“Improv is a lot like music in that it has a billion different styles,” says Instant Theatre creative director Alistair Cook. “We tend to focus on theatrical styles of improv — an ensemble-based, kind of psychedelic, crazy-artistic style — versus stand-up, although we do teach that as well.”
Founded in 1994, Instant Theatre has been offering improv workshops for over 20 years. Some of its more famous alumni include Seth Rogen, Ryan Reynolds and Tatiana Maslany. “People believe that to learn comedy and improv you need to go to New York or LA, but we employ the same techniques here,” says Alistair.
Not everyone who signs up is a professional, or even a performer. Vancouver is a hub for film, animation and video game production, and Instant Theatre helps “tons” of people in these creative industries — as well as those who just want to boost their confidence — enjoy the benefits of learned spontaneity. Animation giant Pixar has a full-time improv instructor, Alistair notes, and the director of the My Little Pony series sends her animators to Instant Theatre “to learn narrative in three dimensions.”
