It's 'girls vs boys' at this improv comedy event in Mumbai

A moment from a previous improv night. Pic courtesy/The Negative School

While some might say that it is the build-up to a joke that sets the humour for the audience, one can very well argue that it is in the spontaneity of a punch line, that one moment of revelation which brings out the laugh. This skill of cracking a joke on spot or improv comedy, as it is called, will be the deciding criteria for city-based collective, Negative School's Improv Cage Brawl scheduled at a city venue this Friday.

Artistes act out a slide show during an improv performance

"This is the fifth edition of our improv brawls and the first one where we are pitting girls and boys against each other. Given how male-dominated the improv world is, the idea was also to promote female participation in this art form. We need to see more women having silly fun on stage to change the narrative," Neeltarni Pratap, one half of the collective and a former student of iO West Improv Theatre and Training Centre in Los Angeles, explains.

Taking one-word prompts from the audience, the participants will try to riff on the suggestions to build a comedic sketch. "It is another one of the ways to explore the nuances of comedy through improv. Before the battle, the artistes create an atmosphere of revelry by asking the audience who they think is going to win and then we get into it. This time we have performers from the school as well as people from around the city," Krishan Hooda, co-founder, shares.

Neeltarni Pratap and Krishan Hooda

Inspired from the American improv show, Whose Line Is It Anyway? the brawl intends to provide a platform to young artistes to test their skills with a live audience and bring the community together. "Our workshops and performances aren't just about comedy - they're about creating safe, vibrant spaces where spontaneity, storytelling, and human connections can thrive. We are also conducting a momprov - an improv where mothers will get to battle it out in a fun session this Sunday," Hooda reveals before signing off.

ON May 9; 10:15 pm
AT Veda Black Box, Bada Maidan Road, Aram Nagar Part 2, Versova.
LOG ON TO in.bookmyshow.com
Cost Rs 293