ZIP Improv is celebrating its first birthday by participating in the Foreign Actors Competition at the Nanshan Theater Festival on September 17 and 24. You can also catch their act at Evil Duck in Futian this coming Saturday.

One night, over a year ago, four Shenzhen people met up at Crafthead and started playing improv games. From this fun, casual meetup, ZIP was born. Every time the team gets together, more zippers join the crew, which includes guys, girls, Chinese and foreigners. All kinds of people, from those with rich experience to those with only a little, join in on the fun.

The team does shows at many of Shenzhen’s favorite establishments, such as Magma, The Brew, New Orleans Kitchen, Evil Duck and Beer Nuts U. Last week they even ventured across the border to play their first show in Hong Kong. On September 2, they'll be back at Evil Duck for another show.

Improv is short for improvisation, which means they are acting out a scene that has no script. They just make up all the lines as they go. Starting with a suggestion from the audience, they tell the audience the rules of the game that they are about to play, and then they just say whatever comes into their heads. Sometimes this brings the fear: "What if it doesn’t work this time?" But the audience always enjoys the creation that comes into existence before their eyes. Whatever anybody says, you simply respond, "Yes, and..."

ZIP will be appearing at Evil Duck on September 2 and at the Nanshan Experimental Theater on September 17 and 24.