Southend Improvathon 2025

Now that I have caught up on my sleep and had a chance to think through some of my decisions, I wanted to write a little on the Southend 48 Hour Improvathon (2025).

This was the sixth Southend Improvathon and I was delighted to be asked back once again. I don’t do a lot of performing at the moment with everything else that I have to focus on but you can bet your life I will forgo an entire weekend to dress up and be silly with my friends.

For context, the Southend Improvathon is now a 48-hour show, held at the Park Inn and comprised of an incredible cast and crew who perform, improvised, for an entire weekend. This year’s theme was a wizarding school which meant leaning into the cliches and watching as many films and shows as I could for research.

I started out playing Armitage Shanks, the school PE teacher and ended up as the Dark Lord, Nifor. It was really important to me this time around to lean into the character work more and not break from the emotional depth to get a quick gag in. That goes wider than improv and is something I am actively working on when I have the opportunity to do so.

Across 48 hours I danced, sang, joked and dug deep alongside an incredible cast and an amazing team of crew who looked after us. Watching everyone else’s scenes serves as a lesson in what is possible. They were all so quick, witty and charming in their deliveries. We ventured to a new world and took on something that felt like we were collectively getting into it.

Along the way it meant a lot to have real people to check in with. My partner was there for the opening episode and returned with my mum and her partner. It was great to see Jon, Sarah, Charlie, Drew and everyone else who came by and lost themselves in our created world for a bit. Thank you to Cat for the comfort and constantly running errands for us. I also really appreciated hugs from her, Jen and Andy when shit got dark.

Most of all, props to Ali James and John Oakes for creating the event and continuing to allow us to play. It’s an honour to do it and to be asked back. Looking forward to next year.