Magnet Theater Kicks Off 6th Annual New York Musical Improv Festival Today

Magnet Theater presents The Sixth Annual New York Musical Improv Festival from today, October 16 - 19, 2014 at 254 W. 29th Street, ground floor (between 7th and 8th Avenues), NYC. Tickets are now available for purchase at www.nymif.com. Most tickets are $10-$15 and feature performances by two to four different musical improv acts per show.

Over 100 performers from as far as Vancouver, British Columbia and Edmonton, Alberta in Canada, San Francisco, Milwaukee, Chicago, Austin, Boston, Rhode Island, Washington DC and as close as Broadway, NYC will converge on the Magnet Theater stage to create fully improvised musical performances - ranging from traditional musical theatre fare to adrenaline-pumping rap battles. The Magnet Theater is recognized as the center for musical improv study and performance in the U.S.

Featured performers will include:

Baby Wants Candy (NYC), The Improvised Sondheim Project (Chicago), UN-scripted Theater Company (San Francisco), North Coast! (NYC), Anarchy: an Improvised Rock Opera (Chicago), Vox Pop (Washington, D.C.), Mint Condition (NYC), The Armando Diaz Experience: Musical Edition (NYC), Ashland: A One-Woman Improvised Musical (Chicago), Trudy Carmichael's Musical Mixer (Las Vegas), The Made-Up Musical (NYC), Mansical (Chicago), La Donna Improvvisata (NYC), The Basemints (Chicago), Fancy Mantelpiece (NYC), Girls! Girls! Girls! Improvised Musicals (Austin), Brouhaha: An Improvised Puppet Musical (Chicago), Fancy Man (NYC), Slick Zombie (NYC), Stacked: All-Female Musical Improv (Chicago), Off Key Improv (Vancouver, BC, Canada), Wonderland (NYC), Mikki Hommel (NYC).

The New York Musical Improv Festival will also be featuring up-and-coming performers in the NYMIF I.P.O. (Initial Public Offering). Performing this year is B.U.M.P. - Boston's Unscripted Musical Project (Boston), P.I.G.- Providence Improv Guild (Providence), T.I.M. - The Improvised Musical (Milwaukee) and The 11 O'clock Number: An Improvised Musical (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada).

Live Band Karaoke - On Friday, October 10th at 11:30pm, in preparation for The Sixth Annual New York Musical Improv Festival being held October 16-19th, the Magnet Theater is giving everyone the chance to unleash their inner Rock Star and belt out their favorite tunes on stage to a full LIVE BAND headed up by Frank Spitznagel. This ONE NIGHT ONLY event is FREE to everyone. Sign-up starts at 11:15 and is first-come, first-served.

The Armando Diaz Experience: Musical Edition -- On Thursday, October 16th at 9:00pm, a musical edition of the classic "Armando" form which originated at the iO (formerly known as ImprovOlympic) in Chicago. Musical improvisers will work off of the words of a special guest Monologist to create a fully realized One Night Only musical!

Musical Inspirado - On Thursday, October 16, 2014 at 11:00pm, the only MUSICAL improv competition in the world! This year four musical improv teams: Wonderland (Magnet Theater, NYC), Girls! Girls! Girls! (Institution Theater, Austin), Slick Zombie (PIT, NYC) and Fancy Man (UCB, NYC) will each accept one challenge and battle it out for the audience's approval. Once all of the votes have been tallied, one victor shall be awarded the highly coveted Dale North Memorial Trophy. Don't miss your chance to see what is sure to be the best competitive meeting of improvised musicals of the century!

Trudy Carmichael's Musical Mixer - On Saturday, October 18, 2014 at 11:30pm, this late night festival favorite, now in its sixth year, challenges you to try your lady (and manly) luck at making up music with some of the finest Musical Improvisers in the country. Anyone can sign up to perform - even if it's your first time! Keep your bankroll stashed because admission to the Mixer is 100% FREE! Hosted by Las Vegas Lounge Legend and lush, Miss Trudy Carmichael and her trusty sidekick, T.J. with The Magnet Musical Mixer Orchestra, a 5-piece band led by the incomparable Frankie Keys, providing improvised musical accompaniment throughout the night!

The 6th annual New York Musical Improv Festival presents: "A Musical Improv Mini- Marathon". Tuesday, October 14th, 2014, starting at 7:00 PM. Over 30 veteran performers take the stage to create fully improvised musicals based solely on audience suggestions. These musical house teams will create characters, plot, lyrics, notes, harmonies, and choreography - all on the spot. One entry fee covers the entire night of performances.

