PAD SET @ Nest for Columbus Comedy Festival!
This original show features 2-3 standups, an audience that remembers the sets and shouts prompts to inspire improv scenes! A wonderful hybrid of standup and improv at The Nest!
PAD SET @Nest + Columbus Comedy Festival!
This original show features 2-3 standups, an audience that remembers the sets and shouts prompts to inspire improv scenes! A wonderful hybrid of standup and improv at The Nest!
ANONYMOUS - The Secrets Show (Columbus, OH)
an original cult-hit improv show inspired by the secrets of the audience!
Tara DeFrancisco / standup feature for Heather Shaw
Tara DeFrancisco features before Heather Shaw @ The Nest Theatre (tickets online April 2025); CBus comic Bridjet Mendy opens the night.
DETROIT IMPROV FESTIVAL 2025 presents HERE: The (Improvised) Musical
The first duo improvised musical play, this show has been called “nothing short of genius” by NPR, rated 4 stars by Chicago Tribune. Chicago Reader Recommended, top shows in Columbus by Broadway World, and and “not to miss” by Chi Sun-Times! HERE with Tara & Rance has toured to 24 countries & 88 cities as a headliner, and held two residencies simultaneously at iO Chicago (IL) and The Nest Theatre (OH). Catch it on tour or in town!
SARASOTA IMPROV FESTIVAL (HERE headliner, 2025)
HERE in SARASOTA FL - 2 nights, July 18 & 19! (Tickets not yet released) The first duo improvised musical play, this show has been called “nothing short of genius” by NPR, rated 4 stars by Chicago Tribune. Chicago Reader Recommended, top shows in Columbus by Broadway World, and and “not to miss” by Chi Sun-Times! HERE with Tara & Rance has toured to 24 countries & 88 cities as a headliner, and held two residencies simultaneously at iO Chicago (IL) and The Nest Theatre (OH). Catch it on tour or in town!
The Improv Retreat
In 2012, The Improv Retreat was created as a summit for professional and hobbyist improvisers to take workshops, jam, collaborate, and find community while in nature. 2014-2025 have brought live events, and this 150-person summit in the woods happens for the last time in 2025.
ANONYMOUS - The Secrets Show
Original Form - The Secrets show! Anonymous takes true, pre-written, anonymous personal stories submitted from our cast & guests, then those stories lead to conversation and comedic improvisation done by the cast. Randomly drawn from the big board, the cast has seen none of the stories prior to the conversations or improvisation - unless it's (dramatic pause)... their own. Only at The Nest Theatre (CBus)!
a Poem, a Pic, a Pep-Talk (TD @Creative Beings for CRIS)
Creative Beings presents an evening during Franklinton Fridays, raising money via three lovely humans for Community Refugee Immigration Services (CRIS); a Poem (Hilary Buchanan), a Pic (Megan Leigh Barnard), a Pep-Talk (Tara DeFrancisco) - tickets on-sale tbd
Messing, DeFrancisco, Rizzutto, & Lehr
Susan Messing (Chicago), Tara DeFrancisco (Chicago, CBus), Rance Rizzutto (Chicago, CBus), and John Lehr (Los Angeles) team up for an improvised romp, one night only each year. Don’t miss the insanity of these four improvisational veterans.
HERE: The (Improvised) Musical
The first duo improvised musical play, this show has been called “nothing short of genius” by NPR, rated 4 stars by Chicago Tribune. Chicago Reader Recommended, top shows in Columbus by Broadway World, and and “not to miss” by Chi Sun-Times! HERE with Tara & Rance has toured to 24 countries & 88 cities as a headliner, and held two residencies simultaneously at iO Chicago (IL) and The Nest Theatre (OH). Catch it on tour or in town!
defrancisCo
defrancisCo was created in 2010, and is regarded as one of the first shows worldwide where a seasoned performer plays with someone at random (and this show is especially wild, as the participant may have never seen an improv show). A “punk art show of kindness”, this was Show of the Season by the Tribune and runs at request at random on tour / has held two residencies - with just Tara, plus one.