Big Fork News
Keep up to date with Big Fork Theatre here, and see our regular updates on social media and via our mailing list.
Brisbane Improv Festival EOI open!
The 2022 Brisbane Improv Festival will be kicking off in November at Big Fork Theatre with 8 fabulous days of shows, workshops and all things improv.
And we need you! Expressions of interest (EOIs) are open for shows and workshops. If you are an improviser with a show or workshop you want to share, please put in!
Important dates
Wednesday 13th July: Brisbane Improv Festival workshop & show EOIs open
Sunday 31st July: Brisbane Improv Festival workshop & show EOIs close
Monday 15th August: Successful workshops & shows notified
Saturday 12th November – 19th November: Brisbane Improv Festival!
The Big Weekend!
Brisbane is about to get a whole lot funnier in 2022 with the grand opening of Big Fork Theatre’s new training and performance space in Fortitude Valley.
The local comedy institution has spent the last 6 years building itself into the biggest and best improv comedy company in Queensland – by producing weekly sell-out shows and acclaimed festival productions, as well as having a hugely popular training program. Now finally, they have a venue to call their own.
To celebrate Big Fork Theatre are throwing a huge grand opening weekend, The Big Weekend, featuring the best comedians in Brisbane, performing in a variety of popular comedy shows. Newstead Brewing Co has also jumped onboard as the theatre’s beer sponsor, so there will be a wide selection of the local brewery’s favourites at the bar.
“This is going to be epic! We wanted to put together a small selection of our favourite shows for the grand opening weekend and I think this program really reflects the best of Big Fork Theatre. Grab those tickets.”
The Big Weekend runs from 21 to 23 April 2022. Get your tickets now!
THE BIG WEEKEND PROGRAM
THURSDAY APRIL 21
7PM: CAGEMATCH: THREE IMPROV TEAMS ENTER, ONE IMPROV TEAM WINS
FRIDAY APRIL 22:
7PM: BIG FORK’S BIG WEEKEND COMEDY GALA: BRISBANE’S BEST STAND UP COMEDY
8PM: FREE MUSICAL IMPROV
8:30PM: COOL STORY BRO: IMPROVISED COMEDY INSPIRED BY TRUE STORIES
SATURDAY APRIL 23:
7PM: HO HUM: AN IMPROVISED MUSICAL
8PM: NEWSTEAD BREWING POP-UP
8:30PM: CHAVPROV
Big Fork’s Big Fundraising Year!
These past 12 months have focused on our long term goal of opening an improv comedy space in Brisbane. In May 2021 we signed the lease, had a fundraiser to make our space accessible matched by Creative Partnerships Australia, ran Big Fork’s Big Fundraiser, built an actual theatre and now we are so close to launching!
These past 12 months have focused on our long term goal of opening an improv comedy space in Brisbane. In May 2021 we signed the lease, had a fundraiser to make our space accessible matched by Creative Partnerships Australia, ran Big Fork’s Big Fundraiser, built an actual theatre and now we are so close to launching!
Make your first act in 2022 supporting local performance and comedy and donate to our final fundraiser to Get Big Fork’s Theatre Over the Line! It takes a lot to open a theatre and we are so so close. Donate here to see your favourite improv comedy four nights a week in Brisbane, all under the one roof.
Our first fundraiser smashed our initial goal of $21115 with a final total of $35144! This generosity from our supporters all across Australia ensured that building works could go ahead full steam ahead transforming our big empty space into a theatre, backstage, bar and lobby, and classroom.
As part of the fundraiser we ran Big Fork’s first ever live stream giveathon featuring characters, challenges and live auctions. Thank you to all the comedy heroes who tuned in and donated, and to all the absolute heroes who made time to be on our live stream. If you missed it you can watch it on our Facebook page here!
We have now raised over $40,000 in total thanks to our generous supporters. These funds will go a long way to Big Fork Theatre opening first permanent home for improv comedy in Brisbane. The theatre is scheduled to open in early 2022 - watch this space!
Big Fork’s Comedy Pop Ups brought joy to 2021!
Big Forkers are the funniest improvisers in town and we put our talents on show in 2021 a series of excellent pop up shows at the wonderful BackDock Arts! We had so many fantastic guest storytellers, formats, new and experienced performers and hilarious moments of comedy.
Big Forkers are the funniest improvisers in town and we put our talents on show in 2021 a series of excellent pop up shows at the wonderful BackDock Arts! We had so many fantastic guest storytellers, formats, new and experienced performers and hilarious moments of comedy.
Big Fork’s Pop Up Comedy was on in July, August, September and October at BackDock Arts. There were 16 shows over 8 nights, with dozens of improv shows, over 30 hilarious performers and some incredible storytellers for Cool Story Bro including Jo Gowda, Sandeep Totlani, and Anisa Nandaula.
Check out some snaps from the shows!
Digital Adaptation Grant: Filming Brisbane independent productions!
In 2020 Big Fork Theatre was fortunate enough to receive a Digital Adaptation Grant through the Queensland Government’s Arts and Cultural Recovery Package. The Grant supports artists and arts organisations to adapt the ever changing landscape that international COVID-19 Health Pandemic has brought.
In 2020 Big Fork Theatre was fortunate enough to receive a Digital Adaptation Grant through the Queensland Government’s Arts and Cultural Recovery Package. The Grant supports artists and arts organisations to adapt the ever changing landscape that international COVID-19 Health Pandemic has brought.
