downtown – Silverbacks Improv Theatre

Silverbacks 8th Annual Holiday Show!

It’s that time of year again! On Friday, December 13th, Silverbacks Improv Theatre will interpret their signature improvisations through the lens of a brand new, completely made up Holiday!

For this show, each of the performers will be wearing a Holiday Sweater and invite the audience to do the same. ANY Holiday themed items are welcome – the audience is invited to wear their finest Christmas, Easter, Mardi Gras, or even Groundhog Day sweaters to add to the fun.

Our 7 previously invented holidays are “Paper-Clip Appreciation Day” (2012), “Garden Gnome Day” (2013), “Leonardo DaVinci’s Mother’s Birthday” (2014), “Picasso-Palooza” (2015), “St. Lampshades Day” (2016), “Structural Support Day” (2017), and “Snowpocalypse: The Anniversary of that One Day It Snowed in Louisiana” (2018) . We can’t wait to celebrate a brand New Holiday and its many wonderful traditions with you.

7:30pm at Cite des Arts, 2nd Stage
Tickets are $10* at the door!
*($8 for Students, Teachers, and Seniors (60+). ID is required for discount)

Silverbacks Present: The 90s!

You spoke up and we listened: We’re throwing it waaaaay back to The 90s again!
Friday, May 17th, 7:30pm @ 2nd Stage at Cité des Arts
$10 general admission
($8 with ID for Students, Teachers, and Seniors!)

On Friday, May 17th at 7:30pm, Silverbacks Improv Theatre will revisit its popular “90s Sitcom” format. The group will improvise a one-act play inspired by classic 90s television shows, such as Full House, Family Matters, Home Improvement and more.

You could call it: Step by Step Family Improvement Full of Ties in the Wonder Years when a Boy Meets World – “A 90s Sitcom” – Featuring MONIQUE (not that Monique).

Costumed in their best 90’s apparel, the performers will embrace the golden age of family sitcoms (or the lowest sitcoms of all time, depending on your perspective). Family hi-jinks, wacky neighbors, precocious kids, blended families, and coming of age – all are ripe for the picking!

We invite you to relive the decade of TGIF and slap bracelets with us and come dressed up in your most stylin’ 90s threads!

Improv Rumble! 2019

Who’s ready for a Rumble!?

Join us as Lafayette’s improvisers unite for the ultimate spectacle in competitive improvised theater!

The Improv Rumble will pit teams of improvisers against one another in an all-out brawl. Everything’s made up, but YOUR VOTES REALLY COUNT. Who will go home the victor? The answer depends on YOU. Audience members will vote on their favorite performances to determine a team winner.

This show will feature over 30 improv comedy performers, all from South Louisiana. These include Lafayette groups Silverbacks Improv Theatre, Cult of the Stage Monkey, Weaning Process, The Plural Noun and members from The Family Dinner and LATco in Baton Rouge. Improvisers will form mixed teams and compete against each other for the audience’s vote.

This show will focus on short and high energy improv “games” not unlike the popular show “Whose Line is it Anyway.” The Improv Rumble is sure to be full of high energy, big laughs and friendly sportsmanship. See performers who don’t normally perform with each other outside of their element and having a blast.

Come on down and see us Rumble on Friday, February 8, 2019, at 7:30 pm, at Acadiana Center for the Arts. Tickets are $12.

A SuperCollision is scheduled for November 9th!

Join us on Friday, November 9th at 7:30pm at The Omni Center for SuperCollider: Acadiana’s Improv Showcase brought to you by Silverbacks Improv Theatre!

This month will feature The Weaning Process – Improv Troupe and Silverbacks Improv Theatre, with a special Mash-Up set between troupe performances!

Tickets are $10*

*($8 for Students, Teachers, and Seniors (60+). ID is required for discount)

Silverbacks Improv Presents: Lafayette Famous w/ Rob Kirkpatrick on Friday, October 26th!

Silverbacks Improv Theatre‘s “Lafayette Famous” features a mix of improvisation and storytelling. In this format, a local celebrity prepares 3 true stories from their life. The improvisers create scenes based on themes from the stories, bringing performers and audience alike on a humorous journ

ey. This month, we are excited to welcome Rob Kirkpatrick to the Lafayette Famous stage!

Rob Kirkpatrick isn’t originally from Lafayette, but he likes to say he got here as quickly as he could. He hosts Acadiana’s Morning News weekday mornings on NewsTalk 96.5 KPEL. It may surprise you that someone who reports news doesn’t take himself too seriously. Rob says it takes a sense of humor to handle everything that comes across his desk in the KPEL newsroom every day. Rob first started in radio while studying at UL-Lafayette. His first TV job was working alongside the KATC’s “BIG THREE” Marcelle Fontenot, Jim Hummel and Rob Perillo. In 2010, he took his show on the road and set out for roles in national newsrooms at FOX in Dallas and CNN in Atlanta. He grew up in Mandeville, and made the best decision of his life turning down LSU for the Mass Communication program at UL-Lafayette. Rob’s smile is infectious at the Townsquare Media Studios in Lafayette, where he has proven himself to be a force both on-air and behind the scenes when working for clients. Rob Kirkpatrick is married to Sarah and has two daughters.

Join us for Lafayette Famous at The Omni Center on Friday, October 26th at 7:30pm! Tickets are $10 at the door ($8 with ID for Students, Teachers, and Seniors!)

SuperCollider Improv Showcase – October 12, 2018

Join us on Friday, October 12th at 7:30pm at The Omni Center for SuperCollider: Acadiana’s Improv Showcase brought to you by Silverbacks Improv Theatre!

