For two decades, Steve Roe has been at the heart of London’s improv scene, building Hoopla Impro from its early days above a pub into one of the UK’s most vibrant and welcoming creative communities. What began as a space for playful experimentation has grown into a hub for thousands of performers and audiences alike – yet at its core, Hoopla has always been driven by the same simple idea: bringing people together to laugh, create, and feel fully present in the moment.
Now, as Hoopla marks its 20th anniversary with a special festival reuniting artists from across its history, Roe reflects on the journey so far and the enduring magic of improv. From intimate performances in its 80-seat theatre to the wider impact on the UK comedy landscape, the festival is both a celebration of where Hoopla began and a glimpse into where it’s heading next. Find out more about the festival here: https://www.hooplaimpro.com/20
Hoopla is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. When you look back to those early days above a pub, what stands out to you most?
Good question! Most of all what stands out from then is the feeling of joyful play and fun. People coming together, taking a break from work and other worries, making things up together, laughing together and really enjoying being alive and around other people. I remember very early on thinking I wanted to keep that going for as long as possible. I wrote it all down and still have it all stuck on the wall behind my desk so I look at it every day. I’m really happy to write that answer as it’s that feeling that Hoopla is still doing today, but now for more people than ever.
The anniversary festival brings together artists from across Hoopla’s history. What does it mean to reunite those different generations of performers?
One of the amazing things about the UK improv community is it has always been very open and supportive and very flat hierarchy. For instance Dylan Emery, one of the founders and Directors of Showstoppers The Improvised Musical, has taken that show to the West End, on national tours, and on to their own Radio 4 series, but he will also be performing at our smaller 80 capacity theatre with his other groups and be so kind and welcoming to new improvisers and very generous with his time and advice. The people who perform in Austentatious on the West End will also performing in other spin off shows around town and help grow the wider improv community by supporting new improvisers. I think festivals like this accelerate these kind of relationships and communications. Performers who have started recently will watch shows that inspire them, and chat to the cast on the same night. It’s impossible to say what happens in the future, but these nuggets of inspiration and relationships can have a positive effect that influences performers and the wider improv community for years.
What do you think makes Improv such a powerful form of performance?
It’s right there, totally alive. I feel like a lot of people are getting a bit fed up of AI, screens, doom scrolling, social media, work work work blah blah! Improv cuts through all that and says hello. It’s a fully human thing happening right on stage right now that is totally connected to all the people in the room.
The festival takes place in an 80-seat venue, where many of these artists first performed. What does that intimacy bring to the experience for both performers and audiences?
I work in Hoopla so much and for so long that I’m rarely in other theatres! When I do I get really confused by all their different sizes and shapes. What I love about our space is that it’s large enough to have an amazing laugh sound, when it takes off it really takes off and can feel so amazingly alive. Also as a performer it’s great as it’s small enough that I can just about sense what’s going on in the room and what the general mood is, that’s a great feeling when you feel like you’ve really got the room. For audiences too I think it’s great as it can feel really lively and a big night out, but you’re never more than 5 rows away from the stage so you can feel really connected to what’s happening. Also I love how unforgiving the room is too. If I say something that I think was going to be funny on stage, and it’s not, it’s really obvious! Different comedy and theatre spaces have different personalities I think. Our theatre was originally a punk venue back in the 70s and I think there is a spirit there still. It was also randomly a pizza hut in the 1980s for a bit, I don’t know what that brings to the table though.
Hoopla has trained thousands of performers and built a strong creative community. What do you think has made that sense of community so enduring?
Being absolutely values led. Values that we established 20 years ago we will try to communicate constantly to our teachers, our performers, our support team, everyone. And never get complacent about that. And those values should be active, not passive and hidden away on some pdf document that nobody has read. So if we want to make improv fun we regularly run events and shows and training with that in mind. If we want to make improv open and accessible for everyone we constantly look at that and do more to help that. Also I think being brave and deciding what not to do sometimes. Sometimes we have ideas but they just don’t “feel like Hoopla” so we don’t do them and wave goodbye to them.
After 20 years of Hoopla, what continues to inspire you about the work?
The people. The people I work with, the people I perform with, the people I teach, the people at our shows, the people at our venues. I feel very lucky about that. Hoopla has so many amazing people and just being around them makes me feel young and happy and alive. So thank you people!