The Free Association

The Free Association, or The FA, is a London-based improvised comedy theatre and school. It was founded in 2015 and operates two comedy venues and training centres in London. They are currently the largest provider of improvisation training in the UK.[1]

The FA teach, produce and host live improvisational comedy from "The Free Association Theatre" in East London, on the border of Haggerston and Islington[2], and "The FA's Comedy Room" in Camden in North London[3]

Philosophy

As the UK's equivalent[4] to American improv theatres UCB, IO and The Second City, the FA has brought the American-style of improvised comedy to the United Kingdom and adapted it for a British audience.[5]

Playing with a flexible style between the "hard premise" of New York's UCB and the "organic" improv of Chicago's IO. The FA's main focus is the "game of the scene" and the "straight-man" - using these to create grounded comedic scenes.

FA house teams

The following are teams that play regularly at The Free Association, either at weekends or on the weekly Harold Night show. They comprise graduates of The Free Association training programme.[6]

Team Name Activity Type Members Performance
Sweet FA 2015 - Current Graduated Weekend Team Graham Dickson, Michael Orton-Toliver, Katia Kvinge, Briony Redman, Naomi Petersen, Liz Kingsman, Jim Archer, Rhys Collier The Detour
The Wilsons 2015 - Current Graduated Weekend Team Sophia Broido, Chris Gau, Shamus Maxwell, Mariam Haque, Katharine Bennett-Fox, Ian T Day, Shaun Lowthian, Jonathan Broke Freeform, Flash Scenes Opening
The Cartel 2015 - Current Harold Team Alex Holland, Amanda Farley, Freya Slipper, Jez Scharf, Lola-Rose Maxwell, David Elms, Charlie Kemp, Kayleigh Llewellyn The Harold
The 838 2016 - Current Harold Team Tom Levinge, Simon Lukacs, Freddie Sandilands, Ivan Gonzalez, Shivani Thussu, Clare Plested, Alison Thea-Skot, Nathalie Antonia The Harold
My Brother José 2016 - Current Harold Team Lorna Shaw, Scott Oswald, Tamar Broadbent, Alex Morris, Clare Couchman, Nick Everritt, Kerry Gilbert, Steve Violich The Harold
Feast 2017 - Current Harold Team Amanda Stauffer, Becci Ride, Kat Bon, Max Dickens, Matthew Cosgrove, Patrick Dishman, Sophie Dickson, Theo McCabe The Harold
Super Discount Party Store 2017 - Current Harold Team Amy Annette, Clemence Billoud, Victoria Barry, Mathew Gundel, Ruairi McInerney, Nick Brown, Simon Feilder, Sasha Brown The Harold

Other shows

The theatre also hosts ensemble shows performed by players from the House Teams. These include Jacuzii, The Ladies of FA County and Uncle Glen's Menagerie [7]. Guest residencies from other London-based acts such as Do Not Adjust Your Stage, The Petting Zoo and Sorry take place monthly [8] [9]. Jacuzii has played at The Pleasance at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe from 2015 to 2018 [10][11][12].

Training programme

The FA training programme takes place over 6 levels and focuses on learning "The Harold", a form created by Del Close. The training is attended by performers, comedians, and individuals looking for extra confidence and a community.[13]

The Free Association provides improvisation training for businesses, focusing on communication and collaboration[1] through "FA at Work".[14]

Additional work

The Free Association's Michael Orton-Toliver and Chris Gau created the part-improvised "retro-scripted" comedy[15] mockumentary Borderline for Channel 5 in 2016. The show features a number of Free Association-trained performers[16] and was produced by The Royle Family's Ralf Little and directed by Breaking Bad's Matt Jones. Performers Ian Thomas Day, Chris Gau and Shaun Lowthian created the improvised character comedy podcast Fact Up in 2015, featuring guest performers from the theatre and actors, comedians and improvisers from outside The Free Association[17][18]. Now running to over 100 episodes, the podcast featured on BBC Radio 4 Extra's Podcast Radio Hour in 2018, recommended by comedian Cariad Lloyd[19].

References

  1. 1 2 "The Rise Of Improvised Comedy By Sarah Powell". Retrieved 2018-05-17.
  2. ↑ "Google Maps". Google Maps. Retrieved 2018-05-17.
  3. ↑ "Google Maps". Google Maps. Retrieved 2018-05-17.
  4. ↑ "The Free Association: JACUZZI". Fest Magazine. 2016-08-07. Retrieved 2018-05-16.
  5. ↑ "London's Newest Craze is Improv Comedy, Apparently". Broadly. 2016-01-01. Retrieved 2018-05-17.
  6. ↑ "The Players". The Free Association | Improv Class | Improvisation Classes | Improv Comedy | London. Retrieved 2018-07-17.
  7. ↑ "FA Shows". The Free Association | Improv Class | Improvisation Classes | Improv Comedy | London. Retrieved 2018-05-17.
  8. ↑ "FA Shows". The Free Association | Improv Class | Improvisation Classes | Improv Comedy | London. Retrieved 2018-05-17.
  9. ↑ "Do Not Adjust Your Stage". Do Not Adjust Your Stage | London. Retrieved 2018-07-17.
  10. ↑ "The Free Association Jacuzii". The List. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
  11. ↑ "The Free Association Jacuzii". Fest Magazine. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
  12. ↑ "The Free Association Jacuzii". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
  13. ↑ Sargent, Emily (2017-07-27). "Take one introvert with stage fright and put her in front of an audience . ." The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2018-05-17.
  14. ↑ "Bring Improv Skills Into Your Business | FA Improv". The FA at Work. Retrieved 2018-05-17.
  15. ↑ Borderline (TV Series 2016– ), retrieved 2018-05-17
  16. ↑ Borderline, David Avery, Jackie Clune, David Elms, retrieved 2018-05-17
  17. ↑ Verdier, Hannah (2017-08-18). "Hear Here: Hot sex tips, ambition monsters and why life has never been so good – podcasts of the week". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2018-07-17.
  18. ↑ "Fact Up Podcast on Soap". SOAP. Retrieved 2018-07-17.
  19. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 Extra Podcast Radio Hour". BBC Radio. Retrieved 2018-07-17.
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