For the second year of the Improv ME Festival, set for Nov. 6 and 7 at the Next Generation Theatre in Brewer, organizers have learned from the first year of the event — but aren’t changing the basic premise. Two days of improvisational comedy, featuring groups and performers from all over New England.
“Last year, we definitely figured things out as we went along,” said Allen Adams, one of the founding members of The Focus Group, the Bangor-based improv group that organizes the festival each year. “This year, we’re expanding on all the things we did last year.”
Three sessions are set for 8:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6 and 5 and 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7. Session one, on Friday night, features The Focus Group, Running With Scissors out of Portland, and ImprovAcadia out of Bar Harbor. Session two, at 5 p.m. Saturday, features the Bangor Improv Group, comprised of alumnus of the improv classes at Penobscot Theatre Company, the Teachers Lounge Mafia out of Farmington, and, new to the festival, the Improvised Puppet Project from Portland, which does improv comedy with — you guessed it — puppets.
Finally, Saturday night’s 8 p.m. session will feature The Focus Group again, plus two groups from out of state — the Providence Improv Guild from Rhode Island, and Improv Boston.
“We have longstanding connections with a lot of these groups, but now we’re really branching out and forging connections across New England,” said Adams. “The first few years [of The Focus Group] we were kind of on an island, but it’s not like that anymore.”
Admission for each session of the Improv ME Festival is $10. For more information, like The Focus Group on Facebook. The Next Generation Theatre is located at 39 Center St. in Brewer.
