It was an average ferry crossing to Seattle for John Ellis. The kind of commute common to Bainbridge islanders.

But then he was approached by a woman he did not know.

“A woman came up to me and said she wasn’t going to be there on Saturday,” Ellis said.

“There” is the Bainbridge Performing Arts, where on Nov. 1 Ellis and his fellow troupe members of The EDGE will celebrate 20 years of on-the-spot action.

Ellis told the woman he understood.

“I said that was OK, but she said, ‘You don’t understand, I don’t think I’ve missed a show in eight years,’” he said.

For Ellis, a founder of the group, it’s nice reminder of how far The EDGE has come; from a basement workshop, to selling out the Bainbridge Performing Arts theater.

“Some people joined, some people stayed, some people dropped out,” said Frank Buxton, another founding member of The EDGE, of the cast members who have come, gone and stayed in the two decades since forming.

The EDGE began in the early ’90s when Ellis, Buxton and a handful of others with a penchant for the stage gathered in the St. Barnabas Episcopal Church’s basement on Bainbridge Island.

Ellis came from a background in theater, notably with Seattle Theatresports.

Buxton was no stranger to showbiz either. He started by sharing the stage with Buster Keaton in 1949. He worked his way up in Hollywood since then, writing, directing and producing for well-known television shows.

“I did ‘Mork and Mindy.’ I directed Robin Williams and Jonathan Winters,” he said. “I directed the ‘Odd Couple’ with Tony Randall and Jack Klugman.”

Buxton also wrote and directed for “Happy Days.”

Ken Ballenger, a current cast member, was also at the basement improv workshop. The class would evolve into what is now The EDGE.

“From that, we got together every now and then,” Buxton said. “It was the early days of Bainbridge Performing Arts, we talked them into letting us have some stage time.”

“We were then known as ‘Ha!’” he said.

Ballenger eventually came up with the “The EDGE” to replace their former moniker.

“With improv you’re always on the edge,” Buxton said. “And if your group is good, you step off the edge and somebody is there to catch you, or you learn to fly.”

“We did more shows then, than we do now,” he said. “We did two shows a night, Friday and Saturday, but not to too huge audiences.”

The EDGE now performs on the first Saturday of each month, and the crowd is considerably larger. Ellis recalled Labor Day weekend in 2012, a holiday that usually doesn’t produce high attendance.

“We had people sitting in the aisles, and we had to put chairs in the aisles, we literally put people on stage with us,” Ellis said. “We’ve done that a few times since. To be able to fill up the theater like that after going 18 years  (then) is kind of amazing.”

“Getting an audience here in our community was like a dream come true,” he said. “And the fact that it’s still going on, 20 years later, is the success of that dream.”

Buxton said that The EDGE stands apart from other improv troupes by bringing a sense of maturity to the show.

“There’s nothing wrong with kids doing improv. I love watching it,” Buxton said. “Their references are different than ours. We can do old movie references or old music references and (the audience) knows what we’re talking about.”

But Buxton stresses that The EDGE is by no means for seasoned audiences only. Young and old enjoy the show, especially his grand kids, who like to see their grandpa “make a fool of himself,” Buxton said.

The loyal audience that The EDGE has garnered will celebrate with the cast at a special 20th anniversary show at 7:30 p.m., Nov. 1 at Bainbridge Performing Arts. The cast has a few treats in store for the special show, including prizes and a short film that Buxton has thrown together featuring photos from over the years.

“It’s a little retrospective,” Buxton said. “It’s a little photo album. It will be fun for people to see what it looked like when we had hair.”

It’s a sentiment that Ellis agrees with.

“I had more hair 20 years ago,” he said.

Today, The EDGE boasts nine cast members, including Ellis, Buxton, Ballenger, Susan MacPherson, Matty Whitman, Cynthia Lair, Bhama Roget, Chris Soldevilla and Dr. Andrew Shields.

Ellis said that not only is he proud of the 20 years The EDGE has spanned, but is also enthusiastic about the years to come.

“We’re looking forward to the next 20 years, and we got some younger people that are going to be in some of the shows,” Ellis said, noting a recent guest to The EDGE’s stage, Nathan Whitehouse.

“He’s really good,” Ellis said. “We are looking forward to the next generation of EDGE players.”