With the funding Big Fork Theatre was able to secure video cameras and streaming equipment to produce high quality video content to share Brisbane’s best improv comedy online.
As part of the grant we undertook a project to film live productions of other independent theatre makers around Brisbane. As part of this project we were lucky enough to work with some awesome productions through Anywhere Festival to film their shows; Rat Dog Double Bill featuring Pawpaw Dog & Other Dog and Sewer Rat Girl, and Squirt Productions Starter Boyfriend!
Outside of the Anywhere Festival we filmed one of Brisbane’s favourite improv duo Culprits at BackDock Arts.
Check out their socials to see their amazing work and keep an eye out for future recordings and live streams from Big Fork Theatre. The global health pandemic has impacted the arts greatly and we encourage all our audience to support artists online while they continue to create under difficult conditions.
Digital Adaptation is part of the Queensland Government's Arts and Cultural Recovery Package.
Last show at the Paddington Substation
At the end of May we had our last ever show in our home of two years, the Paddington Substation! We had so many fantastic shows in this space run by our friends at Hands on Art. Without this space we would never have been able to grow improv comedy in Brisbane to the point where we could open our own space.
At the end of May we had our last ever show in our home of two years, the Paddington Substation! We had so many fantastic shows in this space run by our friends at Hands on Art. Without this space we would never have been able to grow improv comedy in Brisbane to the point where we could open our own space.
School Night Comedy, Big Fork Thursdays, Get It* Inya, and of course Big Fork Fridays were the place so many of our performers got up in front of an audience for the first time. We had a great send off with two fantastic shows from the Spring Hill Mechanics and Queen & Friend, then a special show from Raised by Wolves (the Big Fork Theatre directors show!)
With Brisbane’s first ever permanent home for improv comedy opening in early 2022 our community is only going to grow bigger and provide endless laughs for Brisbane comedy fans.
Big Fork Theatre at Anywhere Festival 2021
In May Big Fork had two excellent and place based shows in the Anywhere Theatre Festival! These shows were originally intended to be presented in 2020 and the creators pulled out the stops and smashed it in 2021 with the postponed festival.
In May Big Fork had two excellent and place based shows in the Anywhere Theatre Festival! These shows were originally intended to be presented in 2020 and the creators pulled out the stops and smashed it in 2021 with the postponed festival.
A Very Important Meeting at the University of Queensland,
This hilarious skewering of the classic board meeting and office culture was directed by Liz Talbot! Read the review by Oliver Gough at TheatreHaus
“Big Fork Theatre reach out, circle back, and touch base with audiences for an office themed improv caper. As part of Anywhere Festival, this hour-long improvised show makes the leather chair, wood-panelled University of Queensland Senate Room its home, in line with the festival’s concept of ‘anywhere but a theatre’.”
In The Dark at the Spring Hill Reservoir
A totally unique show, an audio-only improv experience in the dark! Read the review from Sylvia Speakeasy for Anywhere Festival
“The show takes place in the ambient, underground Spring Hill Reservoir; a cosy and atmospheric venue with good acoustics – crucial for a sound-based show. In the Darkis deeply entertaining, full of witty word play, moments of genuine hilarity, and some truly excellent character voices (my personal favourite from the show I saw was the displeased turtle). Each sketch was bookended by wonderfully rich soundscapes, created – again – by nothing more than the clever, effective use of the performers’ voices and bodies.”
Brisbane Improv Festival wrap up!
20 shows. 7 workshops. 35 volunteers. Over 1200 tickets sold. The first ever Brisbane Improv Festival was a wild and fantastic smash hit!
20 shows. 7 workshops. 35 volunteers. Over 1200 tickets sold. The first ever Brisbane Improv Festival was a wild and fantastic smash hit!
We (the Big Fork Theatre directors) know that 2020 was a hard year in the world, in people’s lives, and in arts and comedy. We were so lucky to be able to go back to doing shows, but of course almost all of our plans were revised and totally thrown out the window.
We wanted to start 2021 with something that would bring people together and give chances for the new work that had been brewing to be performed, and provide growth and entertainment to our Brisbane community. We wanted to showcase the Brisbane improv community in our festival: the diversity of styles, interests, and humour, the diversity of improvisers themselves, and to feature some amazing interstate improvisers.
And with the first Brisbane Improv Festival, we reckon we did that.
There’s no way this festival would have come together without the work and assistance of a lot of people.
To our sponsors Fresh Promotions for our excellent festival merch, to Kara Cook Councillor for Morningside for our printing and materials, and to Revel Brewing Co for the beer, thank you.
To our volunteers who set up, cleaned, served, ushered, scanned tickets, crowd controlled and packed down, thank you.
To our stage manager Angela who stepped up at the last minute to make sure the shows ran smoothly, thank you. To our photographer Kris who shot so many amazing photos in sweaty conditions, thank you. He took the photo attached to this post! To Glenn for couch transport, table and esky provision, thank you.
To our interstate friends who travelled to Brisbane to teach and perform and give Brisbane improvisers something new, thank you.
To all the producers, directors and performers in the shows, who worked so hard and with such passion to make some of the best improv shows Brisbane has ever seen, congratulations and thank you.
And to everyone in our Big Fork community and Brisbane community who came and saw a show or took a workshop, and made this whole venture possible and fun, thank you.
Big Fork’s regular shows are on every Friday, jams are happening every Tuesday, classes for term 1 have started - so we hope to see you at one of those events soon.
The Big Fork Theatre Directors
