Improv is Customized Art

2009 marks the fifth year of BIG's existence, and we thought it right to mark the anniversary with a new web site. Have a look around and let us know what you think! Send complaints, suggestions, and compliments info@bigimprov.org.

We've just concluded a very successful show with Parallelogramophonograph (say that 5 times right now!) from Austin, Texas. PGraph specifically asked us to help them make Baltimore a stop on their east coast tour, because they'd heard--all the way down in Texas--what great audiences there are in Baltimore.

PGraph did a fantastic show at the Hamilton Arts Collective (in Hamilton/Lauraville), and the audience LOVED them. The BIG members did too! The format they performed for Baltimore was "GRIMM," an improvised fairy tale, a narrative of minor tragedies, misunderstood prophesies, kingdoms of cleanliness, epic battles with flies, and a golden goat who turned into a man who licked his bride. A lot. You kind of had to be there.

And that's the whole point of improvisation! Each show is a one-time event made up on the spot for the audience. It will never be repeated. Baltimore will not see what Chapel Hill saw, and Philadelphia will never, ever have the same show that DC had. And Des Moines? TOTALLY different show. It's a beautiful thing! It's the long tail. It's bespoke art, made just for you.

And we love doing it.

-- Catharine