Category Archives: Other formats

Two improvisors in a bowl of jam, with the text "Improv Jam"

Jam with WIT – Sunday 28 MARCH 2021

THIS SHOW HAS HAPPENED!  BUT THERE’LL BE OTHER SHOWS SOON 😀

_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Our end-of-February Jam night is postponed to March 28th!!  It’ll be even Jamyier for having to wait.

Expect an exciting mix of directed games and open scenes, all drawing on audience suggestions.

If you’d like to play you’re in! If you feel a bit shy, you’re the audience!!  Doors open at 6.30pm for a group warm up, sitting down for the full jaminess from 7pm. It’s simple and fun, with plenty of friendly people to support you if you haven’t done improv in a while, or even much ever at all.

This show is at The Pow Wow room, and although a lovely venue is at the top of a flight of stairs with no lift. If you have mobility issues and there’s any way we can help (eg, a phalanx of volunteers to carry you aloft like Cleopatra on a golden litter) contact us in advance.
Also, this is a licensed venue, so if you’re under 18 bring a parent or guardian, and if you look under 25, bring your id.

What: An Improv Jam
Who: The Wellington Improvisation Troupe (WIT)
Cost:  Koha appreciated, but it’s you we want
When: Sunday 28th February, at 7pm
Where: The Pow Wow Room, Level 1, 74 Courtenay Place, Te Aro, Wellington (up the stairs to the left of The Dakota Bar)

“As a troupe, they boast an effective and playful onstage chemistry” ~ Theatreview

“This group’s bounding energy overtook the stage” ~ Nelson Mail

 

improvisors training in front of a window

 

a papier mache cow

Christmas 2020 – A Very Witty Panto

THIS SHOW HAS HAPPENED ALREADY!

For 2020 WITs celebrates the season Most Festive with an improvised twist on the traditional Xmas pantomime and will create a unique story each night inspired by suggestions from the audience.

Expect the unexpected, and also probably some cosmetically-challenged Sisters, papier-mache farm animals, a fresh-faced hero or heroine in tights, a Fairy Godparent, Villains and Sidekicks, a Dame or a Dude with a really big moustache. And Christmas treats!

Note that The Fringe Bar is a licensed venue, with a vast range of delicious alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages available. So, if you’re youthfully fresh-faced bring your id, and if you’re under 18 bring your parent or guardian.

Tickets are available online and as door sales on the night, BUT if we are at Level 2 the venue capacity is limited to 25 and there will not be door sales.

What: A Very Witty Panto
Who: The Wellington Improvisation Troupe (WIT)
When: Tuesday 22nd, Wednesday 23rd and Thursday 24th December, at 7pm
Where: The Fringe Bar, Allen St

“As a troupe, they boast an effective and playful onstage chemistry” ~ Theatreview

“This group’s bounding energy overtook the stage” ~ Nelson Mail

 

improvisors training in front of a window

 

Drawing of a crow holding Poe's head

Poe’d – NZIF 2020 Edition

Theatreview decided Poe’d was “MACABRE MADE MISCHIEVOUS”  
While the Artmurmurs’ reviewer said “I had a lovely time“

A Darkly Gothic Romp

Everyone knows Edgar Allen Poe died mysteriously in Baltimore in 1849. But recently a trunk of mysterious papers was discovered by the same researchers who previously discovered the Lovecrafted archive (revealed during the 2019 Fringe). Did the forty year old Poe fake his death, flee to a remote island nation and live out the rest of a long life writing epically gothically tragically romantic stories shaped by the myths and realities of life among the phlegmatic people of the farthest flung corner of the British Empire??

Find out as each night a different narrator channels the tortured author to bring original improvised tales to Te Auaha’s Tapere Iti stage.

“The show will be a romp through a gothic past” says Ali Little, the show’s creative director. She claims the tortured author, a man who spawned so many many tortured imitators, has communicated to her through ethereal means.  And he is “delighted, just delighted” that these tales which should have been part of his oeuvre, now will be.

What: Poe’d
Who: The Wellington Improvisation Troupe (WIT) and Invited Guests
When: Friday October 9th, 9pm
Where: BATS Theatre, 1 Kent Terrace, Wellington

Visit BATS for tickets and a bunch (a slew, a cascade a cornucopia) of other great NZ Improv Festival shows,  WIT’s Facebook for the latest details, team photos and gossip about this show.

“As a troupe, they boast an effective and playful onstage chemistry” ~ Theatreview

“This group’s bounding energy overtook the stage” ~ Nelson Mail

 

 

 

Wit people at a Tuesday training

What’s Happening Behind the Curtain????

