Clockwise from top left: Nell Mooney, Mike Orton-Toliver, Duncan Walsh Atkins, Jason Voorhees. Alison Thea-Skot, Phil Whelans.
Friday October 13, 2023 @ 2000hrs at Hoopla…
The Miller,
96, Snowsfields Road,
London SE1 3SS Map
A 2008 study by the Dutch Centre for Insurance Statistics states that “fewer accidents and reports of fire and theft occur when the 13th of the month falls on a Friday than on other Fridays, because people are preventatively more careful or just stay home. Statistically speaking, driving is slightly safer on Friday the 13th, at least in the Netherlands; in the last two years, Dutch insurers received reports of an average 7,800 traffic accidents each Friday; but the average figure when the 13th fell on a Friday was just 7,500.”
…making Friday the 13th of October, the ideal night to come and see some impro. GTI will be sharing the bill with the excellent Giant Steps.
GTI will be…
Nell Mooney studied improv with the Upright Citizens Brigade in the US and has worked in London with the likes of Showstopper, The Free Association and Monkey Toast. Her screen credits include Hyde Park on Hudson, Enchanted and Law & Order.
Michael Orton-Toliver is a TV comedy writer/producer both here and in the States. Here, he co-created and wrote the TV sitcom Borderline (Channel 5) and The Literary Adventures of Mr. Brown (BBC Radio 4.) He was co-director of the Free Association and formerly Head Corporate writer for the world-famous comedy troupe Boom Chicago, Amsterdam. Previously, Michael wrote for two seasons on Comedy Central News (NL), and he has written and performed in thousands of shows for Boom Chicago Amsterdam, Second City out of Chicago, and Ultimate Improv in Los Angeles.
Alison Thea-Skot is a critically acclaimed actress, character comedian and writer. She’s taken four sell-out solo shows to the Edinburgh Fringe, two of which did runs at Soho Theatre. She works in TV, radio, film and the stage, from Shakespeare’s Globe to Basil Brush. She improvises mainly with The Free Association.
Jason Voorhees trained with Second City, just before it burned down. His twoprov act, TJ and Jason – later Steve and Jason, then Alison and Jason, then Denise and Jason, Tony and Jason, The Evans family and Jason, Detective Palmer and Jason, the camping trip where they were all found mutilated and Jason and later on, TJ, who wasn’t dead after all, and Dave, and TJ and Jason, who Dave hadn’t killed after all – did the Vault Festival in 2019.
Duncan Walsh Atkins has been musical director of Showstopper since 2009, meaning sell-out Edinburgh Fringe and West End runs, national and international tours and a BBC Radio 4 series. He’s been MD and/or pianist in countless musical theatre shows as well as the BBC2 improvised comedy series Fast and Loose. He’s one half of the Flanders & Swann tribute At the Drop of a Hippopotamus and can occasionally be seen in a wig portraying Benny Andersson in Abbamania.
Phil Whelans – writer and performer of his own Radio 4 sitcom, My First Planet, founder member of Pros from Dover – with whom he did two series of Radio 4’s The Infinite Monkey Cage. Phil has worked with everyone from Joan Rivers to Basil Brush, Al Gore to Brian Conley, Robin Williams to Giles Brandreth. Phil has been in It’s Kevin, Brasseye, Preston Front and a number of unsuccessful radio and TV impro pilots. He has improvised all over the world, is founder member of Spontaneous Combustion and Grand Theft Impro, has been in Showstopper: the Improvised Musical, Hamlet Improvised and Criminal.