2020 was a devastating year for the national improv comedy community, one that saw the closure of one longtime performance space after another, including Tampa's only dedicated improv theater. As we provisionally plan for a return to live performance in Tampa in 2021, we now find our festival to be the only extant improv comedy venue in Hillsborough County. Now more than ever, the Countdown Improv Festival needs your support -- not just to put on a fantastic and memorable event, but to help revitalize this art form in and around Tampa Bay.

2021 will be the biggest and most ambitious year yet for the Countdown Improv Festival: the world's only improv comedy festival exclusively devoted to trio, duo, and solo performance.  The festival is scheduled to take place live and in-person in the Ybor City neighborhood of Tampa from September 8-12, 2021. We need your support to help make it happen. Though the festival is still months away, it's critical that we start raising funds now in order to cover our increased production costs for 2021. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has had the effect of lowering revenue while raising production costs for our festival, as well as for performing arts events worldwide. We are determined to make the 2021 Countdown Improv Festival our best event yet, but we can't do it alone. Your financial support is critical to our efforts to resource the festival and help world-class improv comedy return to Tampa Bay.

We've set a campaign goal of $20,000, a sum that will go a long ways toward helping us secure the venue, invest in the appropriate COVID-19 prevention measures, program world-class shows and workshops, extend unparalleled hospitality to our instructors and performers, promote the festival across the region, redouble our community outreach efforts, and ensure that the festival reflects and represents the community it serves. By helping us reach this goal, you'll also be helping us to take full advantage of a generous matching grant from Hillsborough County. If we fulfill the matching grant, the festival will be well-positioned to survive and thrive through 2021 and for years to come.

From its humble beginnings in 2017, the Countdown Improv Festival has grown into one of the best, most acclaimed events of its kind. In 2021, we will build on our track record of success by enhancing the performer and audience experience for those participating in our live event. We will also program virtual performances and improv workshops throughout the weekend, as well as in the months leading up to the festival itself, in an effort to produce an event that is as inclusive and accessible as possible. 

Our planned enhancements for 2021 include:

About the founders/producers

Countdown Improv Festival co-founders and producers Kelly Buttermore and Justin Peters are the world’s foremost independent improv duo, and have performed, taught, and produced improvisational comedy together for over a decade. As the duo known as From Justin to Kelly, they have performed and taught in 28 different states, DC, Canada, and international waters, and have headlined dozens of national improv festivals. They are also the founders of Countdown Theater, a roaming, pop-up collaborative arts space in New York City, and the co-founders of the Basement Improv Summit, an annual convening of improv theater managers and performers. 

In early 2017, they mobilized the firsthand experiences -- both positive and negative -- that they had gained by participating in other festivals to found the Countdown Improv Festival, the world’s first and only improv festival devoted exclusively to small-group improv. Their mission was to foster a professional, supportive, welcoming, community-focused event where all participants felt equally valued and appreciated. The festival, now in its fifth year, has quickly become the most anticipated event of the year for trio, duo, and solo improv across the nation.