About The Festival

The Weekend

The Bay Area Musical Improv Festival will take place over three days at the All Out Comedy Theater in Uptown Oakland. The event includes:

• Performances by musical improv teams from around the bay area and other regions on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening.
• Workshops on various topics during the day on Saturday and Sunday, taught by visiting musical improv teachers.
• Musical improv jams during the weekend in which anyone can take part.

Our Venue

We are fortunate to be hosted by All Out Comedy Theater in Uptown Oakland! This theater space includes a 90-seat mainstage theater with full tech, two classrooms and a lobby area with concessions including wine, beer, soft drinks and snacks. All Bay Area Musical Improv Festival events will be taking place in the mainstage theater and lobby. All Out Comedy is short walk from the Oakland 19th St. BART station.

Our Mission

Bay Area Musical Improv is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit whose mission is to create opportunities for musical improv in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The mission of our festival is to:

• Shine a spotlight on the diverse talent within the bay area’s musical improv community
• Bring musical improvisers from around the country to the bay to play and teach
• Connect our local community in a supportive, inclusive and joyful environment

Our History

This is the first year we’re holding the Bay Area Musical Festival. Between 2015 and 2019, the Bay Area was the home of the West Coast Musical Improv Festival, hosted by the Unscripted Theater Company in San Francisco. The West Coast Musical Improv Festival has passed along the torch, with two of the original festival organizers joining on to help form this new festival. While the Bay Area Musical Improv Festival is its own new event, we are fortunate to draw from the expertise and experience of those who came before.

Our Team

Jed Levine: Jed is a musical improv teacher, coach and performer at All Out Comedy in Oakland and Leela in San Francisco. Jed is a graduate of the Second City Musical Improv Conservatory in Chicago, an alumnus of the critically acclaimed musical improv company Baby Wants Candy and a co-founder and player with Knockoff Broadway.

Pat Pow-anpongkul: Pat got his start improvising in Atlanta before moving to the Bay Area. You can often find him performing at Oakland's All Out Comedy as part of Knockoff Broadway, San Francisco's BATS Improv, Leela, and Flash Forward. Pat has a deep history of musical theatre, which includes writing and performing original full-length musicals at UPenn's Mask and Wig Club.

Olivia Puerta: Olivia has been studying and performing improv in San Francisco since 2012, training primarily with Endgames Improv, along with BATS, Camp Improv Utopia, workshops, and the Annoyance Theater Summer Intensive. She's performed with past teams Patchwork, Wachaa, Party Cop, Kill Your First, Flash Mob Musical, San Francisco Tonight, and the Un-Scripted Theater Company. Olivia currently performs improvised opera with La Spazzatura.

Molly Robertson: Molly is a member of the Un-Scripted Theater Company, specializing in long-form musicals. She is an alumna of the Upright Citizens Brigade training center in New York and a founding producer of the West Coast Musical Improv Festival.

The Venue

All Out Comedy Theater is located at 2550 Telegraph Ave, in Oakland, CA. Please be aware that there is a location with the same street address in the neighboring city of Berkeley (about 4 miles from All Out Comedy). Make sure to enter "Oakland" as the city when getting directions from Google Maps. All spaces within All Out Comedy are wheelchair accessible, including the stage.

Getting There by Transit

The festival venue is located in Oakland’s vibrant Uptown neighborhood, which is easily accessible by public transit, including BART. The All Out Comedy theater is a short 12-minute walk from the 19th Street Oakland BART station. The local transit system, AC Transit, also operates several lines near the theater, including line 6, which stops directly in front.

Getting There by Car

There is ample street parking in the neighborhood of All Out Comedy. Please be aware that car break-ins are unfortunately common in all parts of the Bay Area, but the risk reduces dramatically when you don’t leave any bags or goods inside the car. There are also several paid parking facilities within a short walk of the festival venue that provide more protection, including: The Hive (2335 Broadway); The YMCA Garage (2353 Webster St); and Alexan Webster Public Garage (2330 Webster St).

Submissions

Submissions are open until June 1, 2024. The submission fee is $25. Notification will be given by June 14 and teams will have 14 days to confirm their attendance. You can learn more about submissions and apply here.

Festival Passes

All performers will receive a festival pass allowing entry to all shows for free, contingent on space availability. If performers would like to guarantee access to a particular show, they should purchase a ticket. Free entry to shows with limited available seating will be given out on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Performances

All accepted teams will be offered a performance slot for a specific amount of time to be determined by the producers at the time of acceptance. Teams will also get exclusive use of a classroom to warm up before their show.