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Hoopla Impro
View on WikipediaHoopla Impro is an improvised comedy and drama company that was founded in January 2006 by Steve Roe and Edgar Fernando. Originally based in Balham southwest London, its shows moved to The Miller in London Bridge in 2010 and is the first and longest running improv theatre in the UK.
Key Information
During that time it has grown to become the UK's biggest improvisation training school, teaching thousands of people every year at venues around London. It has collaborated with Google, Facebook,[1] Apple, ITV and Imperial College, and the company has been recommended by Time Out,[2] The Evening Standard[3] and The Daily Telegraph.[4]
In 2017 the company refurbished the Hoopla Improv Theatre, becoming a permanent venue above The Miller. The venue launched in October with a 50-hour improvathon, featuring over 200 improvisers from across the UK.[5]
Annual Hoopla Improv Marathon
[edit]Hoopla runs an annual non-stop show for 29 hours every September, starting from 7pm on the Friday through to midnight on Saturday. It includes over 200 performers - many of whom are present throughout - and over 50 shows.[6][7]
Hoopla's UK & Ireland Improv Festival
[edit]In 2019 Hoopla launched a Improv Festival in London, bringing together improvised comedy acts from around the United Kingdom and Ireland. Among the performances were The Actor's Nightmare, Music Box and The Committee.[8][9]
Regular Performers
[edit]The listed teams are Hoopla-produced house teams, and regular weekend show performers.
| Name | Improv Type | Date Established | Members | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Comediasians | Short-form and Long-form | 2019 | Tulasi Das, Jillian Ellis, Simon Gomes, Mohini Kotecha, Stephen Lee, Aaron Punnen, Yuyu Rau, Gurinder Sandhu, Anasuya Sharma, Anupam Sharma, James Taverner, Holly Thompson, Sheila Ung, Stephen Wan, Duncan Wrigley, Kelsey Yuhara | |
| The Descendants | Narrative long-form House Team | 2018 | Carly Brazier, Carsten Jung, Jess Williamson, Leo Maxwell, Lisa Ronaghan, Matt Cosgrove, Matt Sparkes, Matt Stainsby, Sarah McKinless, Sarah Wiliams, Will Sebastian, Chloe Wittet | |
| Do Not Adjust Your Stage | Long-form | 2010 | Rhys Collier, Tim Grewcock, Shaun Lowthian, Helen O'Donnell, Nick Oram, Freya Parker, Clare Plested, Freya Slipper, Matt Stevens | |
| Do The Right Scene (originally named Nu Z Land) | Multiple | 2017 | Tai Campbell, Monica Gaga, Athena Kugblenu, Kemah Bob, Adam Courting, Joel Semakula, Mary Parker, Rosie Bergonzi, Joshua Jackson, Folusho Falegan | |
| Dreamweaver Quartet | Musical Long-form | 2017 | James Witt, Greg Birks, Francesca Reid, James Irving, Rhiannon Vivian, Fraser Parry | |
| GÄMEZ | Short-form House Team | 2018 | Alastair Thomas, Alice Hudson, Charlotte Gaughan, Chloé Dall’Olio, Dave Heron, Ella Bamforth, Euan Brown, Harriet Hughes, Harry Turnbull, Jack Turner, Jessie Rutland, Miriam Hall, Nadine Bailey, Nell Guy, Rachael Fernandes, Ryan J Murphy, Stephen Wan, Tom Bridge, Unai Garcia | [10] |
| Grand Theft Impro | Improvised Sketch | 2003 | Dylan Emery, Phil Whelans, Charlotte Gittins, Alan Marriott | [11] |
| The Maydays | Long-form | 2003 | Heather Urquhart, Jen Rowe, Katy Schutte, Rebecca MacMillan, John Cremer, Liz Peters, Jules Munns, Rhiannon Vivian, Joe Samuel, Chris Mead, Lloydie James Lloyd, Jennifer Jordan, Edmund Fargher | |
| Michelle | Long-form House Team | 2019 | Chris Rosser, Folusho Falegan, Jon Nguyen, Kate Heward, Lilla Hodossy, Liv Long, Mary Frampton, Max Marcq, Melissa Parker, Michael Kunze, Michal Banai, Paul Creasy, Reanne Farley, Sabrina Luisi, Teresa Senyah | |
| Music Box | Musical Long-form | 2009 | Andrew Gentilli, Greg Birks, Rachel Lyons, Rory Vierya, Lewis Harrison-Barker, Ben Tailor-Hamblin, Tom Hodge | |
