The seventh edition of this annual celebration of the art of improvisational comedy brings together performers from around the U.S. and abroad; Chicago, of course, is heavily represented. This year's festival, the largest yet, is divided into several series -- Mainstage, Showcase, Sketch, Solo, Duo, and Fringe -- as well as an all-night improv session, a series of daytime "Lunchbreak" performances (presented in conjunction with the city's cultural affairs department), forums, workshops, and numerous special events. * The Chicago Improv Festival runs April 30-May 9, with events at five principal venues: the Athenaeum Theatre (main stage and second-floor studio), 2936 N. Southport; Theatre Building Chicago, 1225 W. Belmont; the Loop Theater, 8 E. Randolph; Bailiwick Arts Center, 1229 W. Belmont (loft stage and studio theater); and the Playground Theater, 3209 N. Halsted. Auxiliary events take place at the Chicago Cultural Center (Randolph Street Cafe and Claudia Cassidy Theater), 78 E. Washington; ComedySportz, 2851 N. Halsted; and ImprovOlympic, 3541 N. Clark. Tickets to shows at the Athenaeum and Theatre Building Chicago can be purchased through Ticketmaster (312-902-1500 or www.ticketmaster.com) or at the box office; tickets to events at other venues must be purchased at the box office on the day of the show. For general festival information, call 773-935-9810 or visit www.cif.com.
Boom Chicago, The Annoyance Theater, and ComedySportz
Amsterdam's Boom
Chicago perform shows that are faster paced and more technologically hip
than any on this side of the Atlantic, and its members actually seem to
know more about the world than can be learned by channel surfing. Their
material is peppered with original, thought-provoking observations on
politics, culture, and current events. Even though it's essentially an
American troupe, founded by Chicagoans and dominated by people trained in
the Second City style, Boom Chicago never indulges in ugly-American
isolationist thinking. (JHe) The ComedySportz ensemble offers short improv
games, played for laughs by two teams in competition. With its emphasis on
improv for entertainment's sake, ComedySportz isn't for everyone. Still,
the formula is a winning one, and these seasoned performers play off one
another's strengths exceptionally well. (NG) Annoyance Theater is the group
responsible for the long-running Chicago hit The Real Live Brady
Bunch. Athenaeum Theatre main stage, 8 PM. $25.
SATURDAY, MAY 1
Friday 4/30 |
Sunday 5/2 |
Monday 5/3 |
Tuesday 5/4 |
Wednesday 5/5 |
Thursday 5/6 |
Friday 5/7 |
Saturday 5/8 |
Sunday 5/9
Boom Chicago, Noble Fool Theater Company, and ImprovOlympic's Road Show
See listing for Friday, April 30, for information on Boom Chicago. Two
mainstay local troupes round out the bill. Athenaeum Theatre main stage, 8
PM. $25.
SUNDAY, MAY 2
Friday 4/30 |
Saturday 5/1 |
Monday 5/3 |
Tuesday 5/4 |
Wednesday 5/5 |
Thursday 5/6 |
Friday 5/7 |
Saturday 5/8 |
Sunday 5/9
CIF Family Day
This afternoon of family-oriented programming features
Piven Theatre's Young People's Company, Annex Productions, Barrel of
Monkeys, Tireswing Theatre, the Classic Players, the Playground's Recess,
Richards High School's Laughing Aardvarks, ComedySportz, and the Underage
Sugar Addicts. Chicago Cultural Center, Claudia Cassidy Theater, noon-5 PM.
Free.
MONDAY, MAY 3
Friday 4/30 |
Saturday 5/1 |
Sunday 5/2 |
Tuesday 5/4 |
Wednesday 5/5 |
Thursday 5/6 |
Friday 5/7 |
Saturday 5/8 |
Sunday 5/9
CIF Lunchbreak
The Noble Fool Theater Company puts on a lunchtime show.
Chicago Cultural Center, Randolph Street Cafe, 12:15 PM. Free.
