Since November of 1999, Joe Vanderhelm has been improvising with Rapid Fire Theatre, performing in their weekly shows TheatreSports and CHiMPROV.
Joe has had the opportunity participate in many improv festivals across Canada, The USA, Germany and the Reunion Island (off the coast of Madagascar). From 2006 to 2016 Joe Vanderhelm served as Rapid Fire Theatre’s Associate Artistic Director – Youth and from 2016-2018 he worked as the Director of Education. In these roles he produced the 3-week improv festival for teens: The WildFire Festival as well as the Northern Alberta Improv League. He also wrote curricula for Rapid Fire Theatre’s public workshop academy. He has appeared in three feature films, most notably in HighWire Film’s Losing Will, an improvised film, created in conjunction with The Young Guns. When he isn’t improvising or acting, Joe works as a Science and Theatre teacher after having earned his Bachelor of Education, with a General Science major and Drama minor, from the University of Alberta. Joe Vanderhelm was honoured to be awarded the 2015 Excellence in Teaching Award from the Province of Alberta.
I believe it was Jacob Banigan who said improv is like pasta, it can be cut up short like macaroni, or long like linguine, either way it’s still flour, eggs, salt and water.
