Greater Manchester Improv Festival Archives

7Jun

By Codie WrightNo Comments

North West

Ladies Who Improv – The King’s Arms

This weekend (6th - 8th June) marks the very first Greater Manchester Improv Festival, running at the Kings Arms, Salford. To open up the weekend of improv shows and workshops was the wonderful Ladies Who Improv, an all-female troupe consisting of Millie Thorne, Ieva Bockute-Losjuk, Ursy Ambrose-Simpson and Ocean Cohen. This was a short-form game-based show, which included many improv favourites such as Pillars, Four Corners and New Choice, as well as their own creation Father Tom. The group were genuinely a joy to watch and worked well together and were very quick-witted even during a game of pillars with an audience member who seemed only to have one thing on his mind… As anyone who has played the game with an audience pillar will know, a lot rests on the suggestions they give you. Fo...

Totally Improvised Musical – Greggs: The Great Takedown – King’s Arms, Salford

Performed without a script and built entirely on audience suggestion, Totally Improvised Musical at the King’s Arms in Salford delivered an inventive and riotously funny 45-minute whirlwind of spontaneous storytelling, songs, and surreal humour. The night’s improvised show—brilliantly titled Greggs: The Great Takedown—centred around a dystopian northern England where the beloved high street bakery chain had collapsed, leaving the nation starved of sausage rolls, steak bakes, and purpose. What unfolded was a musical odyssey of longing, resistance, and puff pastry politics. Original numbers like the haunting The North Is Barren and the stirring anthem The Heart of England showcased the cast’s quick wit and vocal chops. Each song, conjured on the spot, was surprisingly tuneful, cleverly...

The Greater Manchester Improv Festival 2025

The first Greater Manchester Improv Festival will showcase the best of the region’s growing improv comedy and theatre scene. The festival will take place at the award-winning Kings Arms, Salford 6th-8th June 2025. With sixteen shows and four workshops (including a taster session for anyone wanting to try improv themselves) there's something for everyone. Tickets for all events just £5. "We have everything from improvised murder mysteries to musicals, showcasing new teams and seasoned festival acts," says Greater Manchester Improv Festival organiser Bron Edge, who also runs the award-winning Totally Improvised Company. "The Manchester Improv scene has exploded in the last few years so we decided it was time to bring together as many acts as we could fit into a weekend stuffed full of tal...