Improvaganza 2011: #yegimprov

Do social media and improv go together? We’re going to find out on Monday evening! That’s when Rapid Fire Theatre is holding #yegimprov, a live social media experiment at Improvaganza 2011. This is the 11th year of Improvaganza, Canada’s largest improv festival. Tonight is the opening night gala and the festival, which takes place at the Varscona Theatre in Old Strathcona, runs through June 25.

Last month I got connected with Kory Mathewson and Amy Shostak to chat about social media. They were interested in ways that Improvaganza might be able to utilize new tools and technologies like Twitter, Facebook, and Foursquare. As someone who has been talking about the changing artist/patron relationship, I was more than happy to get involved. I had so much fun just brainstorming ideas with Amy that I can’t wait to see how Monday night unfolds! Knowing that we’d need some funny social media participants on stage, I convinced Jerry and Adam to get on board. Actually they didn’t need much convincing, they were game right from the start!

So what can you expect at #yegimprov? I’m not entirely sure (that’s part of the fun). Definitely some tweeting, and definitely lots of laughter. In addition to the gang from Rapid Fire Theatre (@theatresports) the event will feature:

• Jerry Aulenbach – @zoomjer
• Mack Male – @mastermaq
• Adam Rozenhart – @bingofuel
• You!

Even if you can’t actually make it to the event, I hope you’ll participate on Twitter using the #yegimprov hashtag. There should be some fun audience participation! #yegimprov runs from 7:30pm to 9:30pm (get your tickets here), and there will be an after party at The Next Act (@NextActPub).

You can check out the full Improvaganza 2011 schedule here and you can buy tickets for Improvaganza 2011 here. You can also check out the full schedule on ShareEdmonton, where you can download an iCal.

Hope to see you on Monday evening!