JULY 1, 2009 – SHOW SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED

Submissions for BBIF 2009 are now closed. This year’s festival boasts over 200 comedians performing in more than 40 improv groups during 7 nights of shows. The tentative show schedule is now online. The workshop schedule and scholarship winners will be announced in the coming weeks. Tickets and passes will be available for online purchase on August 15, 2009.

Hugely popular in San Francisco, The Naked Stage makes its Atlanta debut at BBIF 2009. Presented by the Improv Playhouse of San Francisco and starring Tim Orr, Regina Saisi, Dave Dennision and Lisa Rowland - it takes place on a single set, in traditional stage-play style. The improvisers play one character each with no built-in transitions or scene breaks. All the actors have is the bare stage, a simple suggestion from the audience, and each other.

The Improv Monologue Project is coming to BBIF 2009. The project was started in May of 2007. It was designed to challenge improvisers to perform in a new medium - on camera instead of in front of a live audience. The concept of the project is that all the performers are given the same materials to start with: an unknown location, some type of prop (object or costume) and a 2-minute time limit. IMP plans to shoot 9-12 of these videos during the festival and then sceen them between performance sets each night.

For the first time in its history, BBIF will feature Sketch Comedy! Local sketch groups will be performing before the Black Box Improv Tournament Opening Round shows on FRI 9/11 and SAT 9/12 and Chicago-based sketch group One Two Three will be bringing their comedic stylings to the festival during the main weekend. Additionally, the tournament and sketch shows have been officially integrated into the festival so that both weekends can be promoted as a single event. That means the festival dates are now September 11-20, 2009.

MAY 15, 2009 - THINGS ARE SHAPING UP BIG

The Upright Citizens Brigade Touring Co. will be returning to BBIF in 2009 to perform and teach workshops. The UCB Theatre is one of the greatest producers of comedic talent in America today and the Upright Citizens Brigade Touring Company brings the very best of their theatres in NYC and LA directly to BBIF 2009. It’s your chance to see stars of today and tomorrow live on stage from the theatre that brought you comedy greats like Horatio Sanz, Amy Poehler, Rob Corddry, Ed Helms, MTV's Human Giant, the Daily Show’s Rob Riggle and many many more. Other headliners will be announced in the coming months.

After a wildly successful first run last year, the Black Box Improv Tournament returns on FRI 9/11 and SAT 9/12 at the same swanky venue - Under the Couch. Eight teams enter, one team wins in an elimination-style improv comedy tournament. During each show two teams will fight for survival until the audience decides the winner. Come for the comedy. Come for the action. Come for the pure decision-making power!

BBIF 2009 will include a High School Improv Outreach Program on SUN 9/20. We'll be exposing some local high-schoolers to improv for the first time by giving them workshops taught by some of the best youth improv instructors around. We'll also bring in some existing local and traveling improv high school groups to perform in a High School Improv Showcase. Come check out these minors throw down some major comedic talent.

Lastly, thanks to everyone who submitted during the early submission period. We received submissions from all over the country - 45 total. We'll be getting back to all you early submitters in the coming weeks. We can't wait to see all you guys here in September. And for those who've yet to submit, there are still 16 days left for standard submissions. Get to it!

MARCH 1, 2009 - SUBMISSIONS ARE OPEN

The 2009 Black Box Improv Festival is now seeking submissions from performance groups, instructors and scholarship applicants. There will be a submission fee for performance groups submitting after April 2009... so submit now! If you are interested in teaching at BBIF 2009, don't be shy. We are always on the look out for new instructors so that we can continue keep our workshop selection plentiful and diverse. If you are having financial hardship or just want to save some money, apply for our scholarship and potentially get to see shows and take workshops for free!