Improv Revolution presents
The Coup de Comedy Festival Performances
FREE reservations recommended as space is limited.
If the event is not filled to capacity, we will allow “walk ups” to attend the performances.
A reservation guarantees your space.
Read more about our events below.
FESTIVAL DAY 1: Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Improv Revolution & Live Nude People* (*with clothes on) (improvisation)
When: Festival Day 1: Wednesday, May 7 – 7:00 pm
Where: UC Irvine, Winifred Smith Hall
Show Info:
UC Irvine’s TWO Improv Teams (Live Nude People* [*with clothes on] & Improv Revolution) battle it out – or work together – all for your amusement to launch this EPIC COUP DE COMEDY FESTIVAL! This will be the third time in all of history that these two groups will have shared the stage together and it may be the last time – do not miss this incredible event.
LIMITED WALK-UP ADMISSIONS: A small number of seats will be available for those who were unable to reserve advance tickets online. Please arrive 15 minutes prior to the scheduled start time. In addition, any unclaimed seats at 10 minutes prior to the event will be reassigned. All available seats will be given away on a first-come, first-served basis. *
REVOLUTIONARY COMEDY AWARDS honoring Tony Hale
When: Festival Day 1: Wednesday, May 7 – 8:30 pm
Where: UC Irvine, Winifred Smith Hall
Show Info: Improv Revolution honors the revolutionary talents of comedy that have inspired them. Last year we invited Jon Lovitz to come to our festival, but due to scheduling challenges, he came to UC Irvine a bit earlier. We did enjoy a visit from the extremely funny comic Ben Gleib at our 2013 festival. This year we honor Tony Hale with the Revolutionary Comedy Award – join us in celebrating his work and hearing his thoughts on the art and craft of comedy.
Tony Hale Biography:
Known best for his role as the socially awkward ‘Buster Bluth’ on the ground-breaking, Emmy Award-winning series Arrested Development, Tony Hale has appeared in a wide variety of critically acclaimed television programs and films throughout his career. In 2013, he won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his performance as Gary Walsh in HBO’s Emmy and SAG nominated political comedy, Veep.
While Arrested Development established his comedic abilities, Hale has demonstrated his adept dramatic skills in films like Steven Soderbergh’s, The Informant, where he portrayed lawyer James Epstein, Marc Foster’s Stranger Than Fiction, and Happythankyoumoreplease, for which he received rave reviews for his role as Malin Akerman’s dopey coworker ‘Sam’. Hale’s television credits include About a Boy, Community, Justified, Chuck, The Sopranos, and Andy Barker, P.I.
Hale grew up in Tallahassee, Florida where he attended The Young Actors Theatre. He then continued on to study acting at The Barrow Group Theatre Company in New York. His big break came in 1999, when he gained recognition for his dance to “Mr. Roboto” in the popular television commercial for Volkswagen, which was later spoofed in an episode of Arrested Development.
In 2013, Hale co-starred Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy in Paul Feig’s action-comedy The Heat. The film has gone on to make over $229 million worldwide.
This August, Hale will release Archibald’s Next Big Thing, a children’s book he co-authored with Tony Biaggnee under Boxing Clever Publishing. In the book, Archibald is a newly-hatched chicken who is looking to find his place in the world.
Hale can currently be seen as Gary Walsh opposite Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Vice President Selina Meyers in season 3 of Veep which airs Sundays, at 10:00pm ET/PT on HBO.
Hale currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife and daughter.
We potentially will also have some additional special guests at this special presentation.
This event will “Sell out” reserve your FREE spot!
Screening of We Cause Scenes: The Rise of Improv Everywhere
When: Festival Day 1: Wednesday, May 7 – 10:00 pm
Where: UC Irvine, Winifred Smith Hall
Show Info: Click here!
FESTIVAL DAY 2: Thursday, May 8, 2014
TBA AWESOME SKETCH PRESENTATION (sketch)
When: Festival Day 2: Thursday, May 8 – 4:00 pm
Where: UC Irvine, The Little Theatre
Show Info:
Up and coming comedic talents from UC Irvine showcase their sketch writing abilities in this RAW sketch presentation.
