What: An hour and a half of fearlessly inventive, exciting and funny sketches, skits and songs, all made up on the spot, all inspired by audience suggestions.

When: Every Thursday from 13th January to 31st March 2011

What Time: 8:30pm -10:15pm (doors open 8:15pm)

Where: Upstairs at The Wheatsheaf, 25 Rathbone Place, London W1T 1JB.
Five minutes walk from Tottenham court road or Goodge Street tubes.

How Much: £7

Bookings: e-mail tickets@grandtheftimpro.com or phone 020 7580 1585 to book - give a name, a date and a number of tickets. You must show up by 8pm on the night to pick up the tickets.

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Photographs by Gabrielle Motola

For more on improvisation in the UK, go to The Crunchy Frog Collective website

Grand Theft Impro was set up at the start of 2003 by Alan Marriott and Dylan Emery. It is the performing wing of The Crunchy Frog Collective and regularly performs in and around London.

GTI started with a core team of six players, four of whom are grand dames of impro, with a combined 70 years of impro experience. These are: Phil Whelans, Lesley Albiston, Drew Leavy and Alan Marriott. The other two were the relative newcomers Duncan Foster and Dylan Emery.

Fresh Blood

By the middle of 2003, it become obvious that GTI would need more players to join in as and when the core team were not able to make it, and so guest players started making regular appearances.

The most frequent guest (so much so that he's almost part of the core team) has been the mostly insane Phil Pellew. Other guests have been Phill Jupitus, Pippa Evans, Ruth Bratt, Tony Slattery (Whose Line is it Anyway Alumnus), Nial Ashdown (Comedy Store Players), Michelle Owoo (Improper), Suki Webster (Comedy Store Players), Nick Johne (Second City in Toronto), Shawn Kinley (Loose Moose, Calgary) Antony Ingle (head of external music at Lamda drama school).

GTI have been on Time Out's recommended list continuously for the past three years, we were in Jim Sweeney's Time Out Comic's Choice and were London Lite's 'Must Go' show in April 2007.

"At the forefront of the revival in impro, Grand Theft recalls the exuberant forays of Not Only But Also or Beyond The Fringe."
William Cook, The Guardian

"A rumbustious night out"
Bruce Dessau, Evening Standard

"A unique brand of extreme theatre - they are always entertaining"
Daily Mirror

"These guys are great, enthusiastic, musical and most importantly funny."
Remote Goat