The Daily Tar Heel
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893.
Friday, March 29, 2024 Newsletters Latest print issue

We keep you informed.

Help us keep going. Donate Today.
The Daily Tar Heel

UNC to Host 2nd Annual Improv Festival

The UNC improv group CHiPs will perform with other troupes from across the Eastern seaboard in three shows this weekend.

The second annual Dirty South Improv Festival will take place at UNC from Friday to Sunday. CHiPs, the host troupe, will be joined by many performers from across the Eastern seaboard, particularly the South. In total, there will be 101 young improvisers wreaking comedic havoc.

"I think it's pretty special that it's happening at UNC, because this is some quality improv," said freshman Miles Masci, a member of CHiPs.

The purpose of the growing festival is to get different improv groups together so they are able to share ideas and communicate, said Marc Mongiardo, a CHiPs veteran who graduated from UNC in December.

CHiPs will perform their usual scene-based sets for both the 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday shows. Groups from UNC-Wilmington and The College of William & Mary will appear Friday, while Saturday's show will feature players from the University of South Carolina, the University of Florida and Bucknell University.

Saturday night will also feature the appearance of Dirty South Improv co-founders Zach Ward and Beth Melewski in the two-person show, Dual Exhaust. Ward helped start CHiPs before graduating from UNC in 1999 and moving to Chicago.

As the artistic director of Dirty South Improv, Ward has been responsible for recruiting the five Chicago instructors who will oversee the four workshops taking place during the festival. The workshops, intended for the players alone, will help them learn about such aspects of improv as character building and working with a location.

This year's festival will be bigger than last year's inaugural event, also hosted at UNC, which featured CHiPs as well as troupes from the University of Georgia at Athens, William & Mary and Vanderbilt University.

"I think it should be a lot more fun this year because we've done it once," Mongiardo said. "We've gotten the trial run out of the way."

The festival includes three shows presented in 100 Hamilton Hall that will be open to the general public.

Tickets for the 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday shows will be sold at the door for $5. A third show, at 10:15 p.m. Saturday night, will cost $3. Those who present a ticket from either of the first two shows will gain free admission to the third, which will culminate in an improv "jam session" consisting of all the participating players.

"I feel it inside," Ward said about his passion for improvisational comedy.

"Every time I get on stage, I'm getting a chance to extend that game of pretend I didn't finish when I was younger."

The Arts & Entertainment Editor can be reached at artsdesk@unc.edu.

To get the day's news and headlines in your inbox each morning, sign up for our email newsletters.