LIMITED WALK-UP ADMISSIONS: A small number of seats will be available for those who were unable to reserve advance tickets online. Please arrive 15 minutes prior to the scheduled start time. In addition, any unclaimed seats at 10 minutes prior to the event will be reassigned. All available seats will be given away on a first-come, first-served basis. *
Red Door & Octavarius (improvisation)
When: Festival Day 2: Thursday, May 8 – 7:00 pm
Where: UC Irvine, The Little Theatre
Show Info:
Red Door will take you into their wheelhouse of accents, huge characters and crisp space work to show you that anything is possible behind the Red Door. Hitting the stage with high energy, power listening and seamless editing Red Door is a great example of fast and furious team work. Red Door is Justin Michael Terry and Ryan Marsico. They met at ComedySportz in Los Angeles doing short form improv and quickly clicked, going on to perform together in Drunkards & Dragons, an improvised role playing/drinking show, The Resistance, improvised action/adventure movies and Spurious Shakespeare, improvised genre and film based Shakespeare. Collectively they have trained at iO and iO West, UCB LA, Second City, Groundlings and ComedySportz.
LIMITED WALK-UP ADMISSIONS: A small number of seats will be available for those who were unable to reserve advance tickets online. Please arrive 15 minutes prior to the scheduled start time. In addition, any unclaimed seats at 10 minutes prior to the event will be reassigned. All available seats will be given away on a first-come, first-served basis. *
The Resistance (improvisation)
When: Festival Day 2: Thursday, May 8 – 8:30 pm
Where: UC Irvine, The Little Theatre
Show Info:
The Resistance is Kurt Scholler, Derek Mears, Chris Mathieu, Ryan Marsico, Kurt Maloney and Justin Michael Terry with improvised soundtrack and lighting supplied by Scott Passarella and Jason Murphy. Members of The Resistance have appeared in major motion pictures, independent film, television and national commercials and represent training from iO West, UCB, Second City, Groundlings, Impro and ComedySportz.
The Resistance does a completely original action/adventure comedy show each week. Improvising an entire action movie from beginning to end with cinematic flare. The genre is chosen by the audience. Western, Buddy Cop, Pirate, Hometown Hero, Apocalyptic, etc. Incorporating stunt pads and mats as set and scenery The Resistance focuses on storytelling and character while bringing a level of action rarely (if ever) seen in an improvised show.
Sparks to Fire (stand up & improvisation)
When: Festival Day 2: Thursday, May 8 – 10:00 pm
Where: UC Irvine, The Little Theatre
Show Info:
Sparks to Fire will burn down the house with laughter! This show combines the worlds of written stand up and improv comedy. A stand up comedian will perform a set that will spark the improv group to create a fiery blaze of funny! Hosted by Brian J Hunt. BAM! Brian is originally from Denver, Colorado and found his way to LA by Chicago. When Brian isn’t improvising, he is performing Stand Up all across the country. BOOM! He is a grad of Second City, IO Chicago, Upright Citizens Brigade, and the Groundlings’ writing lab. Brian has appeared in numerous commercials, films, and short videos. ROUNDHOUSE KICK!
LIMITED WALK-UP ADMISSIONS: A small number of seats will be available for those who were unable to reserve advance tickets online. Please arrive 15 minutes prior to the scheduled start time. In addition, any unclaimed seats at 10 minutes prior to the event will be reassigned. All available seats will be given away on a first-come, first-served basis. *
FESTIVAL DAY 3: Friday, May 9, 2014
ClownMa dell’Arte Presentation (clowning)
When: Festival Day 3: Friday, May 9 – 4:00 pm
Where: UC Irvine, Nixon Theatre
Show Info:
ClownMa dell’Arte is an absurdist performance collective devoted todiscovering original, bizarre and enticing performance works enveloped by 3 terms — DogMa, StigMa, and KarMa. Our purpose is to reinvigorate the theatre, and provoke the community by inspiring play and destructuring the recognized. Yay!
Due to unforeseen events, Chickspeare will not be able to join us at this year’s festival; however, we have another great offering for you:
U-sical (improvisation)
When: Festival Day 3: Friday, May 9 – 7:00 pm
Where: UC Irvine, The Little Theatre
Show Info:
U-sical is the improvised musical about “you!” An audience member joins the cast on stage to tell a two minute story from their life. The lights dim, the band begins and full-length musical comedy about that person is created in harmony. It’s a free-wheeling musical adventure that is improvised before your eyes…and of course, “it’s based on a true story.” Produced by ComedySportz Los Angeles.