CIF Video Night
FuzzyCo will tape a live improv performance as part of
this program of videos. It's hard to wrap your head around the concept of
an hour-long, mostly improvised show, videotaped and projected in what
comes close to real time. This show offers the chance to see something
you've never seen before assembled with unrestrained enthusiasm. Since the
performers don't have to worry about playing out front, they can take a
suggestion and hit the ground running. (NG) Rounding out the bill are short
films and videos from groups from Chicago, LA, New York, and Toronto.
Chicago Cultural Center, Claudia Cassidy Theater, 7 PM. Free.
TUESDAY, MAY 4
Friday 4/30 |
Saturday 5/1 |
Sunday 5/2 |
Monday 5/3 |
Wednesday 5/5 |
Thursday 5/6 |
Friday 5/7 |
Saturday 5/8 |
Sunday 5/9
CIF Lunchbreak
The Improv Bandits put on a lunchtime show. Chicago
Cultural Center, Randolph Street Cafe, 12:15 PM. Free.
One World on One Stage
Performers from Canada, England, France, Ireland,
New Zealand, and Norway join their Yankee counterparts in this free-form
show. Ken Nordine delivers a set of word jazz. Chicago Cultural Center,
Claudia Cassidy Theater, 7 PM. Free.
Super Cage Match Championship
Teams from Chicago, LA, New York, and
Toronto go mano a mano. ImprovOlympic, 7 PM. $5.
Wizard Finger
The duo Wizard Finger -- Jill Benjamin and Kara McNamara
-- tell personal stories; the show also features music and a guest
monologuist. Theatre Building Chicago, 8 PM. $10.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 5
Friday 4/30 |
Saturday 5/1 |
Sunday 5/2 |
Monday 5/3 |
Tuesday 5/4 |
Thursday 5/6 |
Friday 5/7 |
Saturday 5/8 |
Sunday 5/9
CIF Lunchbreak
DSI Productions put on a lunchtime show. Chicago Cultural
Center, Randolph Street Cafe, 12:15 PM. Free.
Lifetime Achievement Awards
This year's honorees are MADtv
executive producer Dick Blasucci; Players Workshop founder Josephine Raciti
Forsberg; original Second City cast member Mina Kolb; Piven Theatre
Workshop co-founder Joyce Piven; and, posthumously, Second City
actor-teacher Don DePollo. (A Lifetime Achievement Award will also be given
to Laraine Newman on Friday, May 7, when she hosts a performance by the
Groundlings.) Director Mick Napier will also receive a "festival highlight
award." Chicago Cultural Center, Claudia Cassidy Theater, 7 PM. Free.
The New & Improv-ed Stand-Up Show
A diverse crew of improvisers perform
a series of five-minute stand-up sets based on audience suggestions.
Theatre Building Chicago, 8 PM. $15.
THURSDAY, MAY 6
Friday 4/30 |
Saturday 5/1 |
Sunday 5/2 |
Monday 5/3 |
Tuesday 5/4 |
Wednesday 5/5 |
Friday 5/7 |
Saturday 5/8 |
Sunday 5/9
CIF Lunchbreak
ComedySportz puts on a lunchtime show. Chicago Cultural
Center, Randolph Street Cafe, 12:15 PM. Free.
MADtv Improv Jam, MADtv's Barinholtz and Meyers, and MADtv's Writers on
Hiatus
The cast and writers of MADtv -- including Ike Barinholtz and
Josh Meyers -- perform. Athenaeum Theatre main stage, 8 PM. $25.
Defending Your Life, Oddacity, Koko, and Five Man Job
WNEP Theater's
Defending Your Life is a series of improvised hour-long mock trials
that pick up where writer-director Albert Brooks's 1991 film -- a warm
meditation on paying one's debts in the afterlife -- left off. A
deliberately paced affair without romance or sappy sentiment, the show
derives much of its humor from the lightning-quick interplay between the
two performers playing the defense and prosecutor roles. (NG) Oddacity,
from Hamilton, Ontario, describes itself as a "fiercely sexy improv
troika." Koko bases its show on drawings by the audience, and Five Man Job
is a trio from Minneapolis. Theatre Building Chicago, 8 PM. $15.
