Improvisation in Ottawa
Companies
Organizations
Festivals
Historical Moments
Canadian Improv Games Founded in Ottawa
In 1977, Jamie Wyllie and Howard Jerome founded the Canadian Improv Games in Ottawa, Ontario, establishing an annual competitive improvisation tournament for high school students. Wyllie's troupe Stage Fright organized the first matches among eight Ottawa high schools, adapting competitive formats accessible to students encountering improv for the first time. The competition grew to fourteen regional programmes across Canada, with a national final held annually at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.
Canadian Improv Games Establishes National Tournament at the National Arts Centre
In 1988, the Canadian Improv Games established a partnership that brought the annual national tournament to the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. The NAC’s Babs Asper Theatre became the venue for the national finals, giving student performers their first experience on a fully professional stage. The partnership elevated the competition’s national profile and gave the Canadian Improv Games an institutional home it has maintained ever since.
YTV Begins National Television Coverage of the Canadian Improv Games
During the 1990s, YTV, a Canadian cable television network, began providing hour-long live coverage of the Canadian Improv Games national tournament. The broadcasts transformed a regionally distributed theatre festival into a nationally visible program, allowing students across the country to see peers competing at the National Arts Centre. The television presence established improvisation as a recognized youth performing arts activity in Canada and drove significant growth in regional participation.
Experimental Farm Theatre Founded in Ottawa
Dani Alon and Chris Hannay began producing shows in Ottawa in summer 2014 under the name Experimental Farm Theatre, the organization that would become The Improv Embassy.
Jamie Wyllie, Co-Founder of the Canadian Improv Games, Dies at Age Fifty-Six
Jamie Wyllie, who co-founded the Canadian Improv Games in 1977 alongside Howard Jerome and devoted thirty-seven years to building the organization, died in October 2014 at age 56 after complications from leukemia. Wyllie served as primary organizer and board chair through stretches when institutional support was uncertain, personally securing sponsors and managing matters that sustained the organization’s growth from eight Ottawa high school teams to a national program with fourteen regional chapters.
Organization Renamed The Improv Embassy and Incorporated as Nonprofit
In 2016 Dani Alon and Chris Hannay renamed the organization The Improv Embassy and incorporated it as a nonprofit, establishing it as Ottawa's dedicated improv school and festival producer.
Wayward Improvised Theatre Founded in Ottawa
Wayward Improvised Theatre was founded in Ottawa, Ontario in 2024 by an experienced leadership group, presenting short-form, long-form, narrative, and Maestro improv formats at Arts Court.
How to Reference This Page
The Improv Archive. (2026). Ottawa. Retrieved March 17, 2026, from https://improvarchive.org/locales/north-america/canada/ontario/ottawa
The Improv Archive. "Ottawa." The Improv Archive, 2026. https://improvarchive.org/locales/north-america/canada/ontario/ottawa.
The Improv Archive. "Ottawa." The Improv Archive, 2026, https://improvarchive.org/locales/north-america/canada/ontario/ottawa. Accessed March 17, 2026.
The Improv Archive is a systemically maintained repository. The archive itself acts as the corporate author.