Get ready for five nights of amazing improv as Colony Fest returns to Planet Ant! This annual improv tournament brings together some of Metro Detroit’s best improv for two weekends of comedy competition. Each night, new teams take the stage, and the audience decides who advances to the grand finale on August 15th.
Nightly Showdowns: On July 10, 11, 17 & 18th multiple improv teams perform.
Each competing troupe will be given 20 minutes to perform.
The performance times for all July shows:
8:00PM
8:20PM
8:40PM
9:00PM
9:20PM
9:40PM
Audience Choice: At the end of each preliminary night, anyone with a ticket votes for their favorite troupe to advance to the final night.
Each audience selected troupe will perform on Saturday, August 15th for an audience that includes a panel of Planet Ant selected judges who will select the final winner.
The winning troupe will receive a “FABULOUS, FABULOUS PRIZE!”
Their own original show at Planet Ant running Friday, January 8th through Saturday, January 23.
They will be guided and directed by seasoned Improv director, teacher, and performer, MAGGIE O’REILLY!
Director: Maggie O’Reilly
Since 2013, Maggie has been a driving creative force in Metro Detroit’s comedy scene as a director, writer, performer, and coach. Most recently, she co-wrote the acclaimed stage play As I Die and Wheeze for the Planet Ant stage. As a creator and performer, you can catch her Monday nights with the Planet Ant Home Team or headlining around town with her acclaimed improvised duo, Patty & Patty (stars of the original comedy Patty in the USA and other places).
A seasoned veteran of the Planet Ant Process, Maggie specializes in turning raw improv into compelling narrative theater. Off stage, she is a lover of travel, her dog Chuck, and any dip-centered event. She also has roughly 1 million cousins, which is almost her entire personality.
The winners of Colony Fest will be led by their director through what has become known as The Planet Ant Process.
Since the late 1990s, Planet Ant has been a creative home for the development of original stage productions. The first process show, directed by Planet Ant luminary Josh Funk, Sardines (2000) set the stage for a repeating and evolving process of creating comedy from improv coupled with storytelling that begins with character.
It all starts with a group of improvisers who create compelling characters and are guided by an experienced director to improvise scenes that highlight the most engaging, dramatic, and hilarious moments of those characters’ journeys.
Through what we call The Planet Ant Process, these individual narratives are carefully woven together. Stories can be an ensemble piece or can be a narrative focused on one or more central characters. As rehearsals progress, the script is continuously refined and reshaped through collaboration until the cast feels they’ve created the strongest version of the show.
After its premiere run at Planet Ant, the story doesn’t have to end there. Casts are encouraged to take their creation beyond our stage and bring it to new audiences, wherever the journey leads.
$10 per night.
Only ticketed audience members may vote
There is a $40* non-refundable registration fee for each troupe payable upon finalizing your signed-up time slot. Choice of time slot is first come first served.
Online registrations can be submitted by email to colonyfest@planetant.com
Competing Troupes:
Previous winning troupes are non-eligible.
Please confirm your troupe can commit to the weekend performance dates prior to signing up.