Central Connecticut State University Department of Theatre

The Improv Olympiiix are a series of competitive improv games for teams of high-school students in Connecticut. They were designed to marry the exciting competition of sports with the creativity and entertainment of live theatre.

Teams of 4-8 players play improv games and receive scores from 3 judges. Each team plays 4 games per round. The teams achieving the three highest single round scores moves on to the championship (March 29th above). But no one is ever out of the competition. The Phoenix round (March 28th above) mixes players from all teams competing (that haven't already qualified for the championship) and sends one forward to the championship as "The Wild Card."

Entry fee is $100, and entitles you to:

-At least one visit from our students to guide your troupe in good improv techniques.
-An invitation to workshops in January, February, and March to further improve skills.
-Participation in as many preliminary rounds as possible to hone your skills.
-The possibility of winning free tickets to performances
-Should your team win, the opportunity to perform in an evening of comedy with improv comedy professionals in on April 5, 2008.

On the day of the championship, all the players from all the teams (regardless of final standings) are invited to a gathering at CCSU, where there will be various acting, improv, and comedy workshops and games happening throughout the day. Additionally there will be a secondary elimination round (called The Phoenix Round) for all of the students whose team did not place in the top three.

The CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND of the competition will be held that evening in CCSU's Thaddeus Torp Theatre. The winners of that Championship round earn a slot to perform that night at the Laugh With Purpose Comedy Festival alongside professional comedians and improv artists.

WHAT DO THE SCORES MEAN?
They are the highest score that each team has received in a competition. At the end of the season the 3 highest-scoring teams will compete against each other and the Phoenix Team in the Championship. In the event of a tie for highest score, the teams next-highest score will determine who plays in the championship.

The score to a game is conceived by placing the following values on the game performance (in order from most, to least important):

WHAT IS THE PHOENIX ROUND/PHOENIX TEAM?
The Phoenix Round is the wild card secondary elimination phase of the Olympiiix. On the day of the Championship, any team that did not finish in the top three may enter their players in the Phoenix Round, where players from different schools in the area are assembled into teams by lottery and play a standard Improv Olympiiix Round. The winning team from this round goes on to compete in the Championship as the Phoenix Team.

The host greets the audience and introduces each team one at a time. The teams enter with their own specific theme and entrance (choose your own music, use this to establish a theme and feel for your team) and take their places on the stage. Introductions should be kept under 30 seconds. Once the players are in place the host introduces the judges, the “Wheel of DOOM (dum dum dum)” and succinctly explains the rules of the contest. As part of the explanation the host will spin the Wheel of DOOM (dum dum dum) and choose a Host’s Challenge, which will be explained later. Once the competition is explained one representative from each team and play one of the Coin Toss games to determine which team will go first. (see below)

Once decided the team who won the Coin Toss will come forward. They have three options: they can accept the Host’s Challenge and play the game from the earlier spin, spin the Wheel of DOOM (dum dum dum) for themselves and choose between the two games, or pass to the team who came in second in the Coin Toss. The next team (the next highest scoring during the Coin Toss) has the option of playing one of the two games on the board, spinning the Wheel of DOOM (dum dum dum) and choosing between three games, or passing to the third team. The third team may play one of the games on the board or spin; they do not have the option of passing. Once every team has spun and there are four games on the board each team must play all four games. When every team has played all four games, the scores are tallied and the highest scoring team is declared the winner.