism and the earlier religions of the western Iranians. The earliest known use of the word ''magi'' is in the trilingual inscription written by Darius th ...

before returning to more short-form in 2010. ''The Early Early Late Show'' returned as part of the 2009 Forge season and annually thereafter. In 2009, due to high audience demand, a second weekly performance of ''Scared Scriptless'' was added at 10:15pm Saturdays.

2010s

A 20th anniversary "30-Hour Improvathon" was held in 2010, featuring both current and past members of the Court Jester company. In the 2010 Forge season, the Jesters presented a long-form show called ''Off The Map'', featuring interweaving narratives and characters in a fictional small New Zealand town. Following the closure of the

Christchurch Arts Centre The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora is a hub for arts, culture, education, creativity and entrepreneurship in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is located in the Gothic Revival former Canterbury College (now the University of Canterbury), Christchur ...

after the February

2011 Christchurch earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. local time (23:51 UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the entire of the Canterbury region in the South Island, centred south-east ...

, Scared Scriptless resumed performances within three weeks and performed in a variety of venues whilst The Court Theatre constructed its new venue. Companies also hired the Court Jesters directly to perform for them, for example a law firm that was based at the PGC House, one of the two large office buildings that collapsed during the February 2011 earthquake. shows were staged at 8 pm Fridays and Saturdays until The Court Theatre opened its new venue "The Shed". In 2011 The Court Jesters mounted a return season of ''A Very Merry Scriptless'' as a Christmas musical. From 10 February 2012, ''Scared Scriptless'' resumed late-night shows at 10:15pm Fridays and Saturdays in the new venue, dubbed "The Shed", in Addington. Due to the more limited space, the Jesters had less opportunities to present shows, although ''A Very Merry Scriptless'' returned annually with various themes until 2014. In 2013 Dan Bain was appointed Artistic Director of The Court Jesters, a role he held until 2020.

2020 and COVID-19

During the 2020

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, all of the Court Theatre's shows were postponed or cancelled for several months, including ''Scared Scriptless''. The Court resumed staging productions in The Shed's foyer with safety measures in place in August 2020 and on 21 September 2020 announced that the main auditorium would be reopening. For these 'foyer shows' the Jesters presented ''Scared Scriptless Attempts'': multiple long-form concepts and themed shows including

Jane Austen Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

, and a

Broadway musical Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...

. Once full lockdown restrictions were lifted, ''Scared Scriptless'' also returned with shows on Fridays at 10:15pm. On 16 October 2020 the company celebrated its 30th anniversary with a special 8pm show. In December 2020 Trubie-Dylan Smith was appointed Artistic Manager of The Court Jesters.

Scared Scriptless

The flagship Court Jesters show is ''Scared Scriptless'', a weekly short-form improvisational comedy show. The show was established in 1990 and is New Zealand's longest-running comedy show. Scared Scriptless is hosted by an MC, along with anywhere from 4 to 10 players, a muso (a musician who improvises the backing music) and at least one

technician A technician is a worker in a field of technology who is proficient in the relevant skill and technique, with a relatively practical understanding of the theoretical principles. Specialisation The term technician covers many different speciali ...

stage manager Stage management is a broad field that is generally defined as the practice of organization and coordination of an event or theatrical production. Stage management may encompass a variety of activities including the overseeing of the rehearsal p ...

(who operates the lights and sound). Players and MCs are all members of the Court Jesters and rotate frequently. The format for the show can change from week to week but is mainly focused on shortform improvisation. Formats include Micetro,

, Gorilla Theatre and themed performances, as well as variations on these and original formats devised by the Court Jesters. Scenes are based on suggestions from the audience and often challenges/rules (also called "handles" or "games") from the MC. ''Scared Scriptless'' is usually performed on the set of a current Court Theatre production, although in some cases rudimentary furniture and props may be used. Similarly, players often do not use any props or costumes, relying instead on

mime Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) is an Internet standard that extends the format of email messages to support text in character sets other than ASCII, as well as attachments of audio, video, images, and application programs. Message ...

and physicality. The usual exception is when the MC may bring along props or costumes for special scenes/games or to fit with the theme of the night. It has on occasion been performed in alternative venues when unable to use the main stage (see the history of the company).

Performers

Over the years the roster of The Jesters has changed regularly. The original members were either acting interns at The Court Theatre or were brought in through auditions and recruitment. Members often left to pursue other careers or move overseas; subsequently people from school teams, workshops or other towns were recruited into the company as "Associate" Jesters – improvisers who played Scared Scriptless semi-regularly but were not used for corporate work or permanently contracted. By the mid-1990s, many if not all of the troupe were 'second-generation' Jesters, having been coached/taught by the Court Jesters themselves and gone from Associate to Full Jestership. When the company reformed in late 2002, many of the new troupe were garnered from the University of Canterbury Comedy Club, high school teams and other entertainment groups/organisations. Over the years there have been numerous reshufflings and recruitments as the company continues to evolve. The current roster of regular performers is around 20, with auditions and recruitment of "Apprentice" Jesters biennially.

Notable alumni

* Dan Bain (artistic director) (Artistic Director of The Court Jesters 2014 – March 2020) * Kathleen Burns (actor) * Alice Canton (actor) * Craig Cooper (artistic director) (Artistic Director of the Christchurch Arts Festival 2015–17) *

Jarred Christmas Jarred Christmas (born 1980) is a comedian from New Zealand who now lives and works in the United Kingdom. He won the Chortle Comedy Award for Best Compere. Early life Christmas grew up in Christchurch. He attended an all-boys secondary sch ...

(comedian) * Gregory Cooper (playwright) * Patrick Duffy (artistic director) (Artistic Director of the Court Jesters 2002–2008) *

(actor and voice artist) * Susan Fogarty (writer, comedian and drama teacher) * Ross Gumbley (Artistic Director of the Court Theatre 2006–2019) * Javier Jarquin (comedian) * Eli Matthewson (comedian) *

(playwright/novelist) * Hamish Parkinson (comedian) * Daniel Pengelly (Artistic Director of The Court Theatre 2020–2021) * Trubie-Dylan Smith (Artistic Manager of The Court Jesters Dec 2020–) *

(actor) *

(comedian)

References

External links

The Court Jesters official websiteThe Court Theatre official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Court Jesters Improvisational troupes Culture in Christchurch