WIT intends to keep training running at Covid level 2 (following the advice of our venues about checking in etc), but have decided to only put on in-person shows at level 1.  So, we’re planning some delightful shows for the rest of 2020, but know that it’s possible they might be cancelled, but if they are, there are Bigger things happening than us!

Tentatively,
October – WIT and WIT members will take an active part in the NZ Improv Festival 3-10 October
November 1st – a Halloween Spooktacular of some kind
December 13th – grad shows for WIT courses
December 22, 23 24 – An Improvised Pantomime

Visit the Facebook Event Page for the latest details, team photos, gossip and the rest.

 

Micetro winner surrounded by admirers

Improvisors trampling the tiny city of Paris to win a giant prize cup

Battle of WITs – Fringe 2020


THIS SHOW HAS HAPPENED ALREADY!!!  BUT, YOU NEVER KNOW, IT MIGHT RETURN AGAIN AGAIN!!  FOR NOW, YOU CAN READ WHAT IT WAS ALL ABOUT

GAME ON!

Improv is not the game played with the round balls or even with the squishy-shaped balls, and the venue is no grassy paddock: this is Battle of WITs. Original improvised theatre will be made up before your very eyes and YOU decide which team is the best on the night.

Battle of WITs was The Wellington Improvisation Troupe’s very first official show after the group officially formed in 2003. The format hasn’t been played it in a few years, but in a wave of unrepentant nostalgia WIT declared it time to unleash the high energy high stakes competition again. AND to invite other troupes to put their troops into the high stakes onstage battles too.

This Fringe there’ll be three nights of hard-out heats, and a Grande Finale on the last night. The ultimate winners will take home a glorious trophy to prove that they are the ones who have what it takes to win improv gold.

Talented improvisers will boldly risk life and limb to conjure up scenes on the spot, aiming to outwit and outlast their competitors. The audience will decide who perishes and who prevails, so come along, pick your favourites and make them champions!

“The format mixes experienced players and adorably bold newcomers,” says Ali Little, the show’s creative director. She claims that anything could happen as stories and songs and scenes are created from nothing more than audience suggestions and player inspiration. “It should be a wild ride”.

What: Battle of WITs
Who: The Wellington Improvisation Troupe (WIT) and Invited Guests
When: Wednesday 11 March to Saturday 14 March, 6.30pm
Where: Te Auaha Tapere Iti, 65 Dixon St, Wellington

Visit the FRINGE for tickets and a bunch (a slew, a cascade a cornucopia) of other great shows,  WIT’s Facebook for the latest details, team photos and gossip about this show.

Drawing of a crow holding Poe's head

Poe’d – Fringe 2020


THIS SHOW HAS HAPPENED ALREADY!!!  BUT, YOU NEVER KNOW, IT MIGHT RETURN AGAIN AGAIN!!  FOR NOW, YOU CAN READ WHAT IT WAS ALL ABOUT

Also, Theatreview thought it was “MACABRE MADE MISCHIEVOUS”  
While Artmurmurs’ reviewer said “I had a lovely time“

A Darkly Gothic Romp

Everyone knows Edgar Allen Poe died mysteriously in Baltimore in 1849. But recently a trunk of mysterious papers was discovered by the same researchers who previously discovered the Lovecrafted archive (revealed during the 2019 Fringe). Did the forty year old Poe fake his death, flee to a remote island nation and live out the rest of a long life writing epically gothically tragically romantic stories shaped by the myths and realities of life among the phlegmatic people of the farthest flung corner of the British Empire??

Find out as each night a different narrator channels the tortured author to bring original improvised tales to Te Auaha’s Tapere Iti stage.

“The show will be a romp through a gothic past” says Ali Little, the show’s creative director. She claims the tortured author, a man who spawned so many many tortured imitators, has communicated to her through ethereal means.  And he is “delighted, just delighted” that these tales which should have been part of his oeuvre, now will be.

What: Poe’d
Who: The Wellington Improvisation Troupe (WIT) and Invited Guests
When: Friday 28 and Saturday 29 February 8pm, Sunday 1 and Monday 2 March 7pm
Where: Te Auaha Tapere Iti, 65 Dixon St, Wellington

Visit the FRINGE for tickets and a bunch (a slew, a cascade a cornucopia) of other great shows,  WIT’s Facebook for the latest details, team photos and gossip about this show.

“As a troupe, they boast an effective and playful onstage chemistry” ~ Theatreview

“This group’s bounding energy overtook the stage” ~ Nelson Mail

 

 

 

Mike and Hayley in a bowl of stew!

