There’s a moment during a Babe Improv set where you realize two things at once. First, they have no idea what they’re about to do next. Second, it’s all going to work out somehow.
That tightrope is what makes it work, and when you have two people this in sync, it turns into something genuinely laugh-out-loud entertaining.
Richmond duo Babe Improv, made up of Elizabeth Byland and Anthony Brazeau, build their shows entirely from nothing. No script, no safety net, just a suggestion from the audience and a willingness to follow it wherever it goes. Sometimes that means something sharp and hilarious, sometimes it’s completely unhinged. Usually it’s a mix of both.
I asked them what improv actually is.
“If I cornered someone in an elevator and didn’t want them off their floor,” Brazeau says laughing, “I would say improv is going back to play. Accepting made-up scenarios and supporting whatever the other person creates.”
Byland puts it a little differently. “It’s watching unscripted scenarios unfold in real time,” she says. “The audience knows we’re making it up off the top of our heads. That’s what makes it exciting.”
There’s a risk baked into that, not everything is going to land. Not every idea is going to connect. But that’s also why people lean forward in their seats, you’re watching something that will never happen again, even if you came back the next night.
“The best compliment,” Brazeau says, “is when someone tells you there’s no way you made that up.”
Photos courtesy of Babe Improv
Finding the Right Partner, and Letting It Rip
A lot of improv comes down to trust, not just in yourself, but in whoever you’re sharing the stage with. That part is harder than it looks.
For Byland, the partnership works because there’s no hesitation, no second-guessing, no pulling back. “As a woman in comedy, it’s really important that your colleagues allow you to go hard, to be your unapologetic self on stage,” she says. “When I first saw Anthony, he was weird, big, bold, fearless with his choices. That’s how I play. And he lets me subvert expectations. He lets me be weird, ugly, physical, vicious. All the things some partners might be intimidated by, he holds space for.”
That kind of freedom doesn’t just make a show better, it changes how far you’re willing to push it. “And even if I don’t feel like I had a good show,” she adds, “he’s still elevating me, pushing me, celebrating me in the moment.”
From Brazeau’s side, it’s a little more stripped down, but it lands the same way. After years of performing with different teams, he found something rare “We’ve both performed with a lot of different people,” he says. “It’s rare that you find someone you just click with, someone who has the same energy and is willing to take big, crazy choices and support whatever you throw at them.”
He prefers working as a duo, which makes that connection even more important. “Finding one other person you click with is super difficult,” he says. “When we found it, we were like, yeah, this is it.”
That dynamic is what makes Babe feel less like a group and more like a two-person experiment being worked out in real time.
Richmond Comedy Is Having a Moment
Part of what makes Babe work is where they’re doing it.
Richmond’s comedy scene has quietly become one of the more interesting ecosystems in the state. Not because it’s trying to compete with bigger cities, but because it doesn’t have to. There’s a kind of infrastructure here now that didn’t really exist a decade ago, and a lot of that traces back to spaces like the Coalition Theater, which helped formalize training, build audiences, and give people a real entry point into improv and performance.
“It’s like a buffet,” Byland says. “If you want stand-up, we’ve got it. Sketch, we’ve got it. Improv, long form, short form, even musical improv. It just keeps growing.”
Brazeau points to something else: access. “You can get on stage here,” he says. “If you want to do comedy in Richmond, you can find a way to do it.”
That openness didn’t just happen. Between Coalition, ComedySportz, and a mix of independent shows, Richmond built a system where people can learn, perform, and actually stick around long enough to get good. It’s less territorial than most scenes. Different theaters share performers. Stand-ups show up in improv shows. Improvisers end up in scripted productions. The lines blur in a way that actually benefits everyone.
There’s also an effort, intentional or not, to keep the door open behind them. When Babe hosts shows, they make a point to bring in newer comics alongside more experienced performers. Not as a favor, but as part of the ecosystem.
“There’s nothing better than someone saying, ‘Come try your set in front of this audience,’” Byland says. “That’s how you build a community.”
The Case for Leaving Your House
For all of it to work, though, people have to show up. That’s the part that’s harder now than it used to be. It’s easier to stay home, scroll, watch something polished and predictable. Improv asks for the opposite. It asks you to sit in a room and watch something unfold in real time, knowing it might fall apart.
But you want to be there when it works. “If we’re asking people to leave their house, find parking, and sit in a theater,” Byland says, “we’re going to give them everything we’ve got.”
And having seen Babe a couple of times now, it does feel that way. There’s a kind of controlled chaos to it, like watching someone walk a tightrope while making jokes the whole way across.
Babe Improv performs regularly around Richmond, often mixing improv with stand-up, sketch, and guest performers from inside and outside the city. No two shows are the same, which is part of the deal. If you’ve never seen improv live, this is a good place to start.
Babe and Friends returns Friday, March 20 at 7:30 PM at 8 W. Broad Street, bringing together sketch from Chuck and Blue – Call Now, stand-up from Paige Looney, and improv sets from A2C and Babe. Get your tickets HERE.
Photos courtesy of Babe Improv
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