Check out our updated Workshops!
Featuring some brand NEW ones!
The Light side of the festival is here
in the form of carefully selected workshops to enhance your skills and bring you to new improv dimensions!
Sofia International Improv Fest
23th - 29th September 2019
Join us for a week of fun, light and darkness!
BUNNY AS HELL!
BUNNY AS HELL!
We have also planned different activities and time slots for specific discussions on certain topics:
- managing an improv company long term ;
- finding work on your own ;
- relationships challenges within a group ;
- corporate work ;
- teaching improv ;
and more
A celebration of possibilities!
A sharing of experiences!
A unique take on an improv festival!
Improv comes in many shapes and sizes and we welcome them all.
This year the festival will focus on both the light and dark side of improvisation.
As our main guests we have invited three groups with enough experience to play on both sides of the spectrum.
Every evening 25th to 29th of September 2019 you'll be able to see one light and one dark improv show in English by our top performers/teachers.
Each day you can dive deep into many improv dimensions by taking one of the many workshops, expanding further the boundaries of this craft.
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Teacher / Performers
Our first headlining team of teachers and performers are well known in the improv universe. They are versatile, smart, passionate and awesome.
During So Improv Fest 2019 they will play together as a duo. Come and see them play light/crazy/over the top/ fun as well as slow/dark/grounded shows.
Click to check out their intensive workshops:
Each night 25th to 29th September you'll be able to see one light and one dark show by our main guest teacher/performers.
La Carpe Haute
Beware of La Carpe Haute!
These French men are funny as hell. Their wit is fast and furious, their mime props unmatched, and they are not afraid to go dive the deep! Working as a team for many years, they will be able to show off their range during Sofia Improv Fest 2019.
They will teach the ins and outs of their craft and play three different formats during the festival.
Click to check out their workshops:
Each night 25th to 29th September you'll be able to see one light and one dark show by our main guest teacher/performers.
Barcelona Improv Group
B.I.G. is coming to town!
Barcelona Improv Group aims to create theatrical improv in its highest form. Their practice is based on the joy of discovery and strives to achieve both emotional depth and an unbridled sense of play. They love what they do, and want to share this special art form in its many manifestations with shows to make you think, make you feel, and make you laugh. A lot.
They will dive deep into uncharted territory, teach and play three different formats during the festival.
Click to check out their workshops:
Each night 25th to 29th September you'll be able to see one light and one dark show by our main guest teacher/performers
B.I.G. cast members:
Stephanie Figueira, Jeremie Day-Glider, John Lane, Ella Galt, Noah Levin
Workshops
Register to get a 15% discount HERE Use the code you will receive as a ticket in your mail for all subsequent purchases!
NEW Workshops available for purchase on August 20th!
Registration will be 40€ and gets you a full pass to all the shows and a 15% discount on all the workshops + a goody bag with light/dark surprises.
Workshops start at just 29€ per 3 hour workshop (less than 25€ with the discount!)
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Our aim with Sofia Improv Festival this year is to create an immersive experience.
One that will expand the boundaries of improvisation and create a safe space for everyone to have fun and play.
We have invited three distinct groups of improvisers, each with its unique signature and play style.
We want everyone to dive deep into a new territory so we focused on mainly 6 hour workshops for intermediate to advanced improvisers.
The workshops have been carefully selected and cover a wide range of topics.
If you prefer learning a playful joyous type of improv or want to jump in a silent play - join "La Carpe Haute"'s workshops.
If patient storytelling is your thing or you wan to focus on emotion. Take a look at what "B.I.G." has to offer.
Finally Lee and Inbal will show you how to play Duo, with a person from the audience or use conflict in a scene.
Pick up the style that suits you best of explore one that you've never tried. Join us on this one of a kind journey!
TCheck out these talanted improvisers, joining us on the Light and Dark side journey
SHOWS
Gallery
Why Sofia?
Low Prices
From flights and accommodation to workshops and food - everything is cheaper in Sofia!
Check out this accurate prices comparison website and see for yourself!
Book a flight now!
Community
Sofia has one of the fastest growing improv communities in Europe!
Since its foundation in 2013 ShiZi Improv Theater has opened up an improv club with a bar and a dedicated training center with 130 subscribed improvisers.
Theme
This year's festival will be unique!
Our talented guest stars will show you how experienced groups can dive into different genres.
Workshops will further explore diverse formats.
Distances
Our main stage is right across the hallway from
ShiZi Improv Club - our dedicated improv comedy club!
Everything in Sofia is very walk friendly and the city is vibrant and full of life.
Join us now!
Welcome to Sofia! Whether you are an improviser taking a workshop, performing in an improv group, or simply here to watch improv performances in English or Bulgarian language, we know you will enjoy your time in the capital city of Bulgaria.
Surrounded by sprawling parkland, Sofia, lies at the foot of beautiful Vitosha mountain. With a history that stretches over seven millennia, archeological-rich Sofia is one of Europe's oldest cities.
Here are the top reasons you will fall in love with Sofia:
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Flights on Wizz Air and Ryan Air to Sofia are cheap and frequent. A taxi ride from the airport to the Sofia city center is no more than 7 €.
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Sofia, and Bulgaria in general is very inexpensive compared to most places in Europe. A two-bedroom apartment in central Sofia can cost 30 € per day at AirBnb.
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Meals and food in markets are fresh and very cheap. Compare the cost of everyday items in Sofia to a city of your choice.
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Sofia will reward you with delicious and very affordable cuisines of all kinds. There is a relaxed café culture of coffees and sweets.
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Friendly and curious people. Drinking beer with friends in the park during the evenings is very common.
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Many cultural sites to see for free! There are three FREE daily walking tours and other cool tours for the alternative minded.
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The National Historical Museum is one of Eastern Europe's most extensive. Ticket price is only 5 €.
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If you decide that a city break is to your liking, taking a cable car to Vitosha mountain and hiking the Alpine meadows for some fresh air above the city is an easy and quick trip.
Sofia is easily walkable, but also has two modern metro lines, trolleys, trams and buses that traverse the city.
A hidden gem of a city with rich nightlife and diverse artistic landscape. Wide, cobblestone boulevards, charming boutiques and truly electrifying nightlife star in this city of 1.5 million await you in Sofia. Where else do Roman ruins rest alongside old Socialist monuments and newly built glass covered buildings?
Sofia looks unlike most European cities because it is unlike any city you’ve ever visited. Within a few paces, you can see Thracian (an ancient pre-Greek and -Roman) culture, evidence of the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman empires, see medieval Bulgarian kings crowns along with independent Imperial Bulgaria from the late 19th until the mid-20th centuries. And of course, you will see the Bulgaria of the communist/Iron Curtain era along with modern independent Bulgaria, a member of NATO and the European Union.
We look forward to seeing you here!
About ShiZi Improv Theater
We are ShiZi Pro - the first longform improv company in Bulgaria. We are following the Chicago style improv tradition for more than 6 years, doing weekly shows on a 130 seat venue in central Sofia that combine a longform format with monologues and musical improv.
In 2016 we added a Shakespeare style improv show to our repertoire. Since 2018 we are also playing an improvised musical.
We perform every Friday on the above mentioned venue and montly at the newly opened ShiZi Improv Comedy Club.
This will be the forth edition of Sofia International Improv Festival and we are very excited to welcome all our guests!
You can see photos from our show and some more info here.
We can't wait to welcome you to Sofia!
See you in September!