This October, our featured performance troupes are

The Leather Apron Theatre Co. (LATCo.) is a non-profit comedy theatre collective from Baton Rouge. LATCo. specializes in long form improv comedy and prides itself on constantly pushing the envelope and experimenting with forms, promising for a unique and personal experience for every audience. This Friday, LATCo will present CAROUSEL: a completely improvised ensemble show consisting of character interviews, monologues, and scenes based off of an audience’s suggestion.

Tempo Tantrums Musical Improv are Lafayette’s first and only improv team dedicated solely to the art of short form & long form musical improv, made up of a cast of musical improv enthusiasts from the Lafayette and Baton Rouge improv communities.

Your Spooky Friends are Lafayette’s all-new Improvised Horror Troupe, creating improvised horror shows in the style of classic serialized horror shows like The Outer Limits, Are You Afraid of the Dark, and the Twilight Zone.

Tickets are $10*
*($8 for Students, Teachers, and Seniors (60+). ID is required for discount)

Silverbacks Present: The 90s Sitcom!

We’re throwing it waaaaay back to The 90s!

Friday, September 28th, 7:30pm @ The Omni Center
$10* general admission
*($8 with ID for Students, Teachers, and Seniors!)

On Friday, September 28th at 7:30pm, Silverbacks Improv Theatre will revisit its popular “90s Sitcom” format. The group will improvise a one-act play inspired by classic 90s television shows, such as Full House, Family Matters, Home Improvement and more.

You could call it: Step by Step Family Improvement Full of Ties in the Wonder Years when a Boy Meets World – “A 90s Sitcom” – Featuring MONIQUE (not that Monique).

September’s SuperCollider Lineup!

Join us on Friday, September 14th at 7:30pm at The Omni Center for SuperCollider: Acadiana’s Improv Showcase brought to you by Silverbacks Improv Theatre!

The September 14th SuperCollider will feature:

The Plural Noun – Miraculously emerging from improv classes, perhaps driven by their collaborative Gen X Millennial angst, The Plural Nountakes an innovative approach to traditional improv games and scene structures. In the words of one Noun, “we like to break things and tape them back together, like our combat boots.”
Rag Tag – Girls, Girls, Girls……. doing improv. Rag Tag is an all female improv troupe bringing you high energy free form improv. “They’re hysterical and actually funny” said one testosterone filled man. Rag Tag’s performances are as rare as a phoenix rising from the ashes in the sun, but when it happens it’s majestic. Fully dressed and still entertaining!
The Family Dinner (Baton Rouge) – Performing for 15 years, The Family Dinner out of Baton Rouge is known for their energy-loaded and physical improv. They excel at impossibly hard guessing games and musical games. They perform regularly at the Shaw Center for the Arts in downtown Baton Rouge to full houses.

See all three troupes for the price of one! Only $10 for a night full of fun.
The September 14th show starts at 7:30pm at The Omni Center!

Improv: Level One IS BACK!

DOWNTOWN LAFAYETTE –

Local Improv Comedy Troupe, Silverbacks Improv Theatre, will begin another round of improv classes starting in September. Silverbacks began offering improv classes in the summer of 2015, and has had great success and fun with their students. Improv troupes Weaning Process and The Plural Noun even found their beginnings in Silverbacks improv classes.

The Silverbacks will begin by offering Improv 1. Students will then have the option to continue to Improv 2 or 3 if they choose.

IMPROV LEVEL ONE is an entry-level course to the joys and thrills of improvisation, or improv. Students will learn and practice the application of “group mind” and the all-important “yes, and” – and other improv concepts and vocabulary. Students will practice new skills, perform and play in a safe, low-stakes and friendly atmosphere.

LEVEL ONE is perfect for the super fan of comedy or improv who has yet to perform, the curious introvert wanting to try something new or someone looking to improve their public speaking or quick decision making skills. At the conclusion, you can move on to Level Two or continue to take LEVEL ONE again – as many times as you’d like. You’re sure to get something new out of it each time!

Level One students will also have the perk of free entry to all Silverbacks improv shows while they are taking classes

Still on the fence? Hear from a former student!

“Silverbacks Improv Theatre classes were a great experience. I felt like I was in a slump, and these classes lifted me up. I made friends, gained confidence, and had the opportunity to play. The teachers miraculously offer a relaxed yet rigorous environment where challenge is welcome, but never judgment.” -Leslie Tidwell

Improv 1 – A Silverbacks Improv Class (Teacher Aren Chaisson)
Dates: Saturdays, Sept 8 – Oct 6th, 2018
Time: 11:00am – 1:00pm
Ages: 16+
Cost: $100
Where: The Omni Center, 227 Jefferson St, Lafayette, LA 70501

Online registration and payment is available at: https://squareup.com/store/silverbacks-improv-theatre

Or send a Private Message to the Silverbacks Improv Theatre Facebook page or by calling 337-205-2129

Aren Chaisson III is a Rosie Award winning actor from Lafayette, Louisiana. He is a Talented Theatre teacher in Iberia Parish. He studied improv with Armando Diaz at the Magnet Theatre in NYC. Before that, he was a founding member of Hubbub Improv Troupe in Lafayette. Aren graduated from University of Louisiana at Lafayette with a BFA in Performing Arts. He studied commercial acting with Sean Bradley at The Green Room in Chicago and worked with Bill Coelius to being his commercial acting class to Lafayette.