Vintage Improv Festival

For improvisers 50+

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VIF 2020 IS NOW A GLOBAL VIRTUAL FESTIVAL


Vintage Improv Festival 2020 : A Global Online Festival


VIF is the world’s first and only major improv festival dedicated to performance by experienced  Vintage improvisers age 50 and over.  From a just a vision five years ago, over the past 2 years,  VIF has actively pushed the boundaries while working to  create and expand possibilities. This year, festival will continue to adapt, pioneer and reinvent. As VIF  contributes to developing the emerging artform of virtual improvisation, we will expand the possibilities to  learn and play together across geographic boundaries.   . 

Just as the in-person Festival fosters  the formation of relationships amongst Vintage improvisers  , the measure of VIF 2020 will be determined by how successfully we reach that  goal. Also VIF will focus on developing and presenting educational and performance content specifically designed to be engaging in a virtual setting. Performances will again include invited preexisting Vintage Troupes and Curated teams  who work together intensively on a specific improv format during the festival.  

By creating and participating in this  virtual, online festival , participants at VIF 2020  make their mark as adventurous trendsetters who will significantly contribute to the development of a new artistic phenomenon  we are calling virtual improvisation.  VIF’s  Featured Faculty  roster includes David Razowsky, Jay Sukow, Tom Tollenaere, Deana  Criess, Brian Palermo, Ji, Karwisch and John Windmueller. And as you might expect from the creative resilience of the  Vintage community that they reflect, each of them has experience in teaching and performing in this new online art form.


This year we celebrate the third Vintage Improv Festival by using the opportunity provided by CoVID19 and social distancing to accomplish something very positive for our community. VIF is creatively improvising around restrictions imposed by CoVID19 ,social distancing and the increased risks of travel for for folks aged 60+  until a vaccine is developed. YES it was unanticipated AND  by going online we can improvise from the comfort and safety of our living rooms while extending our scenes across broad geographic boundaries! 


  1. We will offer a pre-festival New Faces Track for those who wish to establish  credentials a virtual  festival instructor. Some of these New Faces will be selected to participate in our Global Vintage Improv Outreach by providing free workshops during the festival.
  2. Costs for everyone will be less this year.
  3. More vintage groups can apply to perform because the whole team won’t the expense of traveling to Boston. 
  4. More instructors may be able to participate since they won’t have to spend time traveling which leads to more diverse possibilities for curated teams and workshops. 
  5. We can feature more international instructors. 
  6. We can  offer a few workshops and acts in a language other than English.  
  7. We can offer modest stipends to assist in paying a coach for the creation of one or two minority, vintage troupes who would not be able to practice and perform together without that assistance. 
  8. For the first time VIF is able to offer improv workshops to anyone age 50 or over-not just our performance track improvisers. These 90 minute workshops will be  offered on a pay as you go basis and are open to anyone registered for Vintage improv Festival. They will be targeted to three levels -beginner, intermediate and advanced. They are not linked to a performance..
  9. We will offer an intergenerational curated team where grandparents and their grandchildren who are experienced improvisers of any age will learn and perform together during the festival
  10. We will be leading innovators in the new artform of virtual improvisation!


Additional Invited Faculty will be announced at later dates. This year any person who registers for VIF will have the opportunity to take online workshops, regardless of improv experience.

General Registration 

This is the entry point for all participants at the festival. Registration opens up access to signing up for stand alone workshops, performance tracks, all performances and invitations to virtual social activities, panels and forums. Everyone involved in VIF 2020 must complete the general registration. This is nonrefundable.

Early Bird  prior to July 15:                     25 USD per person 
Regular Registration:                                 30 USD per person


Vintage Explorers Flex-Track 
Once you have paid the non-refundable General Registration, the Virtual Explorers Flex-Track  is open to you. In fact, anyone who turns age 50 or more in 2020 is welcome to join us! 

You may be someone who just wants to watch the shows, attend the virtual parties and schmooze with the performers. You might be someone who has always wanted to check out improv but life got in the way. The Explorer Flex-Track is a great option for beginners all the way up to advanced improvisers who don’t want to perform and desire flexibility during the Festival.  Experience the flexibility included in a wide range of workshop options. Typically 60-90 minutes, these are all  for exploring new possibilities in improv. They are offered for a modest fee.  Specific offerings open up closer to the Festival and are available on a first come first serve basis. Please sign up for our feed or check back frequently. 



