The Countdown Improv Festival needs your support -- not just to put on a fantastic and memorable event, but to help revitalize improv comedy in and around Tampa Bay.
2022 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. Produced by Countdown Arts, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the festival is scheduled to take place live and in-person in the Ybor City neighborhood of Tampa from August 10-13, 2022. We need your support to help make it happen.
The ongoing 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 2022 Countdown Improv Festival our best event yet, but we can't do it alone. From its humble beginnings in 2017, the Countdown Improv Festival has grown into one of the best, most acclaimed events of its kind. In 2022, we will build on our track record of success by, among other things, running shows on three separate stages at the HCC Ybor Performing Arts Building and forming a Festival Ensemble for performers who don't already have teams to perform with. Your financial support is critical to our efforts to fully resource the festival and help world-class improv comedy return to Tampa Bay.
We've set a campaign goal of $5,309 , a sum that will help us offset costs associated with securing the venue, programming world-class shows and workshops, extending unparalleled hospitality to our instructors and performers, and promoting the festival across the region. We plan to raise this money, in part, by performing 25 improv sets in a row over the course of 12 hours on Saturday, May 14, 2022. The fundraising extravaganza will feature special guests and a lot of laughs, and will continue until we reach our goal or until the venue closes and we have to leave. Please help us reach our goal so that we can stop improvising!
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 29 different states, D.C., 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 sixth year, has quickly become the most anticipated event of the year for trio, duo, and solo improv across the nation.
Perks
- 13 claimed
- 37 remaining
A super soft, beautifully designed T-shirt to commemorate a very special Countdown Improv Festival Fundraising Spectacular. We'll also send you one of last year's limited-edition Countdown Telethon drink koozies, we'll give you ticket pre-sale access, and we'll thank you on the website.
- 6 claimed
- 9 remaining
A super soft, beautifully designed, ultra-limited edition baseball tee to commemorate this very special Fundraising Spectacular. We'll also send you one of last year's Countdown Telethon drink koozies, we'll give you ticket pre-sale access, and we'll thank you on the website.
- 6 claimed
- 44 remaining
Donate at this level and not only will we send you both of this year's Fundraising Spectacular T-shirts, we'll also throw in a vintage Countdown Improv Festival Telethon T-shirt for good measure! Plus a vintage Telethon drink koozie, early bird ticket and workshop access, and a hearty "thank you" on the website.
This donation level is for people who don't really want or need any festival swag, but who just want the tax write-off. Well, here you go! We won't mail you anything, and you can take the full tax deduction for your donation. In exchange, we'll thank you profusely during the telethon and during the festival. We'll also thank you on the website. And we'll thank you right now, also. Thank you!
Donors at this level will be treated like VIPs at this year's Countdown Improv Festival. In addition to all of the preceding rewards, they'll enjoy 4 all-access weekend passes to the 2022 festival, and up to two complimentary slots per workshop, for up to four separate workshops over the course of the festival. We'll also thank you very prominently and effusively on the website and during the festival itself.
- 0 claimed
- 1 remaining
Give at this level and we'll name the Studio Theatre stage after you, or your business, or your dog, or anything you want, really (within reason, don't be a jerk). All branding for the 2022 festival will refer to it as the "______ Stage," our hosts will refer to it by that name throughout the weekend, and we'll probably make a banner with that name on it, which you can keep. Also all the other perks and thanks! The perfect reward for someone who really wants to get their (or someone else's) name out there!
Give at this level and we'll name the 256-seat HCC Mainstage Theatre stage after you, or your business, or your dog, or anything you want, really (within reason, don't be a jerk). All branding for the 2022 festival will refer to it as the "______ Stage," our hosts will refer to it by that name throughout the weekend, and we'll probably make a banner with that name on it, which you can keep. We'll even bring you on stage one night and you can make a speech, if you want! Also all the other perks and thanks! The perfect reward for someone who really wants to get their (or someone else's) name out there!
Take care of all of our fundraising needs with one big donation and we'll inaugurate you into the Countdown Improv Festival Hall of Fame: improv's highest (and only) honor, and one that we are not above selling to the highest bidder! Also every other perk except the named stages! Most importantly: If we get a single $5,309 donation this year, we will immediately stop improvising!
Highlights
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- 13 claimed
- 37 remaining
A super soft, beautifully designed T-shirt to commemorate a very special Countdown Improv Festival Fundraising Spectacular. We'll also send you one of last year's limited-edition Countdown Telethon drink koozies, we'll give you ticket pre-sale access, and we'll thank you on the website.
- 6 claimed
- 9 remaining
A super soft, beautifully designed, ultra-limited edition baseball tee to commemorate this very special Fundraising Spectacular. We'll also send you one of last year's Countdown Telethon drink koozies, we'll give you ticket pre-sale access, and we'll thank you on the website.
- 6 claimed
- 44 remaining
Donate at this level and not only will we send you both of this year's Fundraising Spectacular T-shirts, we'll also throw in a vintage Countdown Improv Festival Telethon T-shirt for good measure! Plus a vintage Telethon drink koozie, early bird ticket and workshop access, and a hearty "thank you" on the website.
This donation level is for people who don't really want or need any festival swag, but who just want the tax write-off. Well, here you go! We won't mail you anything, and you can take the full tax deduction for your donation. In exchange, we'll thank you profusely during the telethon and during the festival. We'll also thank you on the website. And we'll thank you right now, also. Thank you!
Donors at this level will be treated like VIPs at this year's Countdown Improv Festival. In addition to all of the preceding rewards, they'll enjoy 4 all-access weekend passes to the 2022 festival, and up to two complimentary slots per workshop, for up to four separate workshops over the course of the festival. We'll also thank you very prominently and effusively on the website and during the festival itself.
- 0 claimed
- 1 remaining
Give at this level and we'll name the Studio Theatre stage after you, or your business, or your dog, or anything you want, really (within reason, don't be a jerk). All branding for the 2022 festival will refer to it as the "______ Stage," our hosts will refer to it by that name throughout the weekend, and we'll probably make a banner with that name on it, which you can keep. Also all the other perks and thanks! The perfect reward for someone who really wants to get their (or someone else's) name out there!
Give at this level and we'll name the 256-seat HCC Mainstage Theatre stage after you, or your business, or your dog, or anything you want, really (within reason, don't be a jerk). All branding for the 2022 festival will refer to it as the "______ Stage," our hosts will refer to it by that name throughout the weekend, and we'll probably make a banner with that name on it, which you can keep. We'll even bring you on stage one night and you can make a speech, if you want! Also all the other perks and thanks! The perfect reward for someone who really wants to get their (or someone else's) name out there!
Take care of all of our fundraising needs with one big donation and we'll inaugurate you into the Countdown Improv Festival Hall of Fame: improv's highest (and only) honor, and one that we are not above selling to the highest bidder! Also every other perk except the named stages! Most importantly: If we get a single $5,309 donation this year, we will immediately stop improvising!