GILDA'S CLUB BENEFIT SHOW - Each year, The New York Musical Improv Festival raises money and awareness for Gilda's Club of New York City. On Sunday, October 19, 2014 at 7:00pm, the final performance of the Festival will be a benefit honoring the comedic legacy of Gilda Radner and raising funds and awareness for people living with cancer. A dream team of funny, talented women will join together for one night only. Past headliners have included Tony Award winner Cady Thompson (The Producers), Tony Award Nominee Orfeh (Legally Blonde), Sam Underwood (The Following, Dexter), Jill Bernard, and Baby Wants Candy. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at www.nymif.com. All proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to Gilda's Club, NYC. Gilda's Club New York City Mission: To Support, Educate and Empower Cancer Patients and Their Families. Our free comprehensive cancer program includes support groups, educational lectures and workshops for everyone impacted by cancer - men, women, teens, and children with cancer. Please visit www.gildasclubnyc.org to find out more about this wonderful organization.

Anarchy: an Improvised Rock Opera (Chicago) is a completely sung, completely improvised rock opera with only a geographic location to set their story. Influenced by Tommy The Who, Green Day's American Idiot, Rent, Spring Awakening, and the like Anarchy sets the stage to rebel against "the Man." Get ready to fight the power!

Ashland: A One-Woman Improvised Musical (Second City, Chicago) is a one-woman musical that begins by taking a suggestion from the audience to inspire an opening. From that opening, Ashley England organically draws scenes, games, and other moves to bring both the dramatic and comedic to the stage. Many characters will come to sing their hearts out, but only one woman will take the stage.

Baby Wants Candy (NYC) has established itself in New York and Chicago as the only musical improv group to perform a fully improvised one-act musical with a full band. Based on a single audience suggestion of a title the actors and musicians work together harmoniously to deliver a hilarious evening's entertainment.

The Basemints (Chicago) More fresh. More fun. Musical Improv!
Brouhaha: An Improvised Puppet Musical (Chicago) Katie Dufresne and Stacey Smith create an entirely improvised musical on the spot with the help of some fuzzy friends.

Fancy Man (NYC) We're here! We're Queer! We do Musical Improv! Fancy Man has been playing together since 2012, when a group of homosexual male improvisers found themselves doing a really good pattern game inside a bath house. Since then, they have been focusing on grounded scene work, trips to crazy town, and F%$@ing with each other on stage. They call themselves, "A celebration of brotherhood, acceptance, fun, improv and gay sensibility."

Fancy Mantelpiece (NYC) performs musical monoscenes: mini plays with made-up music, rock operas or even a musical murder mystery! We are proud to offer strong vocals. They pride themselves on their vocal harmonies, shameless dancing, fantastical characters, unapologetic gayness and frequent tap breaks!

Girls! Girls! Girls! Improvised Musicals (Austin, Texas) creates a spontaneous, unscripted, Broadway style musical, complete with songs and dances, based upon an audience suggestion. Accompanied by a live musician, GGG provides comedy, harmony, memorable characters and songs you'll walk out of the theater singing.

The Improvised Sondheim Project (Chicago) performs completely improvised musicals in the style of Stephen Sondheim. No scripts. No sheet music. No pre-planning. Just a suggestion from the audience and the muse of Mr. Sondheim to guide them as they make up a brand new musical each night right before your eyes.

La Donna Improvvisata (NYC) Lisa Flanagan is La Donna Improvvisata (or The Impromptu Lady). Combining her experience as an opera singer and musical improviser, Lisa collaborated with Frank Spitznagel to create a solo show that explores the heightened emotions and classical archetypes of opera. Sometimes funny. Sometimes sad. Always sung.

The Made-Up Musical (Magnet Theater, NYC) TMUM is a long-form improvised musical show that has been singing and dancing its way onto the Magnet Theater stage with a one of a kind musical comedy every week for over 6 1/2 years. After an interview with an audience member, the cast weaves together a full one-act musical, complete with all the songs, trappings and melodrama you'd expect from our friends on Broadway.

Mansical (Chicago) Using a single suggestion from the audience, the seven handsome men of Mansical improvise a fully realized musical joy ride comprised of scenes, songs, harmonies, dancing, rapping and wigs. Their shows do not follow a single plot but instead explore the suggestion via mad hyper-agreement, free-play and musicality.

Mikki Hommel (NYC) is a NYC based improvising singer/songwriter. She takes multiple topics from the audiences and creates a soulful belt-your-face-off kinda tune. She also dives into her witty originals and clever mash ups. Recently signed to Purebred Records she is releasing her full-length album later this fall produced by the 2-time Grammy-winning, Dave Clauss.

Mint Condition (NYC) Formed at the Magnet Theater in August of 2011, Mint Condition brings you a fully improvised musical monoscene full of romance, horror, action, and adventure - but mostly comedy. Mint Condition will brighten smiles, keep mouths happy, and give full long-lasting flavor due to their strong harmonies, sense of play, and love of improv.

