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'I Am So Tired!': 28-Hour-Long Improv Marathon Supports Give To The Max Day

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Generosity and creativity are taking center stage this Give to the Max Day.

A Minneapolis nonprofit is taking part in this year's day of giving in a unique way.

There is non-stop energy inside the small theater along Lyndale Avenue.

"We're in the middle of Improvathon, which is a 28-hour improv marathon, as part of Give to the Max Day," said Jill Bernard, Huge Theater's director of education.

These improvisers and audience members are fueled by coffee.

"Improv gets really goofy at 4 in the morning, really fun and special," she said.

Improv groups take the stage every 30 minutes for 28-hours straight, and there is always someone in the audience. Shea Roberts Gyllen and 18 others dedicated themselves to watching all 28 hours of improv.

"I am so tired!" Gyllen said. "At a certain point my brain can't focus unless my hands aren't doing something."

Improvathon has been happening every Give to the Max Day for the last nine years, allowing this nonprofit theater to let everyone who wants to get on this stage have a chance.

"The funds we raise give scholarships to anyone who needs one, for any reason, and we are one of the only improv theaters in the country that pays performers," Bernard said.

She is tracking all the donations.

"Having it one day of the year, so we don't have to hassle people all year long, just one day, when we can rally the troops," Bernard said.

Over 5,000 nonprofits are participating in Give to the Max Day 2019, and Huge Theater -- along with all of those non profits -- are always looking for donors. You can give year-round. Huge Theater Improvathon hopes to raise $75,000. It ends at midnight Friday.

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