Canada improv games

Their goal is to enrich the lives of young people through the art of improvisational theatre. The format for the tournament was inspired by original ideas from Jerome, as well as David Shepherd. Teams are made up of approximately eight players though some have more for substitutions and represent various high schools in a particular region.

While each region may have small differences between them, most have one or more exhibition rounds before teams perform in their regional tournaments, aiming for a spot at the National Tournament in Ottawa each year in the spring. On a night of play, anywhere from 3 — 6 teams play on a show night. These shows are organized by the Regional Director, are run by a crew of volunteers and hosted by a team of referees. Teams will compete in a series of events that each focus on different areas of improvised theatre.

As teams play these events they are judged by a panel of judges who give each scene a score based on a variety of skills, such as characters, staging, use of suggestion, and risk. The 19 highest scoring teams in Canada earn a spot at the the National Tournament, with a special spot saved for their online wildcard tournament.

So Johnson Moretti , the General Manager of the Games at the time, said, "Alright, give me 7, bucks and I'll fly to Vancouver, train a team, and bring it back to play.

In , the NAC decided to give the Games more exposure by covering the costs of television coverage for the games for three years. YTV picked up the broadcast rights, and new teams started signing up from schools all over the country. Now, teams from more than schools across Canada participate each year. The Canadian Improv Games Oath , repeated before every night of play, defines the purpose and values of the Games : We have come together In the spirit of loving competition To celebrate the Canadian Improv Games We promise to uphold the ideals of improvisation To co-operate with one another To learn from each other To commit ourselves to the moment And above all To Have A Good Time.

The great thing about the oath is that the competitors actually take it to heart. All the teams applaud along with the whole audience for each scene played, and the teams really work together to put on a great show. Teams consist of up to eight members , and choose four out of five possible events to perform in a given night of play the life game is mandatory : Character Event - play a scene portraying one or more characteristics such as flamboyant or bashful Life Event - show an event in life perceived to be pivotal by one or more characters, showing sincere and realistic emotion Story Event - convey a story with a beginning , middle , and end Style Event - play a scene in a style of film , literature , etc.

The theme in the theme event is drawn from a hat of pre-made themes. Teams are allowed up to 4 minutes for each scene, with a 15 second huddle beforehand to decide things like what the main purpose of the scene's action is, who will play the main character s , and where the starting location will be.

Scenes are scored by a panel of judges and the sum of a team's individual event scores make up their total score for the night. John's , Newfoundland The video competition exists primarily for teams too far away from regional tournaments to compete in them, though any team is allowed to enter. The team video tapes themselves playing 4 scenes just as in a night of play in a regional or national competition, and sends the tape in to the CIG to be judged.

Finalists from the regional tournaments and the video competition are invited to Ottawa for the week long national tournament. The top 5 teams from the national preliminaries advance to the national finals , where the national champions are decided.