Anyone who has ever stood up in front of an audience to speak, sing, perform, or entertain knows all-to-well what it’s like to experience stage fright.

Performing live improv comedy in front of an audience of strangers is a talent most of us don’t innately possess.

The Improvaneers is the world's first all-Down syndrome improvisation troupeButterflies are not an issue for Medina-based The Improvaneers—a group of seven improv performers who make up the world’s first all-Down syndrome improv troupe. The group will perform this Thursday, July 17 in Cleveland at the BorderLight Festival in a sold-out show in the Gund Dance Studio in the Idea Center at Playhouse Square.

This week’s performance is the launch to The Improvaneers’ six-city Midwest tour.

The Improvaneers not only leave audiences rolling in the aisles with laughter, but people also leave the shows with a bit of enlightenment, as well.

The Improvaneers was started in 2018 by veteran improv performer and comedian Rob Snow, who also leads the ensemble using his Improvaneer Method. He developed the approach to help improve both improvisation skills and basic communication and interpersonal skills—from eye contact and voice projection, and listening to problem solving, adapting to change, and thinking—with a heavy dose of self-confidence.

Snow used his own experiences performing with Improv groups in Chicago like The Second City, Improv Olympic, and The Annoyance Theatre to develop his Improvaneer Method model—a “Scaffolding” model the builds one skillset upon another through specific games.

The Improvaneers perform on July 17 at BorderLight“We’re using improv to build social [interactions] and focus on hands-on engagement,” says Snow, who adds that his youngest of two sons is 16, has Down syndrome, and does well with hands-on activities and learning.

“And improv is fun, so it’s engaging,” he says, likening the Improvaneer Method to a set mousetrap:

“Improv is like cheese on a mousetrap because it’s the thing that lures people to this method of learning,” Snow says. "If the mousetrap is bringing them in to build their skills, the lure is improv—which is fun and attractive, Like the cheese."

When Snow started the Improvaneers in 2018, he auditioned more than 20 performers with Down syndrome. Ten were selected in the initial group, which performed its first show, “Not Your Average News Team,” in 2019. The group has lost only four members of the original ensemble, one of whom passed away. The Improvaneers has performed 85 shows to date.

Snow says BorderLight allows the Improvaneers to perform for an audience that has never seen them before, which is exciting for the ensemble. “It allows them to be on the same playing field as every other performance,” he observes. “With all the groups who are performing, this unique group gets to be as loud as everyone else.”