RAZOWSKY & CLIFFORD (two-person improvisation)
When: Festival Day 3: Friday, May 9 – 8:30 pm
Where: UC Irvine, The Little Theatre
Show Info:
RAZOWSKY & CLIFFORD is a two-person improv show that has become one of LA’s “must see” performances. David Razowsky (Spin City, The Weekenders) and Carrie Clifford (The Slammin’ Salmon, The Office) have performed their signature long form style at improv festivals around the globe, and perform regularly at iO West in Hollywood. They relish in the purist form of improv—starting with nothing. An audience member decides where to place two chairs for the first scene and they’re off and running. This random placement of two chairs dictates the entire performance, and becomes the spring board for a variety of characters and relationships. (on Twitter: @RazandCliff)
Stand-Up On The Spot: The Improvised Stand-Up Show with Jeremiah Watkins (stand up)
When: Festival Day 3: Friday, May 9 – 9:30 pm
Where: UC Irvine, The Little Theatre
Show Info:
Stand-Up On The Spot: The Improvised Stand-Up Show with Jeremiah Watkins has been entertaining audiences around LA since 2010. Comedians go up with no prepared material, ask the audience for suggestions, and create Stand-Up on the Spot, based off the suggestions. This is the only stand-up show where YOU the audience get to suggest what the comedians talks about. Get ready for improv and stand-up to unite!
Improv JAM! (improvisation)
When: Festival Day 3: Friday, May 9 – immediately following Stand-Up On The Spot
Where: UC Irvine, The Little Theatre
Show Info:
Inspired by the Coup de Comedy Festival, come to our improv jam – play improvisational games with everyone at the festival!
FESTIVAL DAY 4: Saturday, May 10, 2014
Spectacles Improv Engine Presents: Ghostlight & Flyspace (improvisation)
When: Festival Day 4: Saturday, May 10 – 4:00 pm
Where: UC Irvine, Nixon Theatre
Show Info:
Born in 2010, the Flyspace is one of the funniest improv teams in Orange County. Focusing more on high-tension scenes than wacky games, the Flyspace has a unique style that separates them from other improv troupes. “Alone they are mortals, but when their awesome powers unite, they are FLYSPACE!”
Ghostlight is a blend of long-form and short-form improv, and a blend of hilarious and spooky. The result is one of the most entertaining and unique improv shows that you will ever see. The show is three different long-form blocks, with some short-form breaks in-between, and the show draws inspiration heavily from horror, thillers, and science fiction.
LIMITED WALK-UP ADMISSIONS: A small number of seats will be available for those who were unable to reserve advance tickets online. Please arrive 15 minutes prior to the scheduled start time. In addition, any unclaimed seats at 10 minutes prior to the event will be reassigned. All available seats will be given away on a first-come, first-served basis. *
Epic Open Mic, hosted by beloved alumni Ben Ridge! (stand up)
When: Festival Day 4: Saturday, May 10 – 5:00 pm
Where: UC Irvine, Nixon Theatre
Show Info:
Rock the open mic show! Sign ups just before the event – try out your material or just come see the cutting edge of stand up performance.
Impro Theatre’s Twilight Zone Unscripted (improvisation)
When: Festival Day 4: Saturday, May 10 – 7:00 pm
Where: UC Irvine, The Little Theatre
Show Info:
From the darkest corners of reality to the land of the unexplained, Impro Theatre’s Twilight Zone UnScripted pays homage to Rod Serling’s sci-fi series “The Twilight Zone.” Enter the dimension of pure imagination as completely improvised episodes are created with every performance.
“Impro Theatre is breaking the mold”
-Pasadena Weekly
The 313 (improvisation)
When: Festival Day 4: Saturday, May 10 – 9:30 pm
Where: UC Irvine, The Little Theatre
Show Info:
The 313 (improvisation)… made in Detroit. Maybe the most awesome improvisational group ever.
Featuring Marbeth Monroe from the Comedy Central TV show Workaholics, Marc Warzecha, Andy Cobb, and Jaime Moyer ! Other 313 members TBA.
Delicious Moments (Two-person Improvised Long Form)
When: Festival Day 4: Saturday, May 10 – 10:15 pm
Where: UC Irvine, The Little Theatre
Show Info:
Ithamar Enriquez and Brian Shortall perform improv comedy that is aware of itself, and them and the audience and everything else. Watch Delicious Moments break down the FIFTH wall. Things get delicious and moments…(Theatre, Film and TV credits include: The Second City, IO, UCB, The Tonight Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live,The Office, How I Met Your Mother, Arrested Development, Key and Peele, Raising Hope, Punk’d, SuperNews!,Miss Congeniality II and The Promotion).
More performances and performers to be announced. (All subject to change.)
Hope to see you at one or more of our exciting performances!
Improv Revolution 
