Another year… and another festival in the books; and what a festival it was! Once again, teams from all over the country and Canada graced us with their presence and showed off their talent on the stage. Last year I started the journal entry with “My improv world exploded over the span of 4 short days.” I relived that moment this year, but with a little more experience to back it up. That doesn’t mean that year wasn’t any less inspirational and motivating to pursue honing this craft.

The 4^th Annual San Diego Improv Festival had its fair share of memorable moments. Mainstays such as Red Door, Jetzo, Regicide, Nox, Shades of Grey, and Mail Order Bride showed why they have been so consistent in their attendance of the festival.  Teams like Robot Teammate and the Accidental Party, Red Pill Players, Fancy Boys, and Bush League returned to the festival to further establish their presence in San Diego. We also had a couple of local teams take the stage to show us what San Diego has to offer and a couple of FCI teams did the same as well.

I am in no way a well versed journal/blog writer, but I do enjoy writing about moments like these. Each year, as I learn more about improve, I hope to get better in my explanations of what I enjoyed from the teams that perform. I think it is also important to do my best to convey the emotions I felt through each set as improv can be more than just comedy. I believe that improv can move you into any sort of emotion throughout the spectrum. As an audience member, I love it when you play with my emotions. As a performer, I know I have done it as well.

Anyway, let’s get started!

Pearl could not have started out the festival any better. This team had unique and impactful characters, all of whom and incredible relationships with each other. Ounce of Behavior showed a real, grounded scene full of characters that were completely believable. As an audience, we were truly given the impression of visiting a moment in a day in the life of these characters. Going into the festival, I was extremely excited to see Euro Trash and was not disappointed. The duo was truly discovering the things going on in the set at the same time the audience was. It didn’t hurt they had some clown-like moments which I personally appreciate and I had an internal glee. When Asli somersaulted off the sidestage step, I immediately remembered when I somersaulted off of the stage.

Pockets had a set fully of silly characters and silly moves all of which delighted the crowd. In my eyes, they were a true ensemble/team of improvisers that did nothing but support each other. The callbacks were glorious as well.  If there was one singular star of the entire weekend, it was Pepita. One character, playing something like 15 other characters was as enjoyable to watch as it was exhausting (in the best way possible!). I was in a sense of wonder after that set completed.

Rhyme and Punishment, for me, stole the musical improv show for the festival. For whatever reason, “G.O.A.T. goat” got me and may be my favorite line from the entire weekend. You could tell they were having fun playing with each other, and therefore the audience was having a good time. Not to put any pressure on Jesse, but I’d anticipate them coming back sooner rather than later. MAX was certainly a delight to see as they were in complete cohesion, and were consistent and engaging. Pawn Takes Queen; where to start here? My personal SDIF Best of Fest had the most inspirational monoscene I have ever witnessed, and is arguably the best set I have ever seen. I had never experienced a set where the team had the audience in the palm of their hands as much as PTQ did. Full of honest reactions, their set took the audience an emotional roller coaster that had the biggest payoff at the end. For the first time in my improv life, I witnessed the entire audience erupted thunderously to the culmination of the main “plot point” of the set. Truly beautiful.

Black Don’t Crack were just a ball of energy and fun. To start out a set with “What’s a question you’ve just been dying to ask a black person?” was charming; it captured the audience and they kept us along for the ride. Limboland was certainly a treat; solo musical improv. I really enjoyed the opening monologue. Once he got going into the set, he established characters within the scene that never left your mind which I found quite impressive.

Also, I can’t forget about the Single Riders. Shout out to those that took a chance in coming to the festival by themselves and be grouped into a team to perform in the span of a few short days. As an audience member, you would think the group had been together for months; well done!

“Improv Christmas” still happens once a year for me. This time last year, I declared intentions to try and be a performer at a festival at some point in the near future. Unfortunately, that has yet to come to fruition. This past weekend certainly renewed that vigor to get it done. This weekend also showed how hard work and dedication can create amazing memories for improvisers and audience members alike.

Thank you, Amy for creating a fine establishment to house moments like these.  Thank you to Kat, Jesse, Taylor and all the volunteers who put in their time and effort to run a smooth festival. Your hard work and dedication made an impact on the first-time festival goers, both audience and performers alike, and did not go unnoticed. I consistently overheard people stating that this was one of their favorite, if not their favorite, festival to go to.

Can the festival be bigger and better next year? I challenge FCI to do just that! Who knows? Maybe my team will be in it next year as well….

Until Next Year,

Michael Romero

Guest Team Liaison