That’s a Wrap on Yes, Ann Year One
In early 2025, I decided we should take on the very simple, straightforward project to create an improv festival in Ann Arbor that would bring thousands of people to the city to see dozens of shows and top national headliners. In my experience, Ann Arbor crowds have been pretty awesome for improv: tons of innate curiosity, a wide reference bank, and along for the ride to wherever the performers take a show. I felt confident that through this festival we could further put our city on the map as an improv hub.
Opening night of the festival.
Shortly after, I told a few people I was thinking about that summer (i.e. 6 months or so from then) for year one. The eyes looking back at me could not have been wider. From those speaking from experience, the message that followed was clear: target the summer of 2026 to really do it right. That felt like so long to wait, but time passed both fast and slow in the leadup to our first ever festival.
As we started working in the background on this, I was fortunate to have Clark Zettek and Marquee Arts enter into the fold for a monthly film discussion series with their members at hear.say. That new relationship led to the go-ahead for an improv festival with top headliners in the main auditorium of the historic Michigan Theater. A 1,609 seat space. 100 years old. A truly magical venue where we could center the festival. Marquee Arts took great care of us throughout the process and helped de-risk the entire operation. Without their support, we could not have taken big swings on talent.
Clark Zettek putting up the fest poster.
Once we had everything in place, I started working on a name. As I’ve learned from other comedy folks, names need to succinctly convey what “the thing” is and, ideally, grab your attention. For a long time, the working title was AAIF, or Ann Arbor Improv Festival. Then, one day, the idea of Yes, Ann just popped into my brain. It felt too perfect. It’s improv. It’s Ann Arbor. The only aspect I failed to predict was how many ladies named Ann would eventually buy merch for their husbands.
The first mockup logo and save the date.
With the venue secured and a (IMHO) great name in place, we worked on headliners. Chris Moody was an invaluable partner in this effort. From his national travels for work and past work on the Detroit Improv Festival, the man is one step removed from every funny person you’ve ever seen. As Chris started making connections, a big one came through in Anna Garcia, who was eager to make a homecoming to A2 after graduating from Michigan. One of the great aspects of improv is the proclivity to say “yes” and be comfortable with new concepts, which really played to our advantage in booking talent.
Anna couldn’t wait to bring her friends from Dropout and UCB to her favorite place. Spending time with that group (Oscar, Tim, Angela, and Demi) backstage and at The Graduate felt like being on a reality show with the funniest people in the world. Far before the week of the fest, Anna was such a champion of Yes, Ann and her belief in what we were doing gave me the confidence to push forward.
Anna being carried off at the end of the Monoscene set.
With Anna confirmed, we kept working. Suzi Barrett and the tremendous team behind the Yes, Also podcast signed on. Suzi would not only record a live episode with the fabulous Nolen & Nolen comedy team, but help secure two of my favorite performers in Eugene Cordero and Colton Dunn to join Suzi, Anna, and Ryan Rosenberg, the podcast’s uber-talented producer and improviser. Suzi has been banging the drum about hear.say for quite some time and it was awesome to welcome her back after recording a podcast with her last year. One of the highlights of the fest was definitely bringing back 3 native Michiganders in Eugene, Suzi, and, of course, Anna.
Yes, Also All Stars during their set. Photo: Linsey Lohman
We were then thrilled to iron out a deal with The Improvised Shakespeare Company. Still my all-time favorite improv show, they could not have delivered the goods any harder from their “keep it cool” jazz number to Ross Bryant’s Fast & Furious prologue. So many people came up to me to say how their brains were scrambled by what the ISC guys produced on stage. (You know improv is good when it permanently changes how your brain functions!)
The beginning of The Improvised Shakespeare Company’s set at Yes, Ann.
I was also thrilled to work with Casey Feigh. Casey has a great episode of Yes, Also with Suzi where he challenges paradigms around improv: the ability to produce revenue, new ideas on streaming. I knew someone innovative on the business side would be a great partner. In booking Jordan Myrick, Zac Oyama, Jess McKenna, and Angela Giarratana, HOLY SHIT came hard with another incredible cast. As this was materializing, I was in disbelief. We had a total headliner roster of 19 names and 4 truly special shows. All for an inaugural festival that no one could count on from past experience or testimonials.
