Co-op Weekends and Events for the UK Improv Community
Home
Welcome to The British Improv Project!
Our goals are:
To raise the overall standard of improvisation across Britain
To enhance the profile and raise awareness of improv as an art form
To build a network of improvisers around the country, and bring the national community together
To create fun, co-operative events, where improvisers of every level can learn, work, and play together.
The British Improv Project is managed by Geoff Monk & Tom Young, and run with a co-op ethos.
Geoff is in charge of the events’ administration. He’s a founding member of Nottingham’s MissImp, and the Nottingham Improvised Comedy Experience (NICE). He moved to Cornwall in 2019 and has plans to help develop an improv scene and events there.
Tom is in charge of programming and training. He’s a founding member of The Same Faces (based in Leicester & Northampton), and is also the group’s director, as well as teaching multiple improv workshops per week, to various age groups.
Our Next Event
Dates for our next event will be published here :
10-12 November 2023 – bookings now open as of 20th May ’23 3-5 May 2024 – open to bookings around the end of November ’23 8-10 November 2024 – – bookings open around the end of May ’24
To get the dates and booking form link first join our group on SPOND https://group.spond.com/KYDCU After SPOND we send the link out to the mailing list – sign up to our mailing list on MailChimp or Lastly it is posted onto Facebook, but it sold out within 2 weeks of release last time, so be quick!
Our weekend events are run on a co-op ethos, and without a desire to make any profit. The usual great range of workshops are taught by those attending the event, featuring some of the UK’s most experienced improvisers & workshop leaders.
The co-op ethos means that we can bring you these weekends for outstanding value. The cost of this event will be £160pp twin share/double room, or £200pp for a single room.
The initial deposit is £50 with the balance due of either £110 (double/twin) or £150 (single). The cost includes all teaching, buffet service food, self service coffee, tea and accommodation – you only need to pay for evening drinks from the bar or snacks and Costa coffees.
Arrive on Friday and check into your room from 4pm. Registration begins at 5pm, then we have dinner and a warmup and workshop at 7.00pm. With all food an accommodation covered in your rate, the weekend concludes with lunch on Sunday. If you arrive by train, we suggest you book your return for after 3pm. Stations are either STAFFORD (quickest from London) or STONE (walking distance to venue if you enjoy a 3 mile hike). Cheapest is to buy your ticket to STAFFORD. You can connect to STONE via an 8 minute local train with hourly departures.
Optionally you can arrive on Thursday and avoid the mad dash of Friday traffic. We have a £60 B&B room rate for Thursday night and for the last 3 events at least 10 of us have met up and gone to a local pub. We also have a workshop room available all day Friday for improv practice or board games.
Booking is available via link below and we look forward to seeing you soon.
In 2015, Geoff Monk (Nottingham Improv Comedy Experience (NICE)/MissImp) had an idea to go to Edale YHA for a weekend of improv, where participants from groups across the Midlands would draw on each other’s experience and lead workshops. Hoping that about 20 might go, 32 showed up that November! It was so popular that this quickly led to the idea that the event would be repeated twice a year in various Midlands locations. Tom Young (The Same Faces) volunteered to co-host the events and in the Spring of 2016 we went to Hothorpe Hall with over 50 improvisers! Two more events followed at the Hallmark Hotel Stourport Manor and Yarnfield Park in Staffordshire.
“UK Improv Weekends and Events” became a temporary name, then as of May 2017 the organisation was re-branded as “The British Improv Project” as our participant base are not just from the Midlands, but from all over the UK, Germany, and the USA.
November 2019 marked our 10th event, now at Stoke Rochford Hall, near Grantham where nearly 80 attended. That was due to continue in April & November of 2020, but Covid19 cancelled both. We resumed in November 2021 at Yarnfield Park which is currently our ‘regular’ venue with events held in April of 2022 and planned for November 2022.
Looking to the future we hope to add a longer summer event in a UK holiday destination which will combine improv with other leisure and social activities.
Geoff Monk & Tom Young are the joint organisers of The BIP, and continue to provide affordable, top quality improv training, outside of London.
Tom Young (left) & Geoff Monk (right) – co-organisers of the British Improv Project
Full Venue History
November 2015 – Edale Youth Hostel, Derbyshire 15-17 April 2016 – Hothorpe Hall, Leicestershire November 2016 – Stourport Manor Hotel, West Midlands April 2017 – Yarnfield Park, Stone, Staffs November 2017 – Scalford Hall, Melton Mowbray 20-21 April 2018 – Scalford Hall, Melton Mowbray 9-11 November 2018 – Stoke Rochford Hall 12-14 April 2019 – Stoke Rochford Hall 8-10 November 2019 – Stoke Rochford Hall April 2020 – Pandemic cancelled November 2020 – Pandemic cancelled April 2021 – Pandemic cancelled 19-21 November 2021 – Yarnfield Park, Stone, Staffs 8-10 April 2022 – Yarnfield Park, Stone, Staffs 4-6 November 2022 – Yarnfield Park, Stone, Staffs 28-30 April 2023 – Yarnfield Park, Stone, Staffs 10-12 November 2023 – Yarnfield Park, Stone, Staffs 3-5 May 2024 – – Yarnfield Park, Stone, Staffs
By Stuart Moses My love language is learning. It’s the most reliable thing I’ve found to lift my spirits. It works whether I’m the teacher or the student. I think we should always be learning new things. When you’re new to improv, feel free to take as many improv classes – from as many teachers …
By Stuart Moses I’ve recently been making an effort to make friends who live locally, which led me to getting involved with The Sunday Alternative – an inclusive secular community that meets regularly to celebrate life with music, ideas and community outreach. Organiser Stephen overheard me talking about improv – which I don’t particularly remember …
By Stuart Moses Day 3: Saturday 9 April I attended Robert Anderson’s Chatting With Intent workshop. We explored the way, when performing two-person shows, we can control pacing by switching tone. We were inspired by Improvisation at the Speed of Life: The TJ and Dave Book, made sure we rested a problem so we could …
