Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia
Canadian Improv Games
The Canadian Improv Games were created in Ottawa in 1977 by Howard Jerome and Jamie “Willie” Wyllie based on a competition (The Improv Olympics) created by David Shepherd and Howard Jerome at Toronto's Homemade Theatre in 1974. During the Improv Olympics, over three weekends, teams of professional actors and high school students participated.
In the Canadian Improv Games, finalists from fourteen regional competitions compete at the National Arts Centre. The Games have become one the largest and most geographically dispersed theatre festivals in Canada with over 100,000 alumni participants. Each year students gain access, through their high school, to a variety of immersive workshops, training sessions and performance opportunities that are formatted to build and promote invaluable skills.
The games must: allow players from both improv traditions (the Improv Olympics and Theatresports) to participate; have simple rules; be educational and artistic; and, most of all, be fun to play.
Website: www.improv.ca
See also: Education
Last updated 2020-09-01
Since October 2002, Athabasca University has hosted the web site, with an editorial board of theatre scholars from across Canada.
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The Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia web site was originally conceived and developed in 1996 by Gaetan Charlebois—theatre critic, playwright, and actor.
