About Us

The HUGE Improv Theater is an artist-led company dedicated to supporting the Twin Cities improv community through performance and education.
 
In an effort to raise the visibility of the Twin Cities as a destination for some of the best, unscripted theater in the country, HUGE seeks to establish a home for those who love improv.
 
HUGE supports growth and visibility of our local improv community by producing shows, including Improv-A-Go-Go (now in its eighth season) and the annual Twin Cities Improv Festival.
 
The Twin Cities is lucky to be rich with theater. Multiple smaller venues around town host well-attended solo performances, sketch-comedy, and improv shows. Additionally, there are interested students from all walks of life participating in three well-established schools; the Brave New Institute, ComedySportz and Stevie Ray’s. 
 
But even in this diverse theater landscape, there is no stage devoted to long form improvisation. Long form improvisation is the art of creating performances that are unscripted. It is different than playing improvised "games" or improvising within a scripted piece. HUGE wants to give long form improvisation – and the people who enjoy performing and watching it – a stage.
 
Improv is theater for everybody. The raw material of improvisation is the honest expressions, experiences and passions of the performers and audience. It’s immediate theater.
 
As an added bonus, good improvisation is built on conquering fears and working collaboratively in an accepting environment – skills that can’t help but have a positive effect on those who acquire them. HUGE Theater believes that if people can improvise together and laugh together, they can do anything together.
 
HUGE has big plans, but the first step is getting a space. Learn more about how you can help make that happen on our Fundraising page.

History

HUGE Theater began in 2005 with five improvisational theater performers - Butch Roy, Jill Bernard, Joe Bozic, Mike Fotis, and Nels Lennes – forming to produce “Creature Feature” and a weekly showcase in Southeast Minneapolis called “HUGE Wednesdays”.  Members of HUGE have gone on to perform and teach at many improv festivals from Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, and Atlanta to Juneau, Alaska.  Since then, HUGE has continued to produce works including “Ka-Baam!” and “Punch-Out” as well as collaborations with other groups for the shows “An Evening with Splendid Things” and “Mix Tape” at the Bryant Lake Bowl.

Butch has taken over the longstanding Sunday night improv showcase “Improv A Go Go” and produces the Twin Cities Improv Festival, which concluded it’s third year in June 2009.  Jill has traveled the country teaching and performing her acclaimed solo show “Drum Machine” and has been named “The Queen of Minneapolis Improv” by Chicago Magazine.  Nels is directing Huge Theater productions and designing our website, while Mike and Joe are occupied as mainstage performers and educational directors for the Brave New Workshop, the nation's oldest satirical comedy theater.