Every legend needs a right-hand man.

In September 2022, after pandemic delays, Nottingham improvisers Lloydie James Lloyd and Liam Webber launched the Robin Hood International Improv Festival. Their aim was simple: bring the best of the world’s improv to Nottingham, and take the best of Nottingham’s improv to the world. More than 100 improvisers from all over the world came to that first festival, and it has grown every year since.

But a festival only lasts a few days. When the last show ended, we wanted to keep going. Nottingham had shown it was hungry for improv, and local performers wanted somewhere to train, play and perform the rest of the year.

So we started Little John Improv. Robin Hood had Little John by his side, and the festival has us. We exist to keep the festival’s aims alive all year round by making the best improvised theatre and comedy we can, right here in Nottingham.

What we do

Shows, all year round. We put Nottingham’s best improvisers on stage alongside visiting performers from the rest of the UK and abroad. Our regular nights include The Secret Show, a monthly show where the audience’s anonymous confessions become scenes, and Loose Goose, a free improv jam at Fisher Gate Point on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of every month where anyone can jump up and play. We also bring shows to the annual Nottingham Comedy Festival.