Groups Added:

Awkward Silence Comedy (USA - Indiana)
Bad Grammer (USA - Massachusetts)
Bent Theatre (USA - Virginia)
The B-List (USA - New Jersey)
La Bon de Rue (World - France)
CXP (USA - Iowa)
La Brique (World - France)
EFIT - Ecole Française d'Improvisation Théâtrale / Equipe COMMEDIA (World - France)
Eux (World - France)
Extraordinary Rendition (USA - North Carolina)
Freeze Dried Monkey (USA - Georgia)
The Ha-Ha Sisterhood (USA - Massachusetts)
Improv Colorado (USA - Colorado)
Improvisation & Co (World - Sweden)
Improvisation Inundation (USA - California)
Improvenös (World - Switzerland)
The Jove (USA - Florida)
The Magic Meathands (USA - California)
The Mixed Nuts - Dramagenics Family Improv Theater (USA - Arizona)
Nerd Love (USA - California)
A Pair of Nuts (USA - Florida)
Playback Theater Northwest (USA - Washington)
Roberto Alomar (USA - California)
Squishy! (USA - Ohio)
Stone Soup Improv (USA - California)
Ventura Improv Company (USA - California)

The cover story in this week's Chicago Reader is an account of Del Close's deathbed party, excerpted from Kim "Howard" Johnson's new biography of Del, The Funniest One in the Room: The Lives and Legends of Del Close.

Groups Added:

Baby Grenade (USA - New York)
Beijing Improv (Beijing, China) (World - China)
Chicago Improv Associates (USA - Illinois)
Dirty Laundry Improv (USA - Florida)
Fun Dip (USA - Texas)
Grandma's Third Leg (USA - Massachusetts)
Hoopla (World - UK)
Insensitivity Training (Canada - Ontario)
The Last Laugh (USA - Pennsylvania)
The LineBenders (USA - North Dakota)
The Lobby (USA - California)
LUDI Toulouse (World - France)
National Comedy Theatre Phoenix (USA - Arizona)
Running Gag Improv (USA - Tennessee)
Spin Cycle Improv (USA - Wisconsin)
Teatro Al Toque (World - Chile)
THEY improv (USA - Florida)
Troubled Shores (USA - Massachusetts)

The latest issue of Vice Magazine -- the "Second Annual Fiction Issue" -- features interviews with improvisors Amy Poehler, John Lutz, and Jack McBrayer in the context of UCB's Asssscat.

Improv comedy is the bravest, most immediate form of making up stories that there is. It’s not always the funniest, or the smartest, or the best, but it’s always the bravest. The dawgs who do this shit have big balls, yo.

[...]

The basic theory of good improv is, we think, about letting go, accepting looking stupid, and making mistakes then turning them into gold at the drop of a dime. Most people who are great at improv, like Asssscat, learned this stuff first- or second-hand from a man named Del Close, who is to improv comedy what George Washington is to America or Thomas Edison is to, oh, you know, quadruplex-telegraph repeaters.

Anyway, on a good night, watching Asssscat perform is like being in a car speeding downhill with no brakes—in a funny way. They pretty much know the secret that unlocks the enchanted world of laughter, so we decided to try and get them to tell us…

Groups Added:

Les Improvisades (World - France)
Irony City (USA - Pennsylvania)
The No-No's (Canada - Saskatchewan)
Project Dufflebag (USA - California)
PROJECTproject (Canada - Ontario)
Synergy Theater (USA - California)
10,000 to Flight (Canada - Ontario)

Groups Added:

Amuse-Bouche (USA - Virginia)
AttiMatti (World - Italy)
The Completely Off Broadway Players (USA - New Jersey)
Empty Stage Comedy Theatre (USA - California)
Extempore (World - Italy)
5-6-7-8 (USA - Washington, DC)
Freeze Frame Improv (USA - New Jersey)
Die Impronauten (World - Switzerland)
Makeout Clinic (USA - Pennsylvania)
Over the Edge (World - Zimbabwe )
Quiet Monkey Fight (USA - Washington)
Roving Imps (USA - Kansas)
Second Thought Improv (USA - Florida)