Gallery 7 Theatre welcomes the improv comedy group Panic Squad and Friends on Friday, Oct. 3 in Abbotsford.
The 90-minute show begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Abbotsford Arts Centre, 2329 Crescent Way, launching Gallery 7’s 2014/15 “Refined by Fire” season.
Based out of the Pacific Northwest, Panic Squad is an international touring comedy improv team that has been performing for more than 10 years.
The group has entertained hundreds of churches, conferences, businesses, and top Fortune 500 corporations across the U.S. and Canada with a show that is similar to TV’s Whose Line is it Anyway? and Theatre Sports.
They create spontaneous comedy scenes based on audience suggestions and participation. While the team’s goal is to present high-quality comedy, they also keep their shows all-inclusive and all-clean.
Panic Squad opens the Gallery 7 season each year, and the theatre’s artistic director Ken Hildebrandt said the improv group “has the audience in stitches all night long.”
“Better yet, people don’t have to worry about off-colour humour since the team specializes in providing entertaining yet super-clean comedy. It’s great, family-friendly fun.”
Panic Squad normally consists of three performers who travel to locations throughout North America, but the Gallery 7 show is unique in that the team invites additional Lower Mainland improvisers.
“With double the performers, there’s double the hilarity, plus they get to try out new games that have been in the workshop, but not yet performed in front of an audience,” Hildebrandt said.
At the helm of Panic Squad is founding member Andrew Bright of Lynden, Wash. He will be joined on stage for the Gallery 7 Theatre show by Mike de Boer, Frank Nickel, Steve Krajnyak and John Voth, all from Vancouver.
Tickets for the show are $23 for adults, $21 for seniors and students, and $15 for children (12 and under). They are available at the House of James (2743 Emerson St.), by calling 604-852-3701 or online at gallery7theatre.com.