Caque festival in Belgium

I feel a tap on my back as I walk in the bar after the shows. “Hi, I loved your hairball.” 

I don’t know the Flemmish people as being straightforward with their compliments. But this lady was. With the strangest praise I had received in a long time.

Last weekend I was in Gent as the improv group Caque invited me to play at their fifth annual festival Caquefonie. I had the honor to play alongside my Amsterdam friends Jochem and Nicole, the wonderful Belgian improviser Jeron Dewulf and a number of Caque players. Only half a year ago I played with this relatively young improv troupe and it felt very familiar to share the stage with them again. 

Caquefonie is a beautiful example of how low threshold an improv festival can be: it was only 1 day. They slowly built their audience in the last 5 years and they sold out the 200-seat theatre. And what a pleasant audience it was! 

We played 3 shows in 1 night. It started with one of my improv formats ‘You Have A Match’ based on the Tinder app. The audience was very much into it and I loved every volunteer that swiped and described a character for us. From French fries enthusiasts to duck face girls holding their baby: truth beats fiction once again. 

The second show was a Hero’s Journey in fantasy style. With a storyteller as entertaining as Jeron, not much can go wrong. Playing animals, plants, creatures, armies, inn regulars and mist: we all enjoyed the freewheeling. We closed with a show containing a crazy collage of scenes inspired by objects. 

All the adrenaline and endorphins were then taken to the fantastic Caquefonie afterparty. I had a truly magnificent night!

Great work Caque, it was a joy to play, dance and produce hairballs for you. 

Dankjewel to Pieter, Jochem, Nicole, Jeron, Charlotte, Joris, Bertrand, CAMPO, Café Barville, all the other Caque players, the techs and volunteers.