[2] The Free Association was founded in 2014 by Austentatious cast member Graham Dickson and sketch comedy duo Max and Ivan.
[3] As the UK's equivalent[4] to American improv theatres UCB, IO and The Second City, the FA primarily performs long-form improvisation.
), Nish Kumar (The Mash Report, Newsjack) and Iain Stirling (CBBC, narrator ITV2 reality series Love Island).
The Free Association has performed with the following guest monologists and performers: Ralf Little, Nish Kumar, Oliver Chris, Tom Rosenthal, Phil Wang, Rachel Parris, Cariad Lloyd, Mae Martin, Steen Raskopoulos, Brett Goldstein, Rose Matafeo, Sindhu Vee, Matt Jones, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Neil Casey and Jason Mantzoukas.
The FA training programme takes place over 6 levels and focuses on learning "The Harold", a form created by Del Close.
[19] The Free Association's Michael Orton-Toliver and Chris Gau created the part-improvised "retro-scripted" comedy[20] mockumentary Borderline for Channel 5 in 2016.
Performers Ian Thomas Day, Chris Gau and Shaun Lowthian created the improvised character comedy podcast Fact Up in 2015.