This month the Amsterdam Improv Marathon is being held on the 19th May and will run for 12 hours showcasing a whopping 40 acts that will perform improv in either English or Dutch! The event is held across two stages the ‘YES Stage’ which runs between the times 12-midnight with Six different blocks of shows and the ‘AND Stage’ which is open 2-22 and has 4 different blocks of shows. Over the next few weeks we will be interviewing some of the acts from the marathon to show you just some of the improv acts that are on offer.

We sat down with Amsterdam based Improv troupe easylaughs to find out more about the set that they are bringing to the Marathon.

STAGE: The ‘YES’ Stage
BLOCK: 6
TIME SLOT: 22:00 – 00:00

Hello easylaughs! Tell us about your improv troupe!

We are an international improv comedy group in Amsterdam, playing short and long form improv for almost 15 years.

How did you come up with the name of you troupe easylaughs?

We wanted to make a community based group where people would come to the shows and workshops to meet and make friends. We started with the idea of “Cheap Laughs” but decided we didn’t want to be considered “cheap” but latched instead on the easyJet/easyhotel/easyCruise idea of being a “low frills but high quality” comedy show.

Tell us a little bit about your style of improv?

We are fast-paced, and use strong characters and narrative to play our scenes.

What will your set be about?

We are doing “Scenes from a Bucket” which means we get ideas from the audience on pieces of paper and pull them out of the bucket. So we don’t know at all what might happen! 🙂

What other acts are you looking forward to?

I always enjoy watching the home team, the Tagout Players. And I’ve never seen the staged version of the Werewolves game, that should be a lot of fun.

What is the improv scene like in Amsterdam?

I think the scene is very lively. Theatersports has been popular for years in Holland and the city is very international, which allows English speaking groups to thrive.

What have been some of your favourite shows to date and why?

I’m a big fan of genre work, so I always like it when we do formats based on popular genres or shows. We are currently doing a murder mystery and a black-mirror like show, which are both fun for characters and storylines.

A lot of people at the moment are trying to transition improv into video to post on social media channels – do you think this works for improv or do you think the art form is lost in the transition?

I think it’s a viable option but I have to admit I spend not so much time on watching improvised scenes on youtube. I do like it when a group has some samples of their work, shows or scenes that have been filmed. I’ve watched the scenes from 3forall more times then I’d like to admit!

What have been some of the most unique and different improv sets you have seen this year and why?

Some of the groups from France have an amazing physicality that I love to watch. Really any group from another city or country is always going to offer a new take, or new insights into the form.

If people want to find out more about you where can they follow you on social media?

http://www.easylaughs.nl, and of course, like us on Facebook: ttps://facebook.com/easylaughs

And Finally in three words – Why should people come and see the show?

IT IS FUN!