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New Zealand Improv Festival 2025

New Zealand Improv Festival 2025

September 26 - October 4

The New Zealand Improv Festival is back for 2025 with nine days of improvisational talent from across the motu and around the world. From delightful duos, to donkeys, to drama, suspense and Christmas in October, there's something for everyone in our massive performance programme.

Check out the full programme below:

NZIF OPENING GALA

26 September, 8:30PM

Kick off the Festival in style! Featuring a smorgasbord of local, national, and international improv talent.

FRESH PRODUCE

26 - 27 September, 6:30PM

The next generation of local improv talent take the stage!

Echoes of the past

26 September, 7PM

Join us to witness how past events echo through places and generations, from simple heirlooms to people and their actions.

Hexaflexagon

27 September, 7PM

A high-art, high-energy improv show drenched in neon colours and backed by a hyperpop soundtrack.

Kōrero Paki

27 September, 8.30PM

Crack open a cold one and get set for a night of mean kōrero, cheeky banter and wild improv set in a garage party.

Ginge & Minge's Redemption

27 September, 9PM

The comedy pitches no one else could handle.

Split Bill: Sohn Zone & D.E.I.'s

30 September, 6.30PM

A married couple takes flight | the diversity quota fights back.

Swingers

30 September, 7:45PM

Real couples. Real improv. Real kissing (if that’s what they’re into).

Split Bill: Friends to the End & Living is Like

30 September, 9PM

A life and death combination: one show about death, one show about life.

bonfire

1 October, 6:30PM

Stories rise from the warmth of shared heritage, inviting connection through imagination, ancestry, and the magic of collective creation.

Oops! All Donkeys

2 October, 6:30PM

Find your inner donkey, and other donkeys as well, and let them heal.

bonfire

1 October, 6:30PM

Stories rise from the warmth of shared heritage, inviting connection through imagination, ancestry, and the magic of collective creation.

The Music Made Me Do It

1 October, 7:45PM

Do you like the volume heavenly high or hellishly hushed?

Small Towns, Kiwi Summers

2 October, 7:45PM

Join my friends and yours for a long summer day in the most rural town in Aotearoa.

It's Alive!

1 October, 7:45PM

A fully improvised show for kids with live puppetry and real science experiments!

The Dictionary of Moments

3 October, 6:30PM

Look up a word and find a story.

Christmas in October

3 October, 7PM

Join a hand-picked selection of guests from across the Festival as we unwrap a series of delightful surprises.

Tarot

3 October, 8:30PM

How will you play the cards you're dealt?

Let's Get Visual! (An NZSL Interpreted Improvised show)

4 October, 6:30PM

Experience the joy of improvised theatre as we create an interactive and visual performance with this NZSL-interpreted show celebrating inclusivity.

The Made-Up Smackdown: Favourites Box

4 October, 7PM

The audience picks from the Made-Up Smackdown come back for one final bout!

Scene Painting

4 October, 8:30PM

For the final show of the Festival, we're painting the town red. And orange. And yellow, green, blue, pink and purple.

BULL RUSH

4 October, 9PM

Expect spit-take-worthy gags, epic stories, heartbreaking tales, and live improvised music at Bull Rush.

ABOUT NZIFDisplay this contentHide this content

What is NZIF?

The New Zealand Improv Festival (NZIF) is an annual celebration of spontaneity in Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington). Founded in 2008 by Merrilee McCoy and Derek Flores under Wellington Improv Troupe, the festival has become a staple of the national and international improv communities.

Improv practitioners from around Aotearoa, Australia and the world gather to share ideas, develop skills, expand horizons, and make rad new friends, with a series of shows, workshops, conference sessions and social events.