Like a lot of artistic corners of Asheville, the city’s improv theater scene is far more robust than you’d expect in a town this size. A natural extension of the scene's growth is the Asheville Improv Festival, debuting May 7-10. 

Longtime Asheville journalist Matt Peiken is also a longtime improviser. He used the occasion of the upcoming festival to gather four important players in the scene—Gillian Bellinger, founder of Misfit Improv; Laurie Jones, co-founder of Adesto Theater, Tim Hearn of Speakeasy Improv and Tom Chalmers, the founder of Asheville’s longest-running improv troupe, the Reasonably Priced Babies. 

They talk about the history and growth of Asheville's improv scene, the challenges of building and sustaining an improv community here and the collaborative nature of the people and groups leading the way.

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