The Fracas! Improv Festival (commonly known as Fracas!) is a three-day (formerly a two-day) annual improvisational theatre festival held at The University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. The festival is hosted by Second Nature Improv, one of USC's improv troupes. In addition to performances, the festival hosts discussion panels with professional improvisers currently working in television, film, and/or theatre, as well as improv workshops. While the performances and panels are open to the public, workshops are available only to registered festival participants.
Fracas! I (2004)
The first Fracas! Improv Festival was held on April 16 and 17, 2004, about a year and a half after Second Nature was formed. Noting the lack of attention given to college-aged improvisers at larger national festivals, founder and director of Second Nature, Nick Dazé, started Fracas! as a way to connect with other collegiate improv troupes.[1]
Eight troupes attended the inaugural festival, but with the exception of Recess (a troupe from George Washington University in Washington, D.C.), all the troupes were from California. Two troupes (including Second Nature) Each troupe was given a forty-minute performance slot, with four troupes performing each night. At the end of each performance, the audience voted on a favorite member of each troupe and those favorite performers played in an "All Star Show" which closed the festival on Saturday night. The festival was held adjacent to USC's campus at the Village Gate Theatre, which only sat 75 people at maximum capacity.
Fracas! II (2005)
The second annual festival took place April 15 and 16, 2005, also at the Village Gate Theatre. Ten troupes performed at the festival including Occam's Razor from The University of Chicago. Of the remaining nine troupes, four were from the University of Southern California. Unlike the previous year's festival, troupes at Fracas! II were given only 30 minute performance slots in order to accommodate the larger number of participating groups. Five troupes performed each evening, culminating with the "All Star Show" which ended the festival on Saturday night.