ABOUT VENTURA IMPROV COMPANY

Founders

The Ventura Improv Company has been in existence since 1989. Little did the founders know that this art form would grow and be embraced by our Ventura Community. We appreciate you for coming, learning, watching and laughing with us!

Our Mission:
Ventura Improv Company exists to enrich people’s lives through improv theatre, and to nurture local talent and the cultural life of Ventura.

Our Vision:
Ventura Improv Company hopes to create a thriving improvisational international center that gives people the necessary tools to communicate, play and understand themselves and the world in a holistic, more powerful way. 

Our History:
In 1989, an improviser from the Bay Area TheatreSports™ group came to visit her mother in Santa Paula and while there she put on an improv workshop. At that time, there were a handful of performers doing improv in Ventura, and several of them, including current leaders of the group, Gary Best and Tom Mueller, attended that workshop. The two considered that workshop “a revelation,” and went on to form a local TheatreSports™ league.

In the three decades since then, the group has grown in both size and scope. In 1999, the group took on the lease in the historic Livery, in downtown Ventura. They built a permanent stage and green room, and a 80-person capacity audience seating area. In 2008, Ventura Area TheatreSports™/Livery Theatre changed its name to Ventura Improv Company. In January 2017, the VIC moved on from 34 North Palm Street and now performs and holds classes at various Ventura venues.

VIC is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.