Press Kit

January 24, 2003

Fingergun is and has been a staple of the Minneapolis improvisational scene for two years and counting. Their high-energy long-form shows are the culmination of years of improvisational training, dozens of performances and a shared love for the art form.

Fingergun was founded in October of 2000 after having met at the Brave New Workshop in Minneapolis, MN. Members of Fingergun hail from Chicago, Nebraska, and Minneapolis. The group began rehearsing and debuted at Bon Appetit on May 8, 2001. Since then, the group has played venues all over the Twin Cities including The Bryant Lake Bowl, The Brave New Workshop, Intermedia Arts, The Acadia Theatre, and Sursumcorda. May 2002 saw Fingergun's Chicago performance debut at the Playground Theater. In August 2003, Fingergun returned the favor by inviting Mr. Fancypants, a Playground member team, to co-bill a performance in Minneapolis. During June 2002, Fingergun had a taste of the professional life when they performed six shows over two weeks at the Brave New Workshop. Fingergun made its festival debut at the Memphis Comedy Festival in September 2002 and performed in the Miami Improv Festival in January , 2004.

Fingergun's level of talent has made them a favorite at the on-going "Improv A-Go-Go." In July 2001, Fingergun and The Collective collaborated to create "Joint," an evening of improv hilarity featuring the two groups. Since its inception, "Joint" has reached fifteen performances and is regarded as an event not to be missed in the Minneapolis improv community. The November 2001, "Joint" featured the improv legends "BassProv," who performed to a standing room only crowd.

Fingergun has been featured by the City Pages as a highlighted event (Spoto, 5/15/02) and as an A-List event (Sparber, 11/7/01), has been mentioned by Minnesota Public Radio's Word of Mouth (Roberts, 11/9/01), by the Star Tribune, who described the group as "at the forefront of an improv comedy boom" (Covert, 2/22/02), and by the Pioneer Press, calling them "one of the funnier, riskier collectives" (Pieken, 5/17/02). As the Pulse put it, "local comedy doesn't get much better than Fingergun" (van Alstyne, 8/13/03).

Fingergun is Marc Bentzen, Fred Beukema, Joe Bozic and Mike Fotis. Fingergun members are all university trained and have studied at some of the nation's most elite improv schools including Improv Olympic, The Playground, Second City Chicago and The Brave New Institute, with such instructors as Mick Napier, Joe Bill, Susan Messing, Jack Bronis, and Jeff Wirth.