The Edinburgh University Theatre Company's improvised comedy troupe now known as The Improverts was founded in Edinburgh in 1989 by Canadian-born Toph Marshall. He named it Theatresports after the form of competitive improvisation developed by director Keith Johnstone in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in 1976. As the show grew in popularity the name was changed, during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, (for copyright reasons) to Impro-Vegetables and then finally, in the 90s, to The Improverts. The Improverts was adopted as a permanent, year-round name from September 1997 onwards.