You might say that all improvisational theatre is driven by impulse, but the impulse is stronger than ever for the Impulse Festival in Toronto, with Naomi Snieckus from The National Theatre of the World having invited eight improv companies from around the world to the Young Centre for the Performing Arts Dec. 12 to 15. She talked to the Star about it.

Who is coming to Impulse?

The rock star improvisers from all over the world. These are the people that when you go to their community everyone knows them, loves and admires them. Matt (Baram) and I met and worked with these performers in various places in the world. . . . Plus folks like Colin Mochrie, Strombo, Zaib Shaikh, Linda Kash, Tony Nappo are coming to play in the 55hr Soap-a-thon . . . it’s going to be a meeting of the theatre/improv minds all in one place. We are going to be able to turn off the power and just be fuelled by the electricity of the shows in the building.

What is a typical show going to be like at Impulse?

The whole building will be teaming with funny people; you can go see a show from the guys from France . . . or a show from the guys from France mashed up with the gang from Mumbai . . . or take a workshop about how to improvise in Shakespearean text from the troupe from the U.K. The possibilities are endless. And, unlike a traditional theatre show, anything can happen. Possible gunfire, possible nudity, possible strobe lights . . . anything is possible. That’s what makes improv so exciting.

Where did the partnership come from with Soulpepper?

We have been trying to get improv and theatre together from the beginning. When Ted Dykstra introduced us to Andy McKim at (Theatre Passe Muraille) it was a huge step for us, for improv. So when we were doing Script Tease at Theatre Passe Muraille . . . Albert Schultz and Leslie Lester came to see a show and invited us to do some of their festivals; that worked into a longer residency. They are big thinkers and dreamers, so we had a meeting and Albert said, “Write down your top 10 things you want to do.” At the top of the list Matt wrote, “International Improv Festival.” We had been travelling all over the world with NTOW and met so many inspiring performers, we wanted to introduce them to the Toronto community.

What’s it like planning this festival with your partner in life Matt Baram?

Well, Matt has been filming in Halifax (Season 2 of Seed for City TV) so he has been working remotely for the last three months. A lot of our phone calls are about travel itineraries, festival organization and where does he keep the spare light bulbs. When this is over we’re going to look at each other and remind ourselves . . . oh yeah . . . we don’t just work together, we get to live life together too. That’s going to be great. But first we have to get through 55 hours of improv together; if we can handle that, we can handle anything.

What is this 55hr marathon?

One word: Crazy. They have done 52 hours in Edmonton, 53 hours in the U.K., 54 hours in Australia . . . so we went one higher. Luckily we have veterans Mark Meer, Dana Andersen, Jacob Banigan and, from the U.K., Sean McCann, Adam Meggido. . . . Then we have some other core members from the community like Carolyn Taylor, Chris Gibbs, Herbie Barnes. We’ve got a great team of people and some great folks from the Toronto community coming down to support. It’s really a special community event and all money raised is going to Gilda’s Club . . . so it makes it even more special as she’s one of my heroes.

Last words?

Just come down to the Distillery. It’s a magical time around there and now it’s going to be magical inside too. I don’t know what to tell you to expect because it’s improv . . . but I’ll tell you this: expect anything, expect magic.