Thumbs UPstate Improv Festival - 2015

This year's festival will be at Jazz Central - 441 E. Washington Street, Syracuse, on May 1st and 2nd from 7 - 11 PM.

Tickets are FREE this year, and we expect a packed house both nights. We are excited to have a variety of awesome teams coming, including some from out-of-state.

Please visit http://syracuseimprovcollective.com/ for more info about the improv festival and future local shows.

We apologize for not properly maintaining this site. Life without Joe is hard.

Register to perform during the Super Fun Time Variety Hour!

Want to try out some new material? Want to perform some improv with someone you've never met before? Want to meet some cool people and perform something new in a low-pressure, anything-goes environment?

Then come on out to the Super Fun Time Variety Hour on Thursday, April 3 from 8pm - 10pm.

In order to accommodate as many performers as possible, please register your act here.

Register for Workshops!

We have an amazing lineup of workshops for you on Saturday, April 5. The workshops will be led by veteran improvisors from the Central New York improv community and beyond.

All of the workshops cost only $10! That will also give you access to all of the sets on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. So for only 10 bucks you'll get to see 19 improv groups, one sketch group, two workshops and a bunch of crazy and fun experimental sets.

So check out the workshops and register here.

The Application Window is Now Closed!

The Thumbs UPstate lineup is set for 2014! Keep an eye out in the next couple of days for details and schedules for the 2014 festival!

The Application Window Is Open

Apply now for the 2014 Thumbs UPstate Improv Festival. The Festival is coming back to the CNY Playhouse from April 3 -5 and if you're not there it will be less awesome than if you were. The application process is LIVE. Do it now! The deadline to apply is Friday, March 1... which is disturbingly close.

Thumbs UP to All of You

Thumbs UPstate 2103 is in the books and there are just so many people that helped make it possible, it's hard to know where to begin.

Well, first we have to thank Dustin Czarny and the Central New York Playhouse. They've been incredibly supportive of the SIC this year, but three nights and one very full Saturday are just above and beyond. Thank you. Thanks also to Justin Polly, Jenn DeCook, Kasey Marie for staffing the place. And Cathy's Corner Cafe for keeping the crowd lubricated.

To all of our "official" volunteers: Mike Borden, Emily Lawson, Paul Bailey, Alexis Pierce, Briana Kohlbrenner, Ron Sweet, Phil Brady, Stephen Peters, and Christopher Malone. You all kept us sane. It's nice to know that sometimes you don't need to be every place at once because you have awesome people helping you. Thank You. 

To all of our "unofficial" volunteers: If you stacked a chair, held a door, retweeted a plug, told a friend, liked a status, picked up a pen off the floor... those little increments added up to awesome. Thank you.

If you ever need an emcee, a stand up, or a potato rapping cultural concierge, start with Anna Hall, Anna Phillips, and Michael John Heagerty. They're beautiful. Thank you all. 

Stefanie Noble did a great job designing the flier, which we then reappropriated into festival and staff badges. Thank you, Stefanie!

Our workshop leaders Scott Austin and Lou Leonardo came in from New York City and Chicago to bring back a fraction of what they've learned to share it with their students. Ken Keech came from the Westcott Nation to do the same thing.

To each and every stand up and team that came to the festival:

Thursday

Pamela Werts

Uncle Trent

T. Blunt

Corey Smithson

Kevin Ricotta

Friday

Left for Dead

Dumb Kids in the Back

Mary Tyler Mortlaity

Sidewinders

Gentlemen, To Bed!

1matchfire

Uncle Lina

Satan's Closet

Search Engine Improv

Saturday

Planned Pandahood

Comedy FLOPs

Balls Forever

Identity Crisis

New Kids on the Block

Don't Feed the Actors

D & D

Sheer Idiocy

John Mayer Bloomberg

Flower City Improv

RonDeLou

Clearly, without you, this festival would be very boring. Thank you.

Last, but certainly not least, thanks to everyone that came out to support these independent artists and entertainers. Like Anna said, you could have stayed home and watched episodes of Lost on Netflix, but you came out. You showed up. Hopefully you enjoyed yourselves. And hopefully we'll see you again. Thank you.

Let's do it again next year, ok?

Joe, Ken, Vanessa, and Mike

The Thumbs UPstate Team

Search Engine Improv

Search Engine Improv is too busy being awesome to have time to fill out a profile. They did add a question though.

1) What makes your team unique?
The fact that one guy from Chicago, one from NYC and one from Boston get along

2) Do you know what games / forms you plan on doing for the festival? 
These days, we never know until we step out on stage.


3) How long has your team been working together?
Since late 2010