One Person's Trash, Hans & Robyn, and Ferrari McSpeedy
Comedy team Hans
Holsen and Robyn Norris are both attractive young people, the former
exhibiting a Wodehouse-ian aplomb and the latter an elfish allure. Most of
their material is pretty clever too, and what isn't is redeemed by its
quirky charm. (MSB) Noah Gregoropoulos and Linda Orr constitute One
Person's Trash. Ferrari McSpeedy, from Minneapolis, promise "painful
moments of honesty." Playground Theater, 8 PM. $15.
Andy Eninger and Adrianne Frost, Goga, and D.I.R.T.
Andy Eninger and
Adrianne Frost are from Chicago, and Goga is Karen Herr and Karen Eleanor
Wight from New York. D.I.R.T. comprises Celeste Pechous, Abby Sher, and
Rebecca Drysdale. Playground Theater, 10 PM. $15.
Hothouse STC's Mayfly
Hothouse Spontaneous Theatre Conservatory brings
their "organic improvisation" from LA. Theatre Building Chicago, 10:30 PM.
$10.
FRIDAY, MAY 7
Friday 4/30 |
Saturday 5/1 |
Sunday 5/2 |
Monday 5/3 |
Tuesday 5/4 |
Wednesday 5/5 |
Thursday 5/6 |
Saturday 5/8 |
Sunday 5/9
CIF Lunchbreak
The Williamson Playboys put on a lunchtime show. Chicago
Cultural Center, Randolph Street Cafe, 12:15 PM. Free.
The Groundlings, Baby Wants Candy, and Improv Bandits
The LA-based
Groundlings offer a slick, noisy brand of improv, punching tag lines with
the force of laugh-hungry stand-ups and painting in broad strokes the kind
of well-defined characters guaranteed to win yuks from the yokels in the
balcony. Those who love nice, long, slowly unfolding improvisation may
scorn the Groundlings' insistence on entertainment for entertainment's
sake. But there is a place for speed and mental agility in the improv
universe, if only to show improvisers how to survive in LA, where style
always trumps substance and if you're not louder, faster, and funnier than
the next guy, you're nowhere. Not surprisingly, the Groundlings have
provided a fertile breeding ground for comic actors since being founded in
1974. (JHe) Original Saturday Night Live cast member Laraine Newman
emcees the show, and receives a Chicago Improv Festival Lifetime
Achievement Award. Baby Wants Candy is an ImprovOlympic team specializing
in off-the-cuff musicals, and the Improv Bandits hail from New Zealand.
Athenaeum Theatre main stage, 8 PM. $25; proceeds benefit Gilda's Club
Chicago, a cancer-support group named in honor of Second City alumna Gilda
Radner.
Whirled News Tonight, ImprovBoston, and Inside Vladimir
The cast of
Whirled News Tonight build their show on current events. The players
exhibit a genuine rapport: articulate dialogue unfolds logically, swiftly,
and concisely. (MSB) ImprovBoston's Agent Spy is an improvised spy
thriller in which audience members are encouraged to use their cell phones
to advance the action. Inside Vladimir, a former ImprovOlympic team,
improvises musicals. Theatre Building Chicago, 8 PM. $15.
Schadenfreude, The Royal We, and The Traveling Susans
The sketch comedy
group Schadenfreude takes its name from a German noun that means malicious
joy derived from others' misfortunes. They're loud, funny, and outrageous,
and they know their audience: hip urbanites in their 20s and 30s. One of
the few troupes to take on local politics, this ensemble is simultaneously
chaotic, smart, and funny. (JV) The Royal We, from New York, perform their
political sketch show Does This War Make Me Look Fat? The Traveling
Susans are from Denver. Loop Theater, 8 PM. $15.
The Mike and Duane Show, Storytellers Improv Co., and Jokyr and Jesster
Mike Ferbrache and Duane Freeman perform musical parodies. Vancouver's Dave
Morris and Ryan Bell are Storytellers Improv Co., and Jokyr and Jesster are
Joseph Kyle Rogan and Jesse Parent of the Utah troupe Knock Your Socks Off.
