OKC Improv brings unscripted comedy and community events to Plaza District

OKC Improv has become a regular part of the Plaza District’s weekend scene, offering live, unscripted performances ranging from family-friendly shows to adult-focused comedy nights. The venue also hosts classes, youth camps, and community events aimed at teaching the fundamentals of improv.

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To better understand what audiences can expect and how the group operates behind the scenes, we spoke with Kendon Lacy, Executive Director, and Roger Connelly, Artistic Director at OKC Improv.

Is there a lot of practice that goes into improv?

Lacy: Yeah, there's quite a bit of training, which is like we offer classes that teach people how to do it as well. And so, yeah, there's a lot of training that goes into it, and it's a lot of fun. So, if you can get past the nervousness and just having fun, which is what we talk a lot about, then yeah, it comes very naturally sometimes.

Connelly: Yeah, obviously you can't practice the improv part of it, but you practice like the fundamentals of how to do improv well, and then that helps once you have that down.

What can I expect if I've never been to OKC Improv?

Lacy: So for our shows, you can definitely expect to have plenty of laughter. We offer a squeaky clean family-friendly show that we do on the second Saturday of every month. And actually, in August, we're actually doing, we're jumping now to two different Saturdays, the second and the fourth Saturday of every month. So you can expect family-friendly fun. Then on our normal Friday and Saturday shows, it's like an adult show and stuff like that. So great date night spot. We have a fully operating bar and drinks and snacks, and stuff like that. So it's just a lot of fun.

Connelly: It's shows that are made with the audience, not at the audience, is one of the things I like the most. So people who come in, they're influencing what the show's gonna be about, the energy of the show, all that sort of stuff. So it's not something that's happening at you, it's something that you're building the show with. So if you have a good time, you gotta take credit for that as well.

When are the shows?

Lacy: Every Friday and Saturday, 7.30 p.m. and 9.30 p.m. There are two different shows that happen each night, and we have everything from like narrative improv, we have musical improv where we create musicals on the spot, we have some sketch comedy shows, so everything's a little different. Our website will also have like descriptions of those shows and things like that.

What are the benefits of improv lessons for children?

Lacy: Yeah, we actually just had a week-long kids camp. We did two different weeks for it. And we have, like, it's always interesting for the different kids' personalities and stuff like that. And some of them start off one way where they're a little shy, and then they start getting to meet other people, but also getting confident with being on stage, which helps their confidence, and also there are all the emotional benefits and stuff like that for it as well.

Connelly: So same thing with the adults as well. Like, just, you know, if you live in always second-guessing yourself and have like choice paralysis, like just improv helps out with all of that.

More information about OKC Improv may be found on their official website.