Whole World Improv Theatre

Founding (1993 to 1994)

David Webster trained with The Second City in Chicago before returning to Atlanta, where in late 1993 he began teaching a founding group of student actors in long-form improv. The organization's first public performance took place in September 1994 before an audience of twenty-five at Eddie's Attic in Decatur, Georgia. The company also performed guerrilla sets in Piedmont Park during its early months.

Permanent Home (1995)

In June 1995, Webster and Jennifer Horne, who later married, used their honeymoon funds to open a permanent performance space at 1216 Spring Street NW in Midtown Atlanta. The Spring Street venue became the company's home for the following three decades.

Turner South Television

Webster produced Whole World Comedy, a live television show that launched on the Turner South Network. The production won two Regional Emmy Awards, extending the company's profile beyond the stage.

Thirtieth Anniversary (2024)

Whole World Improv Theatre celebrated thirty years of operation in 2024, covered by Arts ATL, Atlanta Magazine, and Rough Draft Atlanta. At its anniversary the company maintained more than fifty company members, five shows per week (Thursdays at 8 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.), and a three-level adult class program leading to apprenticeship and mainstage opportunities.

Whole World Improv Theatre presents long-form improv grounded in emotional and narrative scene work rooted in David Webster's Second City training. The company's three-level adult curriculum advances students toward apprenticeship and company membership, and its ensemble model has sustained more than fifty active performers over more than three decades in Midtown Atlanta.

Whole World Improv Theatre is one of the Southeast's foundational improv institutions and the longest-running improv theatre in Atlanta. Webster directed and emceed more than a thousand performances over his artistic tenure. The company's Turner South television production won Regional Emmy Awards and introduced long-form improv to cable audiences in the region.