In today's blog we're doing something a little bit different for Valentine's Day! We all know that impro brings people together. It's a great way to make a new best friend or simply widen your social circle. But did you know that a number of IM performers and students have met their long term partners through impro? Today's guest bloggers are two long-time IM performers who turned "Yes And" into "I Do"... 

Amanda Buckley & Lliam Amor

Amanda: "I was aware of who Lliam Amor was, thanks to the 2006 Melbourne International Comedy Festival. He was a guest in the show

I had come down from Sydney with - Scrabble Unscripted. But it wasn't until 10 March 2007 - The National Theatresports Competition at Enmore Theatre in Sydney that I got to, you know, know him.

The show itself is a blur. I was playing for NSW and he for VIC, who even knows who won (VIC won, whatever) but improvisers know how to afterparty, and afterparty we did! 

Side note - Julia Zemiro was hosting the show that night, and at the afterparty, she made a point of asking me if I had met Lliam. She planted the seed for sure!

Long distance romances are apparently doomed to fail, but Amor and I kept up for fours years, back and forth between various festivals and gigs and actual planned weekends - the great thing about impro is the skills travel with you wherever you go and improvisers are generally a friendly lot so we would always get a chance to perform with each others respective troupes (hello long distance romance with tax deductible travel!).

Improv is 100% to blame (and thank) for my relationship with Lliam - the easiest "yes and" there has been. And Impro Melbourne absolutely welcomed me with open arms, and made performing when heavily pregnant possible - as well as returning to the stage when our son was only 6 weeks old.

Improv is also to blame (and thank) for most of our heated discussions....I mean, I am pretty sure NSW shoulda won back in 2007."

Amanda Buckley & Lliam Amor are both actors and teachers, and long-time members of the IM family.

Vicki Kyriakakis & Chris Broadstock

"We met doing shows at Impro Melbourne as rookies and then ensemble members. We found a lightness and sense of fun in each other that is so helpful in a long-term relationship through the good times and the tough. Getting on stage together was always a blast, especially when we had a 
chance to tease each other, or play romantic foils. 

 Bringing together a blended family, we valued being positive about each other’s ideas. The dinner table rule is that any joke, no matter how lame, is greeted by high-fives. Impro attracts people with, and fosters in them, an openness about their emotions, their fears, and a healthy perspective on their own ego. Being like-minded in these respects sets you up for a good relationship.

It's an ethos we're bringing to raising our family as well. One of the first things we tried to teach our five-year-old is the principle of 'yes and'. And while we're on an impro hiatus at the moment, impro is never far from our lives. It is how and where we fell in love and will always be an important part of who we are.

Vicki Kyriakakis is an IM alumni, performer and writer. Chris Broadstock is an IM alumni and actor.