Jennifer Drew Pictures by Jennifer Jordan   I wanted to write something, but couldn’t get an idea to land. Nothing stuck, nothing stayed, nothing gave me joy. Then I taught a Beginners class on character and played my favourite game of ‘Sassy Carrot’ (You may also know it by another name of ‘Adjective+Noun’). Every time...

Scholarship Blog: Maydays Improv Retreat 2021 By Hon Chong   After having a bit of time to personally reflect on and digest my experience, I’ve finally managed to write down my highlighted experiences and thoughts from my first Maydays Improv Retreat.   Before the Retreat On 5.10.2021, I received an email from Maydays with the...

The Difference Between Simple and Easy by Katy Schutte   When most people see (good) improvisation, they don’t believe that it’s made up in the moment. There will always be a cynicism that the performers have somehow scripted a whole play or comedy show then found ways to change it just enough to fit in...

A Retreating Look Back (at MIR21 Photos)…   Hello there. You may have heard that we had a bit of a fun time at the annual Maydays Improv Retreat this year at Ashorne Hill. Well, not content with word of mouth, I brought my camera with me and took snaps of as many shows, classes...

Corporate improv and why we shouldn’t call it that.   There is a business park* around the corner from my house and whenever I walk through it I have a good old chuckle to myself about the names of some of the companies:    Quadrant Systems – Are the systems in quadrants or for quadrants?...

With our 13th Annual Improv Retreat just over a week away, we read a post from Lela Stepgood who has attended a number of improv residentials, including our own. She has written a brilliant blog post giving tips on how to thrive at an improv residential. It is well worth a read, check it out...

Emotional Connection   When I started improvising I was in love with the more showy elements of the craft. I adored watching people be witty. I laughed in delight at clever plot moves or audacious character choices.   Currently, I’m mostly interested in connection. How do we forge a true and stable connection to our...

Slow down. The wheels won’t fall off… A slightly longer read. Just the other week on the Maydays podcast we spoke about what we’d all been up to. I mentioned that I am almost finished on a painting that has taken two years to complete. Yes, Covid happened in that time, but it still feels...

I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of the improv community for a while now. I’ve been in a bunch of groups. I still feel very strongly about my first group, like a first love.  Others have come and gone in the meantime, too. And from time to time a newer improviser will ask...

The Future of The Maydays/Nursery Collaboration When the pandemic struck in 2020, the directors of London-based Nursery Theatre and the Brighton-based Maydays were quick to join forces to become an online improvisation course provider. In part, to help their staff and teachers pay their rent and in part to keep the joy of improv alive...

We’ve had the best time playing in real life with our Brighton Improv community again. Our weekly improv drop-ins have been a delight with after class actual pints together in an actual pub! Our first monthly Musical improv drop-in was a blast and we’re super stoked to see so many of you back in beautiful...

The Maydays are awarding a diversity scholarship to the Maydays Improv Retreat (Ashorne Hill, 21st-24th October 2021) in memory of our friend, teacher and mentor Jason Chin. Jason was a huge influence on the development and spirit of the Maydays. At a practical level our show, “Tonight’s Top Story”, was blatantly stolen from the format...

CALL FOR APPLICANTS We’re recruiting improvisation teachers! The Maydays are committed to diversity, and we hope to receive applications from candidates with a broad range of backgrounds including but not limited to: race, ethnicity, gender, gender identification, sexual orientation, class and physical ability. The Maydays are one of the UK’s longest-running improvisation companies established in...

Brighton Improv Courses ‘In Real Life’ Autumn 2021   It’s been a long time coming but finally we are able to schedule some ‘in real life’ Brighton Improv courses. I thought I’d write a little blog about what we have coming up and what you can expect.   When will Brighton Improv Courses start up...

Podcasts made me an improviser, and improv made me a podcaster. By Edmund Fargher. Improv has become a turning point in my personal journey that I never saw coming. It changed the shape of my career. It changed the way I interact with people. It might seem like a trite sentiment, but improv has changed...

Brighton Improv Drop-in classes updates   It was our Brighton improv drop-in run by John that was the spark that started the Maydays back in 2004. The Thursday drop-in was the very first of our classes that we took online so it only seemed right that it was the first class we brought back after...

Noted! by Mayday, Liz Peters I have a collection of notebooks. Well-loved, well scribbled, both messy and neat depending on which flavour of me grabs them in any given moment. Over my lifetime I’ve filled notebooks of ramblings; notebooks that have documented adventures through jungles and deserts; notebooks for trying to understand my own psychology;...

Would my cat hate my improv shows? By Lloydie James Lloyd During the first lockdown, my home welcomed Yoda the cat. He is now 11 months old and we get on incredibly well but there is a small question about him that is bugging me; would Yoda hate my improv shows? We all want validation...

A Maydays Guide to European Improv Festivals   As the weather changes and people around the world start to make tentative plans for in-person events, I started to get excited about the idea of going back to improv festivals again. The Maydays have been very lucky to play at lots of International festivals over the...

‘Anxiety, social awkwardness and starting again’ by The Maydays, Rhiannon Vivian. I’ve always had the capacity to be wildly anxious. But these past 12 months have really turned that dial-up to Whoops It’s Come off In My Hand. Probably for two reasons. One, the world feels like it’s gone to the dogs, and two, being...