About Us

Happy Valley Improv is State College's premier longform improv company. We are a growing community of improvisers who aim to bring the art of improvisation to State College.

Happy Valley Improv started in the basement of a church when three improvisers came together and said, "hey, this could be fun." Andrea, James, and Sam started practicing weekly and were joined by Nate soon after, in the frigid month of January 2017.

Since then, we have performed a run of shows at the State Theatre, expanded our company, led workshops in various settings, and have begun to offer improv classes for the community.

Follow along with us on our journey to bring improv to Happy Valley!

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Our Mission

To cultivate and support a community of people dedicated to the study, practice, and exploration of improvisation.

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Our Tenets of Improvisation

The founders of Happy Valley Improv created these five Tenets of Improvisation. These tenets inform everything the Company does, both on-stage and off-stage.

1. Improvisation is a discovery-based theatrical art form with no predetermined outcome.

2. Improvisation requires individuals to defer to the collective.

3. Improvisation requires individuals to listen, accept, and build off the truths established by the collective.

4. Improvisation requires individuals to believe they exist in the reality established by the collective.

5. Improvisation requires non-evaluative participation.

For a more detailed breakdown of the Tenets, read Sam Tanner's blog post: Five Tenets. And to read about why we updated them, read: New Year, New You, New Me, (New Tenets?).