Apply

Artificial Intelligence Improvised Theatre Technology Company Improbotics Corp International is expanding! We are recruiting new data ninjas, code wizards and thought gurus for our London-based subsidiary Improbotics Ltd. We are expecting exponential growth and disruptive product launches in 2019, which will feature our revolutionary approach to the entertainment industry, placing the robot in the spotlight at the center stage, making the world a better place and connecting the planet, one audience member at a time.

Translation: Improbotics Ltd. London is looking for new team members.

We are an experimental improv comedy troupe, exploring the use of artificial intelligence technology as a tool for artistic human creativity, and building a futuristic show. The principle of Improbotics is that some performers get suggestions or even lines of dialogue through headsets, and that these lines can be generated by an artificial intelligence-based chatbot that we have developed and trained on dialogue from a hundred thousand films. What the AI generates does not always make sense, and here lies the fun and the challenge of our unorthodox approach!

We are looking for daring, open-minded, experienced improvisers and/or theatrical actors to join our company; in particular, for performers who can act physically and to the highest level of their emotional intelligence. If acting is all about reacting, then the performers who are controlled by the chatbot should be able to take any nonsensical line suggestion and deliver it with sincerity. The other improvisers will then scramble to justify what is going on. The audience will go wild as they enjoy watching a comedy version of a mental tight-rope walking.

Because tech – even more than improv – is sorely lacking in diversity, it would be great to maintain gender parity in our group but also to have different ethnicities and other types of representation. We get to improvise but also to discuss AI and tech: Kory and Piotr actually develop the chatbot software, and as you know, the AI captures the biases of its creators. As we want both our group to build more interesting stories and the AI to generate less biased lines, we are actively looking for a diverse cast. Improbotics sometimes has press coverage and this can actually be an opportunity to spread a message.

We have been experimenting with narrative long-form improv so far and are now looking forward to trying shorter scene-based improv and games, exploring the potential of the absurd lines and situations prompted by the AI.

Our London-based troupe will run in parallel to teams in Stockholm (Improbotics AB Sweden, led by Jenny Elfving) and Edmonton (Improbotics Inc. Canada, led by Kory Mathewson). Improvisers of all these troupes will communicate and exchange ideas and could at some point meet on the stage.

Before applying, please take a look at this website, in particular the concept, a gallery of previous shows, bios of the creative team and the scientific papers that they have written on the subject, and press coverage.

Auditions will be held at Theatre Deli Studios, 2 Finsbury Ave, London EC2M 2PA on 13 and 22 November 2018, at 8pm. When you get to the first floor’s reception, ask for Improbotics. Please arrive a few minutes early as the audition will start promptly on time, and please also note that this is in general an unpaid opportunity. In the rare cases when a show is ticketed, profits will be equally split among the performers of that show.

We are uncomfortably excited by the future.