About Edinburgh International Improv Festival
Back in 2024
The Edinburgh International Improv Festival is held at the Scottish Storytelling Centre in Scotland's beautiful capital city. It's four days of workshops, shows and jams celebrating the best in improv from around the world.
Previous Festivals
We’re proud to have hosted improv greats such as members of New York's RaaaatScraps, Hebecky Drysbell’s Becky Drysdale and Heather Anne Campbell, Will Hines, Julie Brister, Billy Merritt, the cast of the West End hit Showstopper, Chad Carter, John Murray and legendary team Dummy.
Back for year six in 2024, we had the strange privilege of being one of the few festivals who managed to hold an in-person event in February 2020. For our 2021 edition we went online with Seen in Scenes, centered around inclusion in improv and the celebration of diverse voices worldwide. You can watch recordings of our live-streamed panels on our Youtube page.
Meet The Team
Jason Perez
Artistic Director/Co-founder
Jason is originally from outside of Los Angeles (Upland to be more specific) where he started doing improv 16 years ago. He would later go on to train, perform, and/or teach with such companies as Second City, Upright Citizens Brigade, National Comedy Theater, Comedy Sportz, Improv Olympic, and the Peoples Improv Theater. He has also taught improv at numerous high schools, universities, and festivals both back in the states and internationally. Currently, Jason is teaching improv with The Tron Theatre as well as running and performing in shows around Scotland like the KinkyFish Improv Jam and Glasgow Harold Night with the house team Couch. He is also the Co-Director of the Arts Not For Profit, Blank Script Ltd.
Jason could not be more excited about the Edinburgh International Improv Festival. He sees it as an amazing opportunity to show off the amazing talent here in Scotland while also growing the community both locally and internationally.
Michelle McKay
Executive Producer/
Co-founder
Michelle is a freelance theatre producer and actress, co-founder of KinkyFish Theatre Company and Kinkyfish Improv. Michelle trained in Classical and Musical Theatre singing before moving into acting, performing extensively as a child in Scotland, later moving to London to continue her career. With her Business Degree and passion for theatre, moving into Theatre Producing was an obvious choice. Michelle honed her skills as a producer with Theatre503 in London as Resident Assistant Producer before moving back to Scotland. Michelle is working on a number of theatre projects as well as running a regular Improv Jam night with KinkyFish Improv.
Michelle is excited to be bringing Scotland’s first Improv Festival to Edinburgh and playing her part in growing the improv community and introducing new audiences to improv.
Laura Hotchkiss
Marketing Manager
Laura is an experienced marketing manager who has been working in the Scottish media industry for the past decade. As an improviser she can be found regularly performing in Glasgow based team Yer Da and in Dating Crapp at Monkey Barrel Comedy, Edinburgh.
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As well as completing courses at multiple improv schools including UCB and WGIS; Laura has been trained or coached by many great improvisers including Billy Merritt, Will Hines, Sarah Claspell, Shannon O'Neill, Julie Brister, Michael Delaney, Alex Berg, Michelle Gilliam and more.
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She's been behind the marketing of the Ed Improv Fest for a few years now, and loves nothing more than hanging out at the late night jams with international friends old and new.
Board Members
Laura Cheyne (She/Her)
Laura is the Head of Marketing for the National Trust for Scotland and has 16 years’ experience in the marketing industry. She is a long-time supporter of tourism and culture in Scotland, currently sitting on the board of the Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions and the Scottish Tourism Alliance Council and having lead campaigns for award winning attractions such as Stirling Castle and the Battle of Bannockburn centre. Laura has also played a role in national tourism initiatives such as Homecoming 2014 and Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology 2017.
Laura is delighted to be part of the team launching the innovative and exciting Edinburgh International Improv Festival to the bustling Edinburgh Festival scene.
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Kris Keane (He/Him)
Kris is an accountant by trade currently working at Deloitte LLP in Edinburgh.
Outside of the day job Kris is a big fan of music, comedy, film, theatre, etc and frequently has tickets for some event or another! Kris hopes to provide support to the executive team of Blank Script Limited and the Edinburgh International Improv Festival by bringing his business experience and arts consumer experience to the table.
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Will Naameh (He/Him)
Will Naameh is an improviser with twelve years experience. His training includes Second City Chicago, iO Chicago, Annoyance and UCB. He is a founding member of Men With Coconuts and The Spontaneous Players.
He is also an improvisational comedy rapper under his rap name MC Hammersmith. He is the 2017 UK Improv Smackdown Champion and won Best Newcomer at the Scottish Comedy Awards.