Holy shit, that’s a wild final scene of the show.
But that’s kind of improv! We build every show from scratch. Why not be comfortable with a festival that does the same?
As time progressed, I’m not sure Marquee Arts or even I envisioned how successful we would be in booking headliners and marketing the festival to performers and attendees. As the fest took shape and more days and spaces were needed, their entire team worked diligently to support our nascent event. I’m forever grateful to the entire team.
Another big piece of our strategy was to bring in performers from all over the country. When we opened for submissions, the first time I saw a team end in a two-state abbreviation that wasn’t MI was a delight. IL… CA…. MN… IN… (Dare I say) OH… People really believe in what we’re doing! We ultimately had over 80 teams submit and booked 55. 250 people traveled to Ann Arbor. Thousands of people saw shows.
We also put out a call for sponsors. I’d be remiss to not recognize Marquee Arts, The Graduate, Improv Utopia, Destination Ann Arbor, New Lead Players, Kolossos, Lume Cannabis, Open Your Heart, Azaad Healing Justice Studio, Dart Bank, Chromatoform, Why Can’t We Be Friends? / Bad Asians, and Dahlia Counseling. Without organizations that believe in you, something big cannot come together. Through dollars and in-kind support, our sponsors truly made the festival a success.
The team behind the festival was also incredible. Beth Dutridge-Corp managed and trained a support staff team of nearly 40 people. Michelle Weiss helped us ensure tech needs were solidified and that the sold-out Musical Block could be a success. Michael Hovitch put his artistic stamp on things and gave a professional touch to all of our marketing efforts. Chris Moody made critical connections and helped us improvise to solve problems. I had a dream team behind the scenes making this all work. As nice as comments have been to me, I just had the initial idea. The hard part is executing.
Beth Dutridge-Corp and Tony DeRosa hold special recognition from Governor Whitmer.
As the show dates finally arrived, it was a dream to see everyone enjoying the best time of year in Ann Arbor. Headliners bouncing around town to my favorite spots. Performers taking pictures with their badges and show posters. Organic connection among out-of-state performers.
The best moment of all for me, though, was stepping out on stage with Nicole Poggione from The Graduate to welcome Monoscene Night, seeing hundreds of faces, and feeling the full energy of the 1,600+ in attendance. I will never forget the feeling of that many people saying Yes to Yes, Ann. For the first time probably ever, the Michigan Theater was sold out twice in one night.
Nicole and Tony welcome the crowd to Yes, Ann. Photo: Linsey Lohman
Before we look ahead to 2027, and yes we’ll be back, I wanted to share 4 lessons I learned from planning the festival.
You just have to ask, but be okay with no.
Good things come to those who ask. One of the headliners I really wanted initially asked for well over six figures to come to Ann Arbor. That was not in the cards! However, as we met more people, big Yes responses came from Anna, Casey, Suzi, and Blaine Swen (of The Improvised Shakespeare Company).
Trade things with unequal value to each party.
A lot of our festival support was in-kind. Remember that not everything has to be a strict monetary transaction. We got tons of help with printing, room blocks, party support, and more by being creative. In some cases, premium show tickets were worth more to someone than face value. Marquee Arts gave us a massive discount on the space in exchange for hosting community discussions at our brewery.
Ask for help!
I would have burned out and failed trying to do this solo. Beth, Chris, Michael, Michelle and our extended fest team played a key role in making this all happen.
Take risks, have a safety net.
We were able to make pretty aggressive offers to our headliners given the reasonable cost of our venue and the capacity to sell up to 1,600 tickets. We had contractual pieces in place where if we had to cancel with more than 30 days notice, we could do so. This gave me the confidence to push forward, as we limited our downside risk.
4 of the headliners enjoying an afternoon post-fest hang at hear.say.
Thank you again to everyone who performed at, attended, worked at, or otherwise supported Yes, Ann! You made my dream come true. I hope what we did here inspires someone else to take a big swing. If you do, I’d love to hear about it.
The author, Tony DeRosa, and his wife Lauren Wozniak.