Cale Bain

Cale Bain has been performing improvised comedy theatre since 1988 and has taught, workshopped, directed, produced and performed shows with companies, troupes and festivals around the world ever since.

He trained through the Second City Theatre Company in his hometown of Toronto, Canada. Since moving to Australia, Cale has directed and produced Theatresports® to sell-out audiences at the 1700-seat Enmore Theatre through Impro Australia, where he also has had the role of director of training, and started Sydney’s first longform improv show, Full Body Contact No Love Tennis that lived for some ten years. Cale was the improv director for Foxtel‘s Whose Line Is It Anyway? Australia.

Cale’s philosophy on improv is relationship focused, and he feels strongly that the core principles we use in improv can make our everyday lives better. He is evangelical about improv’s social impact and has received grants to apply improv in workshops on resilience with people seeking asylum, leadership skills with at-risk young people, and communications of first-in-family tertiary students.

In his other life, Cale is an academic, with a PhD in humour, journalism and discourse. He lectures regularly on sociology, representation, humour theory and media powers. He’s also a dad and a husband to like the best headshot photographer (bias acknowledged). And he’s allergic to almonds but’ll still give ‘em a go if it’s worth it.

Cale is one of the founding directors of Improv Theatre Sydney.

Improv loves: It’s jazz, man. When it’s humming, everything fits and the players exist on a higher plane.

Improv heroes: Right now? Probably Jim Fishwick, Maddie Parker and Millie Higgs.

Offstage hobbies: Fixing bikes, coaching kids baseball, reciting Steve Martin albums

Favourite improv advice: The offer is never the offer; it’s the intent behind the offer that’s the offer.