| Track 96 | Hip Hop | 2019 | Alicia Mungford, Amelia Mehra, Carsten Jung, Hugh Edwards, Katy Schutte, Michael Kunze, Miriam Hall, Russ Morgan, Sanj Surati, Tulasi Das | |
| The Playground | Multiple | 2015 | Breaking & Entering: Maria Peters, Lauren Shearing. Regular guests: Rachel Parris, Suki Webster, Amy Cooke-Hodgson, Charlotte Gittins, Pippa Evans, Ruth Bratt, Briony Redman | [12] |
| The RH Experience | Long-form | 2008 | Conor Jatter, Luke Spillane, Tom Webster, Will Dixon, Dan Attfield, Ben Murphie, Ella Jean, Tom Bacon |
Diversity
[edit]Hoopla aims to promote diversity in improv and comedy.[13] Hoopla hosts a monthly night for BAME players, run by Do The Right Scene. After a 'Crash Landing' workshop, it presents a performance called 'Special Delivery'.[14] Zeal and runs an LGBT 'Loud and Queer' night at Hoopla.[15] The Playground is an all-female monthly night run by Lauren Shearing and Maria Peters's two-person improv show Breaking & Entering.[16] In 2016 it was named by Time Out as one of "Six all-female comedy gigs not to miss this spring".[17]
Hoopla offers a number of diversity scholarships to people who are unemployed or on low-income, students, key workers, over 60s, under 23, homeless or in sheltered accommodation or BAME.[18]
Media coverage
[edit]Hoopla Impro's work has featured in several leading publications in the United Kingdom. In April 2014, the Evening Standard of London reported on the rise of tech workers in the city attending improvisation classes at Hoopla.[19] In 2017, the British Comedy Guide reported how The Miller was becoming Hoopla Improv's dedicated venue, starting with a 50-hour improvisation marathon.[20]
In June 2019, author Jessica Pan wrote an article for the Guardian on her experiences from a visit to Hoopla.[21]
References
[edit]- ^ "How throwing invisible balls helps top companies with creativity". i.
- ^ "Hoopla Beginners Improv Comedy Class | Things to do in London". Time Out.
- ^ "Seven improv comedy nights you need to go to". Evening Standard. 10 May 2018.
- ^ "London's Best Improv Events". Park Grand Kensington. 16 August 2017.
- ^ Guide, British Comedy (2017-09-11). "Hoopla! to launch dedicated London improv venue with 50-hour marathon". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 2025-10-16.
- ^ Holmes, Paul (17 October 2017). "Hoopla Improv Marathon". The Velvet Onion. Archived from the original on 29 January 2018. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
- ^ "The Hoopla Improv Marathon".
- ^ "Hoopla's UK & Ireland Improv Festival 2019!". Hoopla. 14 December 2018.
- ^ "Improv has got big!". British Comedy Guide. 25 April 2019.
- ^ "GÄMEZ Improv website". gamezimprov.com. 22 November 2023. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
- ^ "Hoopla Improv Marathon". thevelvetonion.com. 17 October 2017. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
- ^ "Six all-female comedy gigs not to miss this spring". www.timeout.com. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
- ^ "Hoopla Improv Festival Returns This April". BroadwayWorld. 28 March 2019.
- ^ "The Black Women Transforming London's Improv Theatre Scene". Black Ballad. 2 January 2020.
- ^ "Show of the Week". The Phoenix Remix. 10 September 2018.
- ^ "Lauren Shearing".
- ^ "Six all-female comedy gigs not to miss this spring". Time Out. 4 May 2016.
- ^ "Diversity Scholarships". Hoopla Impro.
- ^ "Rise of the improv geeks: why London's tech workers are taking comedy". Evening Standard. 28 April 2014.
- ^ "Hoopla! to launch dedicated London improv venue with 50-hour marathon". British Comedy Guide. 11 September 2017.
- ^ Pan, Jessica (17 June 2019). "I was an introvert with a grey life – until I learned to let go on stage". The Guardian.