Improv Goulash – Sunday 24 November 2019

THIS SHOW ALREADY HAPPENED. BUT IT WAS FABULOUS AND WE’LL DEFO DO IT AGAIN IN 2020

Like an improv jam, only hotter and more meaty!

Hosted by the Wellington Improvisation Troupe (WIT), daring teams of improvisors from troupes and groups from around Wellington will strive to create amazing scenes, sing tuneful songs and build bold stories before your very eyes. Some groups are of long standing, others will form on the night! The most reckless will choose to face Challenges from The Hat.

If you’re an improvisor (or a team of improvisors), please contact WIT through Facebook, and you’ll be sent Further Instructions on how to grasp your time on stage!

When: Sunday 24 November, 7:00.15pm – 8:30pm
Where: The PowWow Room*, 74 Courtenay Place, Level 1, Wellington

*nb this is a fully licenced venue so under 18s need their grownups and youthful looking grownups need their ID

Visit the Facebook Event Page for the latest details, team photos, gossip and the rest.

 

 

b-movie filmstrip banner

Return of the Attack of the Killer B-Movie, Halloween 2019 Edition

This show has happened already!   Check our “upcoming shows” to see what’s on next.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________


“If you’ve ever enjoyed a heaped helping of cheesy retro cinema goodness, this should put a grin on your face ”   Theatreview

Hilarious titles. Ridiculous Monsters. All improvised.

WIT brings you an improvised show following the classic elements of B-Movies. Join our unsuspecting cast, as a series of unfortunate events lead them to a horrifying discovery… who will survive? Who will find love? And why is the phone always dead when you need to call for help?!

The story will be shaped by suggested movie titles given to the cast by the audience – see what we create for you!  This is a special Halloween edition, and will be fun for adults and older children who enjoy the schlocky end of comedy horror.

This will be the only Attack of the Killer B-Movie this year!!

WHEN:  Sunday October 27th, 7pm
WHERE:  The Powwow Room*  74 Courtenay Place, Wellington
*nb this is a fully licenced venue so under 18s need their grownups and youthful looking grownups need their ID

Tickets will go onsale soon or just rock up for Doorsales  $10 (concession $5)

Visit our Facebook Event Page for the latest details, show photos, cast gossip and the rest.

cast and crew

 

Couple holding their squid baby

Lovecrafted! – Fringe Fest March 2019

“We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far” ~ H. P. Lovecraft

**** Note that The Scruffy Bunny theatre is now in its Fringe Fest special location: Courtenay Creative, 49 Courtenay Place, Wellington ****

In 1925 young fantasy writer Howie Lovecraft fled his Rhode Island home, tormented by the failure of his marriage and other personal demons. No one was sure where he vanished to for six long months, but once returned all agree he wrote stories that were richer and darker than anything he had ever written before.

Why? Well, we now know that he took a tramp steamer to the farthest reaches of the Southern oceans, and spent those lost months travelling the length and breadth of New Zealand. He spoke to farmers and fisherfolk, and former nurses at long-closed special hospitals. Most significantly he attended lectures at Wellington’s Masseytonic University, and interviewed members of the faculty in exhaustive detail. He gathered dark tales of twisted deeds and unnatural monsters, and learnt truths that no man may learn without descending into madness. This research was woven into the warp and the weft of tales he wrote and rewrote until his untimely death in 1937, albeit with many of the place names and historical events transposed to more American locations at his publisher’s request.

Long forgotten in a dusty attic, a leather-bound trunk of Lovecraft’s original heavily annotated notes mouldered, until unverified rumours of the trove’s possible existence reached the ears of researchers from Masseytonick University. Thanks to their hard work, some at the expense of their very souls, a selection of these unheard tales will be retold as part of the 2019 Fringe Festival.

Lovecrafted! will be improvised on stage by direct descendants of those interviewed by that nervous young American. By an amazing coincidence all are members of the Wellington Improvisation Troupe.

Tickets: available as doorsales, or through the Fringe website, $10 or $7 concession/with a Fringe Addict pass.

When:
6.30pm Sat 16th March
6.30pm Sun 17th March
6.30pm Mon 18th March
6.30pm Tues 19th March
6.30pm Wed 20th March

Where: The Scruffy Bunny Improv Theatre, Courtenay Creative, 49 Courtney Place Wellington

Would you like a copy of our posters to put on your work notice board, or just to keep and admire?  Well, click right here for an A4 sized jpg file

Ferris Wheel and Lovecrafted posters

Websites:
WIT Event Facebook Page
Fringe Festival Page – Tickets on sale from December 18th 2018