Today, I’m delighted to announce that ‘A Star Wars Improv Show: The One-Man Made-Up Movie’ is heading out on the road up and down the country for its debut national tour. The show will play a mix of theatres, comedy clubs, festivals and even a cinema and will tour from February until June.
The show came to life via a wonderful accident at a comedy club night I did way back in November 2023 and was originally conceived as a one-man improvised cabaret show. It was workshopped here and there but was only ‘sort of’ working until, one fateful night, whilst roaming the streets of Edinburgh in the early hours of the morning whilst doing the Festival in 2024 I stumbled upon the idea of combining my two greatest loves; Star Wars and comedy.
From there, the pitch became simple. There had been other shows in the past where a comedy troupe of 6 – 8 players would improvise a Star Wars film and there had been the brilliant One-Man Star Wars Trilogy by Charles Ross, but this idea was different.
I’d improvise a new Star Wars film each show all on my lonesome. No other actors, no sound effects, no props, no nothing. Just me, the audience and an idea. And I wanted to be the entire cinema experience. The trailers, the adverts, the whole film, the concession stand before the film and in a twist to add more insanity to the show, I came up with the notion of giving the audience complete control of what I did every step of the way by incorporating shortform improv techniques into a longer improv/theatre format. What could possibly go wrong?
From the press release comes the blurb for the show:
Fresh from a sell-out residency at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the new and acclaimed show embarks on its 2026 tour. Award nominated stand-up and improviser Jon Hipkiss brings together the ultimate celebration of comedy and fandom. Based solely on your suggestions, Jon will improvise an entirely new Star Wars film all by himself. He’s all the trailers, all the characters, all the music, the ships, everything. Expect beautiful chaos!
“Very funny, clever and totally entertaining” – “I was doubled over laughing for the whole show” – “Fantastic show for Star Wars fans or not” – “Genuinely brilliant. Clever and inclusive, whole family loved it” – “Fantastic show, we laughed all the way through” – “Hilarious and fun with a highly skilled performer” – “A complete delight” – EdFringe.com Audience Reviews.
Here is where the show is coming to play in a town near you:
• Sun Feb 15 – King Richard III Pub – Leicester Comedy Festival
• Sat Feb 28 – Park Street Theatre – Hull
• Fri Mar 06 – Square One Cinema – Coventry
• Sun Mar 08 – The Old Hairdresser’s – Glasgow
• Sat Mar 14 – Queen’s Theatre – Hornchurch
• Thu Mar 19 – The Comedy Den – Bristol
• Thu Apr 02 – Nottingham Arts Theatre – Nottingham (Matinee)
• Thu Apr 02 – Nottingham Arts Theatre – Nottingham (Evening)
• Fri Apr 10 – Bingley Arts Centre – Bingley
• Sat Apr 18 – The Crescent Theatre – Birmingham
• Fri Apr 24 – Seven Theatre – Leeds
• Sat Apr 25 – Colchester Arts Theatre – Colchester (Matinee)
• Thu May 07 – Rondo Theatre – Bath
• Sat May 09 – Northern Stage – Newcastle
• Fri May 22 – The Hive – Shropshire
• Sat May 23 – The Assembly Rooms – Ludlow
• Mon May 25 – Lantern Theatre – Brighton
• Wed May 27 – Chorley Theatre – Chorley
• Fri May 29 – The Rik Mayall Comedy Festival – Droitwich Spa
• Sun May 31 – The Rik Mayall Comedy Festival – Droitwich Spa
• Wed Jun 3 – The Rik Mayall Comedy Festival – Droitwich Spa
• Thu Jun 04 – Riverfront Theatre – Newport, Wales
• Fri Jun 19 – Little Theatre – Doncaster
• Sun Jun 28 – Hen & Chickens Theatre – London
Tickets for most of the shows are ON SALE NOW and can be found on the relevant theatre’s websites or by heading to https://linktr.ee/jonathanhipkiss where the tour is all in one place. Subsequently, some shows, such as the ones playing at The Rik Mayall Comedy Festival, will go on sale a little later in the year.
During the conception process of the show a few colleagues in the comedy world assumed that this show would be a chance to show a filthy and adult side of the saga and, for a brief moment, I thought that would probably be the case. The more I thought about it, however, the more I thought it was completely the wrong way to go. Star Wars is for families. Be you 6, 36 or 96 then Star Wars is for everyone, and I’ve always firmly believed it. I personally detest that swearing has crept into the saga of late, The Last Jedi and Andor being the obvious examples, and so on that note I workshopped the idea of improvising completely clean and am proud to say that the show took off in Edinburgh last year in large part thanks to the fact that the whole family could come along.
So, on that note, I’d love to see you out there on the road. Bring suggestions at the ready and feel free to fire away.
