I gradually slide up the fader and the lights appear on stage, here I am in the tech booth and I still cannot believe that I am sitting in a room doing the tech for some of my improv heroes and some of the best improvisers on the UK comedy scene. All because I voluntarily trained to learn how to do them via Hoopla and then responded to an email, here I am doing the tech for Guest Speaker for Suki Webster and Lee Simpson – for some of you, those words will not mean anything, for others those words will mean a lot and they will understand the big deal that those two improviser are.

Hoopla Impro, a name that is prestigious in the Improv community in the capital, if you are an improviser or a fan of the comedy form then this is the home of it in London. It is a company that have taught thousands of people from all over the world how to perform improv, they are a company that has trained businesses, promoted the comedy form left right and centre and also the place where many many people perform and forget their nerves and entertain hundreds of crowds. It is not just a place for the fellow improviser, many audience members enter the theatre on a regular basis.

The Miller, a pub that is hidden away behind Guy’s Hospital, near London Bridge Station, it is a place that may not be known to some but to many many people it is one of the main places in the capital for Improv comedy. The bold red walls surrounding the building don’t just hold the world of theatre shows it also is the home of a community that has been enjoyed and loved by a lot of people.

For years, I have spoken about The Miller on this website as it was a place that I would perform at regularly and also write about a lot (which you can follow by reading here). London can be a very intimidating place and when I moved back in 2016 to join the improv scene I found it incredibly daunting to get my head around it as it was so different to what I was used to in Newcastle but the Miller and the Hoopla Community were welcoming and it was a place where I learnt how to get involved, meet new people and enjoy improv on a different level.

There has always been a huge demand for improvisers wanting to perform on stage at The Miller, that is how popular and important it is. Since I started going there on a regular basis, I found it hard to always get the space at the regular shows. This was not a problem because the Hoopla team gave me advice on how to book privately and I ended up having a great relationship with the members who worked at The Miller as I was always in constant contact to book the room monthly for our own improv shows Punderstandably presents Improv Towers.

The Miller is a place that holds a lot of good memories and I have a lot of things that I will always be thankful to it. The pub was the place I leant how to tech a show, it is where I got to MC, developed my understanding how to promote a show (and get it to sell out on a Tuesday pretty much everytime), understand how to produce a show (which I learnt I was good at and helped me figure out where the next step may be in my career), make new friends, fall in love – not in a relationship kind of way but discover the way others improvise and fall for the way they performed on stage.

In a capital city, it can be hard to find somewhere that allows you to perform so freely without having to bring along someone as an audience member or having to pay a fee. This place has always been somewhere that allows you to have a go on stage no matter how experienced you are and that is what makes it special and unique. It is also a place that is welcoming of other improv companies – over the years I was part of London improv, they would help other companies if they needed space for shows, they would help provide.

I don’t live in London anymore, I moved away because I wanted to escape for a different sort of life. I always found living in the capital a very lonely experience and it is very easy to feel lost when it is a place full of tourists and a life where people just commute and do not talk to one another. Places like The Miller and Hoopla Impro are what makes them so special. It was a place where I never felt lonely, I always felt included and it was always there as a reliable friend as and when you needed it. It is also a place I met so many people that I would not normally have met in everyday life as our careers or paths would not cross. That is why it is also so special.

It is a place that will always hold a strong place in my heart with so many memories here are few that stand out:

+ Dancing like crazy to Backstreet Boys with a fellow improviser to warm up for shows
+ Leading 40 people in a warm up before a show
+ My team climbing through the audiences chairs to take an improv game to a whole new level
+ Singing so many made up songs
+ Making loads of people laugh
+ Improv Marathons where so many people would take to the stage and perform unique 10 minute sets that they only made up for that day – all sorts of themes from Pokemon to shows with Pies involved
+ Hearing audience members who never knew improv was a thing until they came to shows telling us how much they loved it and laughed until they cried.

It was brought to my attention last week that there are plans to get rid of the Miller.

There are plans to knock down the pub and other buildings surrounding it to build new lab facilities. (You can read about it here) London is a capital city and like many I understand that it has to grow and develop with the times but at the same time this is not just any old pub, this has been a community and a family for so many people.

I could not just ignore something that has been a huge part of the improv scene for so many years that has been hidden away and magic for many.

Over the years I have interviewed hundreds of improvisers and the Miller (above is just a handful of photos i have been given fro this website over the years of acts performing on it’s stage) is a place where a lot of them grew, were able to show their individuality and shine in a world that they may not necessarily feel they can in other places. It is not just a pub with the odd sticky floors, small outside space and variations of drinks, it is a home for many people, a safe space for others and a community. I have friends that are not even into improv and they have returned to the pub on their own with their own friends because it is such a welcoming environment.

The location has not just been the home of improvisers, it is also a place where some top comedians have performed, BBC Three Comedy sketches have been filmed, documentaries have used and so much more.

As an improviser, I felt I had to write something. This location may be small but it sure is mighty. It has a lot of comedy history and has been the home to some phenomenal acts, if it wasn’t for this pub so many improv shows that are huge today at locations like the Edinburgh Fringe and even the West End would not even exist because they originally developed on this stage. To lose The Miller would be like loosing a huge part of the community and that is a thought I do not even want to think about.

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