Comedy cage match showcases competitive improv

Laughter filled a room on Grafton Street Thursday night, as a local improv company brought a high-energy cage match competition to Halifax’s comedy scene.

Adri Bell is one part of the team A Very Serious Gaggle, which won the final competition. Bell and partner Draven Hewitt, a couple, triumphed with comedic sketches on the theme of relationships, inspired by audience members’ comments.

The other finalist team, CD-Romcom, delivered a broad range of skits, and used games, objects, and back-and-forth communication with the audience.

“We couldn’t have done it without the amazing audience, so a huge thank you to everyone who cast their votes for Draven and I tonight,” said Bell after the show, held in a room below the Halifax Live Comedy Club.

The event was organized by Spontaneity Improv Company. The organization, the only improv school in the Halifax region, aims to grow the city’s improv scene and build community through performance.

“You see a lot of stand-up comedy around the city,” said executive director Sophie Nadeau, who founded the company in 2022.

“What we do is more bit comedy or long-form storytelling,” said Nadeau. “It’s very visual, very fun, very much ‘Whose line is it anyway?’,” referring to the long-running British and American improv TV series.

The cage match format pit two improv teams against each other in timed performances, with the audience deciding the winners. Spontaneity put its own spin on the format, starting the multi-week competition with eight teams in 15-minute rounds.

“It’s up to the audience to vote,” said Nadeau. “Performers are encouraged to bring their friends and family — it makes for an electric atmosphere.”

After weeks of competition, the two teams won the semi-finals on Jan. 23, securing their spots in the final. The final showdown on Thursday, attended by roughly 30 people, saw the teams battle it out for the $500 grand prize, with A Very Serious Gaggle taking the win. 

“I’ve never been much of a comedy-goer,” said audience member Brooke Bauer. “But it was really impressive to see the teams come up with such funny skits on the spot.”