Performance Based Track 

If you are an experienced improviser eager to develop your performance skills in this emerging artform, this is the Track for you, All performers complete the non-refundable general registration and complete an audition process as an individual. All selected performers participate in at least 1 curated intensive experience that works toward a virtual performance during the festival that is directed by one of our featured faculty. Ideally accepted performers will choose 2-3 intensives to achieve the maximum performance experience offered by the Festival but the minimum is 1 curated team for each performer.

All new performance-based participants are selected through a virtual audition process. Performance track participants can additionally apply to perform at the Festival as a pre-existing Vintage troupe. Performers selected for the performance track take take 9-18 hours of intensive small-group instruction together and will perform virtually as a Troupe.  The Festival will feature invited unpaid performances by pre-existing Vintage Troupes who demonstrate successfully engaging shows in a digital format.

Vintage Troupe Track:

Preexisting Vintage Troupes may submit application to perform at the festival.  If all Troupe members have already submitted the non-refundable General Registration, there is no additional fee for Vintage Troupe Track auditions. 2020 auditions will include a video of your Zoom based offering. That Zoom video does not have to be performed in front of a live audience. Its purpose is to demonstrate that your format translates well into this new 2-D medium. Since the mission of VIF is to create community, invited troupe members should be prepared to register for and participate in at least one curated team experience in the Performance Track.

New Faces Instructor Track
Not a veteran festival instructor with a national following? Any Vintage improviser who has completed the nonrefundable General Registration,  may apply to this program which may lead to teaching  or assisting a more experience faculty member in one-off workshops during the Festival.

Anyone may audition for this track. The successful applicant will have advanced experience in improv, an educational background of some sort either by experience or training and experience performing as well as taking workshops at festivals. They will have computer access for Zoom and time to take the training as scheduled.

Please complete General Registration prior to applying for this track. There is a sliding scale for submitting an application and for the nominal track tuition.

The primary purpose of this track is to provide Festival teaching experience for Vintage performers and should not be considered an income generator. If you are a Vintage performer but have not been a featured faculty member at a nationally recognized Improv Festival this is an opportunity designed for you. You will need to make a pitch. Please work on your recording of a 10-15 minute Zoom-based instructional  example even if your students are of the non-paying persuasion. This will not be required for the initial submission but must be presented upon request with deadlines outlined in the application for this track. During this pre-festival track, you will be developing and presenting a full Zoom-based workshop for consideration of inclusion as a Global Outreach workshop,


Invited Faculty Track

VIF receives many expressions of interest to teach. If you are an experienced, festival veteran instructor who is interested in becoming an invited faculty member for VIF 2020, please complete the nonrefundabale General Registration and request the online Invited Faculty Track Application. 

An important  mission of our non-profit is the create a sense of community. While we recognize that your contribution to our festival is important, we also recognize the importance of you and our age demographic. In keeping with that mission VIF believes that each person involved in VIF should support the development of our entire community. Every one that participates in VIF pays a  General Registration fee in support of the Festival. We hope you  will find us worthy of your support regardless of whether or not we can offer you a teaching spot. If an offer is mutually accepted, we  anticipate the fee structure will reimburse the expense. We are in the virtual Wild west here with regard to holding an online Festival. We have multiple models we are open to considering for providing and compensating you for your workshop offerings. 

Once your registration form is submitted, it will unlock the submission packet for invited faculty/
Details are available in application.

Vintage instructors are encouraged to apply but there is no specific age restriction for faculty. A love of working with mature improvisers is a must!!!

 



Dedicated to the proposition that comedy gets better with age, a Vintage Improv Festival (VIF) is a joyous celebration of the Art of Improvisation featuring improvisers who are at least 50 years old. Through performances and in learning community over one jam-packed weekend, each Festival is designed to support the Vintage community while reaching out to the general public through performance to foster intergenerational appreciation and communication. Sponsored by Vintage Improv Festival, Inc. a nonprofit organization based in the Boston Massachusetts area, the organization is committed to working with other cities to sponsor regional VIF spinoffs in order to meet the needs of a growing and underserved improv demographic.