Teen improv to take over the Burgdorff on Dec. 14

MAPLEWOOD, NJ — Teen ’Prov at the Burgdorff on Saturday, Dec. 14, consists of two shows featuring teen improv troupes, Fire in the Theater and Cobra Clan. Each troupe’s show will be entirely improvised, creating made-up characters and scenarios never seen before — and never to be seen again!

Cobra Clan’s show will be from 7 to 8 p.m. and will consist of short-form improv like you might see on “Whose Line is it Anyway,” and Fire in the Theater’s show will be from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. FIIT will be performing a mix of both short-form and long-form, aka Chicago-style, improv. 

FIIT troupe members are made up of CHS upperclassmen and women who have been training in the art of improvisation since the fifth or sixth grade. Members are Jesse Bloom, Maya Greenstein, Aiden Kern-Kensler, Ari Mehlman and Molly Sandler, with Director Abby Sher.

Cobra Clan is Rocket Improv’s newest teen troupe featuring local eighth- through 10th-graders Dustin Crisci, Henry Toth, Olivia Graziano, Hannah Kennedy, Ryan Kennedy, Sally O’Sullivan, Ella Shipman and Sam Dorbin — all of whom have come up through the Rocket Improv training program together. Their director is Dave Maulbeck.

Rocket Improv teen troupes are formed when improv students have been improvising together for a few years and are ready to take the next step in their training. The troupes come up with their own name, form their own identity, have a say in the kind of work they want to do and also in the choosing of their director.

Both improv troupes train with SOMA-based Rocket Improv, which is owned and run by Maplewoodian improvisers Lulu French and Brad Barton.

Tickets for Teen ’Prov can be purchased in advance through Brown Paper Tickets at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4459755. For more information, visit www.rocketimprovcomedy.com.