Improv Asylum is an improvisational comedy theater in the North End of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1998 by Paul D'Amato, Norm Laviolette, and Chet Harding. The theater produces multiple shows per week including its critically acclaimed mainstage

Mainstage

Main stage theatre is that which falls between studio theatre and large-scale events. It is usually performed in a proscenium theatre or on a thrust stage. Main stage is also used to describe the performance space with the largest audience capacity at a performing arts festival or other venues.-...

 show. The mainstage show is a blend of both sketch comedy

Sketch comedy

A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...

 and improvised scenes.

In December, Improv Asylum hosts "No Rest for the Wicked Funny," a 24-hour charity show for Globe Santa, a fund to purchase holiday gifts for underprivileged children.

In the spring of 2010, Improv Asylum produced "You're a Good Man, Scott Brown," an original musical satirizing the United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, 2010

United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, 2010

The 2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts was a special election held on January 19, 2010, in order to fill the Massachusetts Class I United States Senate seat for the remainder of the term ending January 3, 2013...

. Written and directed by Jeremy Brothers, the show garnered the attention of Senator Scott Brown

Scott Brown

Scott Brown is a United States senator.Scott Brown may also refer to:-Sportsmen:*Scott Brown , American college football coach of Kentucky State...

 and his wife, WCVB reporter Gail Huff

Gail Huff

Gail Huff is a former American broadcast journalist and television reporter for WCVB-TV, Channel 5, the ABC network affiliate in Bostonand the wife of Scott Brown, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts. She has been employed as a reporter at WCVB since 1993, working the 3-10 a.m. shift while her...

 who both attended the performance on March 31st, 2010.

In addition to the theater in the North End of Boston, Improv Asylum also has had shows in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 and Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

. Improv Asylum also offers a training center where students can learn the art of improvisation.

External links

• The Improv Asylum
• The Improv Asylum North End
• Improv Comedy Business Thriving in Tough Economy
• No More Group Hugs with Frank from Accounting; Training Your Head to Think on its Feet!
• Article: A funny thing happened...(Arts and Lifestyle)
• Article: Staying on track by training; Firms help workers boost their mental and physical health.(Careers)
• Article: Acting out: improv exercises cultivate team building, customer service skills, brainstorming and more.(training agenda)
• Article: Out of the Box, Onto the Stage; With Ad-Libbed Verbal Volleys, Improvisation Classes Lure Corporate Executives Looking for Expanded Creativity
• Article: Branson or Bust; Boston's Funny Boys' 96-Hour Quest to Pin Down Virgin CEO.