Report: On This Date

On this date

It was the last show of the festival and we were ready for time travel. Jim Libby and Jacob Banigan started their time machine...

Scotland, 1542.

We sat at the banks of river Esk, silently watching as two British officers conversed over a cup of tea. The Scots were rebelling. We found ourselves outnumbered, but morale was high as the two officers inspired us with their witty yet silly discussion about the superiority of the Royal British Army. Meanwhile the Scots were rallying a force made up of farmers and children. Unfortunately they suffered defeat later that day.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Solway_Moss)

Poland, 1227.

The ...

Report: Grand Prix

Naked Stage – Grand Prix – Thursday 22. 11. – 21.00 – Kud France Prešeren

On Thursday night , Grand Prix, was an improv singing contest,
as annoying as it may be, a report in rhyme will suit it best.
On our way to theatre hall, before the show would start,
they gave no explanation at all, and gave us all a heart..
Not the human kind, you silly, a heart of paper made,
yours to give freely to a player who better played.

The show was about to start, and ...

See you at Naked Stage 2013!

Naked Stage 2012 just ended with two masters of improvisational comedy - Jacob Banigan and Jim Libby, better known as Rocket Sugar Factory, have proved that no challenge is to hard for them. In the performance On This Date their inspiration were events, that happened on 24 November (and not 25 November at they thought initially) throughout man's history. And then they started throwing obstacles in their scenes, like Jacob's solo diary scene, Jim's song in German and a scene about love during the civil war - all in rhymes.

With that, this year's international festival of improvisational theater ...

Report: Living Objects

Excitement was in the air on Friday night as we waited in the sold out theatre hall of KUD France Prešeren. Jacob Banigan just finished a great solo improv performance a couple of minutes earlier and the energy of the crowd still hadn't died down.

The show started off with a funny scene inspired by Vid's gardening services bill in which Sara made good use of a lawnmower.

Inspired by Juš’ badminton racket, Vid showed us how stressful a Real job can be. We got to know his pain-in-the-a boss, we learned he loved being under pressure and we also found out ...

Tonight we part fast and sweet

Naked Stage 2012 is coming to an end. Five incredible shows, four very educational workshops and some really interesting experiences are behind us and we'll remember them long after this festival is over. We'll close the festival in style - with fast and sweet improvisations from the american-canadian super duo Rocket Sugar Factory.

Jim Libby and Jacob Banigan have been entertaining the audience all festival long. Jim with his amazing rhetorics and wacky characters. Jacob with his interesting stories and his solo show Game of Death. They will combine their powers tonight at 8 p.m. at KUD France Prešeren ...

Report: Game of Death

So, I am at a loss for words …  Jacob Banigan, World Champion Improviser (WCI :P), a Canadian living in Austria,  one of the first improvisers to bring improv to Graz, just did a fantastic solo show.
We are not that used to solo shows in improv, it is usually a group or at least a couple of improvisers,
bouncing ideas from one another, together creating something from nothing. To do so alone, seems exceptionally difficult. And yet, it happened.

I'll try and picture the immensity of this task to someone who does not play ...

Report: Plagiarism

“Yes, you can speak frankly, but slowly.”

One of the more frequently stolen quotes in the history of quotes says: “Good artists copy, great artists steal.” Two guys and a girl (I’m pretty sure that is a title of a TV show) from Italy figured that was a great idea and decided to make it into a show that will inspire bookworms, casual readers and people who couldn’t care less. The audience brought books (The New Testament and Psalms, Winston’s War, The End of Eternity and Storm Front), the improvisers (Ollie, Luca and Antonio) brought ideas and Goran brought music.

Each of ...

Tonight we play the game of life and death

The third evening of the 2012 Naked Stage will be highlighted by the walk between life and death... at least judged by the performances' titles. First we'll see Jacob Banigan from Theater im Bahnhof from Graz in his solo show, called Game of Death. He'll be alone on stage, only Tarot cards beeing his company, fortelling the future of the story. All will be enriched with mind-boggling video projections. At 7 p.m. at KUD France Prešeren.

The evening will end with the international festival ensemble and the performance entitled Living ...

Thursday is a day for book crossing!

Naked Stage 2012 is opened! Yesterday, all of the guest groups and a part of the Slovenian improvisers introduced themselves to the audience via the Naked Show. The first to test the stage were the Italian improvisers, who will be also first in action tonight at 7 p.m. Teatro a Molla from Bologna will perform Plagiarism, a show about all the books we love and hate. And with the show, they invite you to bring books you don't need anymore and do some bookcrossing.

And at 9 p.m. you are cordially invited to a cheap singing ...

Report: Naked Show

“I’m an ice-cream man. How can that be creepy?”

The 11^th Naked Stage festival opened quite, well, nakedly, with the Naked Show. A mix of Italian, Austrian, Canadian, American and Slovenian improv was spiced up with some very personal confessions and very amusing international teasing. The show, hosted by Juš Milčinski, lit by Dušan Tomić and musically accompanied by Goran Završnik, started off with introductory performances.

Ollie Rasini, Antonio Vulpio and Luca Gnerucci from Teatro a Molla told us about sitting in the bushes, fighting with parents and sleeping in cars. Their scene was typically Italian with a lot of talking, living ...

5, 4, 3, 2, 1 1... let's go!

Naked Stage 2012, 11th International Festival of Improvisational Theatre is just around the corner! Small, cute, but filled with incredible events and great impro energy. We'll open it with a gathering of all the main protagonists of this year's festival - all the international guests and also Slovenian impro stars. The curtain at KUD France Prešeren will be opened on Wednesday at 8 p.m. for the Naked Show, the opening show of the festival.

Nine improvisers, one host, one musician and one lights techician. In the first part the improvisers will be paired in groups they represent at the festival: ...

Introduction

I encounter trouble each year when I try to encompass the essence of the festival variation in only a couple of sentences and explain at least a fragment of the enthusiastic anticipation boiling within me when we are awaiting the inspiring guest artists. This year, the trouble mounts even higher due to the festival extraordinarily coinciding with a space and time not favourable to arts in general. When I wanted to use every means possible to convince my long-time co-worker that the concept of this year's Naked Stage is »Less is More« or »The Best Things Come in Small Packages« ...