North Coast! (NYC) Now that the east coast/west coast beef has subsided, North Coast! is stepping up to throw down. Watch as New York's only freestyle rapping, beatboxing, long- form improv team performs a fully improvised "hip hopera" right in front of yo mouf. You bring your favorite rap lyric and North Coast! will make your gut bust and your head bop. And if you don't know, now you know.

Off Key Improv (Vancouver, Canada) has been improvising musicals and musical-themed shows since 2012. Charming, adventurous and fun, their shows are entirely inspired from audience-provided titles and suggestions and feature a wide range of musical and theatrical styles. Shows can range from fun loving and classic to Sondheim-esque, contemporary, or something entirely different. Off Key Improv embraces collaboration and discovery each and every show, which lends to many surprises in their improvised music, singing, dancing, characters and stories. With Off Key, there are no limits!

Stacked: All-Female Musical Improv (Chicago) takes a suggestion of one word and delivers musical hilarity in four-part harmony. With high energy, big characters, catchy songs and no apologies, Stacked is sure to take you on a wild ride.

Un-Scripted Theater Company presents: The Musical (San Francisco) For years, the Un- Scripted Theater Company has delivered complex, rich improvised theater to San Francisco audiences, bringing to life the emotional power and realism of the contemporary musical. Through storytelling skills honed over more than a decade, this ensemble of actors will explore the intricacies of modern life by creating a fun, original, never-before-seen musical inspired by audience suggestion. Discover a style of improvisation that has won Un-Scripted Theater Company the award for Best Theater Company in the San Francisco Bay Guardian.

Vox Pop (Washington, DC) Vox Pop picks up where the spoken word leaves off. These accomplished musical improvisers bring audiences to new heights where eagles cry on a mountain high. Where you have to say, "I love you" in a song. Where regular improv simply won't get the job done. Come watch them explore the ins and outs of complex human relationships using the simple tool of music. Vox Pop will rock you.

Wonderland (NYC) hails from the Magnet Theater in New York where they perform regularly as part of the Magnet Musical Megawatt. They take a suggestion from the audience and create a rich and colorful world filled with characters from all walks of life.

The NYMIF I.P.O. (Initial Public Offering)

B.U.M.P. - Boston's Unscripted Musical Project (Boston) is a fully improvised one-act musical with a live band. After getting a single suggestion from the audience, the cast of

B.U.M.P. creates a show full of heroes, villains, lovers, Sasquatches and surprises. Everything from the singing, to the dancing to the music created by our band is improvised. No two shows are ever the same!

P.I.G. - Providence Improv Guild (Providence) features some of the best improvisors and musicians that the great tiny state of Rhode Island has to offer. They strive to incorporate improv fundamentals into a song-driven, high-energy act.

T.I.M. - The Improvised Musical (Milwaukee) goes outside of the improvised show norms and also brings drama, romance, darkness, and above all a story worth seeing! Milwaukee's only fully improvised musical brings you a musical that you will only see that night and never again! Based only on an audience suggestion for a title of a musical that has never been made before, 7 cast members, a live 4 piece band, and a light designer bring you a Broadway- style musical totally off the cuff.

The 11 O'clock Number: An Improvised Musical! (Edmonton, Canada) Grindstone Theatre is thrilled to present The 11 O'clock Number!, a two act musical comedy completely made up on the spot, based on the suggestions received from YOU, the audience. This long form style of improv is wildly entertaining, as this Canadian cast unveils songs, dances, scenes and plot twists that are sure to have your imaginations tickled.

To view the full 6th Annual NYMIF performance calendar with showtimes, descriptions and to purchase tickets, visit www.nymif.com.

Magnet Theater, NYC arrived in March of 2005. Founders Armando Diaz, Ed Herbstman, and Alex Marino came together with the common goal of teaching improvisation and sketch writing, while developing and presenting fantastic comedy shows and other diverse entertainments and art. Magnet Theater's founders studied under long-form Chicago improv guru Del Close at Improv Olympic and have since helped to shape the New York comedy scene dramatically through teaching, performing and presenting comical theatrics individually and together.

Magnet Theater offers a full schedule of classes in improv comedy, musical improv, sketch writing and performing, storytelling, and on-camera auditioning for all levels of experience with new classes forming regularly. All classes are based on The Magnet Theater Core Curriculum, which provides students with a solid foundation in improv fundamentals coupled with ample performance opportunities. For more information about classes at Magnet Theater or to register, visit www.magnettheater.com.

Magnet Theater hosts performances every night from 6:30pm to midnight at 254 W. 29th Street, ground floor (between 7th and 8th Avenues), NYC. Showtimes and descriptions can be found at www.magnettheater.com. Seating is general admission. Lobby opens 30 minutes prior to each show. Light snacks, beer and wine are for sale. No drink minimum. Wheelchair- accessible. Air-conditioned.