In Dazed & Amused: The 24 Hour Improv Marathon, seven of Philadelphia’s finest and funniest improvisers will put their skills to the ultimate test in a first time Philly Fringe Festival event that promises to amaze and delight audiences. These bravely funny folks will improvise for 24 hours straight in a feat of wit that has never been seen in Philadelphia before.

Starting at midnight on September 12th these improvisers, veterans of some of Philadelphia’s most accomplished improvisation ensembles, will jump on an improv train that won’t stop until midnight on September 13th. Along the way audiences will see these talented performers showcase all that improvisation has to offer including long and short form improv, musical improv and much more. Will this group of comedy pioneers make it to midnight with their wit and wits intact?

Throughout the 24 hours, audiences will have the opportunity to visit multiple times by purchasing a Round the Clock ticket, or just join in the fun for shorter times, building up to the final two hours which promise to be the most challenging, unpredictable and hilarious two hours of the Fringe Festival. The event will also be live streamed on the internet so performers can take suggestions from viewers across the country. Players will eat rest and even use the bathrooms within the theatre walls of the Adrienne Theater and then have to incorporate those activities into whatever improv scene or game is happening on stage.

Beyond the obvious side-show attraction of such an event, the challenges are not just physical stamina but ones of artistic potential as well. All too often Improvisation is considered the ugly step-sister of theatre, dismissed as a parlor trick or pedestrian night club gimmick. In its purest form, however, the art of improvisation is a collaboration between performers and audiences to discover and build a communal voice. This voice originates in the audience with the power of a suggestion which becomes a stepping stone to build characters that inhabit scenes which compose stories that explore absurdities and truths about relationships, situations and community. The result is a shared act of spontaneous creation between audience and performer. Improvisation creates connections and moments of truth on stage that are rarely found anywhere else. They are moments of recognition and innovation that enlighten and join those on stage to those in the audience into a new community, no matter how brief, who has shared something unique and indescribable.

People leave improvisation shows often saying “How did they do that.” Dazed & Amused: The 24 Hour Improv Marathon takes that question to the next level, asking Improvisation artists to stretch the limits of their creative innovative minds to see what happens when we go beyond what’s predictable, beyond what’s safe, beyond considered possibility. The outcome is unknown, it is the journey that will determine the end. Dazed & Amused: The 24 Hour Improv Marathon is the art of the impossible turned possible.

For purchasing tickets or learning a little more please go to our Fringe Festival Page!

If you have any other questions, please feel free to email us at info@24hrimprov.com