Playground Theater, 8 PM. $15.
Totally Looped and Neutrino
Pushing the envelope has yielded fantastic
results for Neutrino, one of the longest-running Harold teams at New York's
Upright Citizens Brigade. Its eight members have a reputation for pulling
off stunts: they disrobed in the middle of one infamous performance. And
tireless experimentation within the Harold form led them to their biggest
epiphany: videotaping a fully improvised 25-minute Harold performance on
New York City streets, then editing and projecting it (with a three-minute
delay) in a theater. This madcap fusion of nearly instantaneous filmmaking
and anything-goes improv revels in the joys of spontaneous creation, and
Neutrino's mastery of the form is simply awe inspiring. (NG) Totally Looped
-- featuring Second City vet Dan Castellaneta, known among other things as
the voice of Homer Simpson -- adds new dialogue to old film clips.
Athenaeum Theatre main stage, 10 PM. $25.
Uncle Elaine, Tonto's Nephew's, and Fatty Four Eyes
Uncle Elaine offers
experiments in long-form improvisation. Tonto's Nephews are Native
Americans from Toronto. Chicago's Fatty Four Eyes are "funny big men with
glasses" who perform long-form improv. Theatre Building Chicago, 10 PM.
$15.
Brick, Two for Flinching, and HomeGroan
Brick is a local sketch troupe.
The three Second City grads in Two for Flinching explore "the odd nature of
human behavior." HomeGroan is a sketch troupe from New York. Loop Theater,
10 PM. $15.
Karen Weinberg and Sapna Kumar
Karen Weinberg plays ten characters in
her one-woman play, Faker. Sapna Kumar's I'd Love to Margaret
is a tale of lesbian love. Bailiwick Arts Center loft stage, 10 PM.
$10.
Hothouse STC's ZHX Soundscape and Storybox Hothouse
STC does a show in
total darkness. Storybox is a "stylized improvised exploration of
story theater" directed by CIF executive director Jonathan Pitts.
Playground Theater, 10 PM. $10.
The Oops Guys and WIT's Shame
This cabaret show features acts from
Orlando and Washington, DC. Bailiwick Arts Center studio theater, 10 PM.
$15.
Brian Gallivan and Jamie Black
Brian Gallivan's Who Knew?
explores "the surprising nature of love." Jamie Black deals with
transgendered identity in Living Inside Myself. Bailiwick Arts
Center loft stage, 11 PM. $10.
Johnny Lunchpail and pH Productions
pH Productions' pHamily
tosses dysfunctional family dynamics into a blender with generous helpings
of madcap character work and anything-goes goofiness. Long-form
improvisation at its most intelligent, the show is sufficiently rule bound
to provide structure but democratic enough to accommodate equal input from
its rotating eight-member cast. The production rollicks along at a pace
that speaks well of the troupe's collective sense of rhythm. (NG) Members
of the improv troupe Johnny Lunchpail promise a "hot-rod joyride" in
Chopped & Lowered. Theatre Building Chicago, midnight. $10.
The Southpaw Sam McClowski Show
Southpaw Sam McClowski -- the alter ego
of writer-performer Samson Crouppen -- thinks that TV talk-show hosts have
become too namby-pamby. So he puts together "The Southpaw Sam McClowski
Show," coming to you from station K-ASS in Bryan, Texas. He wears a
Yosemite Sam Stetson, Roy Rogers shirt, sneakers, and a single boxing glove
emblazoned with his initial, the better to accomplish his mission, which is
to "kick ass." Many young actors playing a character so aggressively
charmless might be tempted to let us see the innocuous performer behind the
mask. But Crouppen never swerves from his larger-than-life portrayal of a
testosterone-ridden male at his most incorrigible. (MSB) Playground
Theater, midnight. $10.
SATURDAY, MAY 8
Friday 4/30 |
Saturday 5/1 |
Sunday 5/2 |
Monday 5/3 |
Tuesday 5/4 |
Wednesday 5/5 |
Thursday 5/6 |
Friday 5/7 |
Sunday 5/9
The Second City Almanac Writers All-Stars, The Williamson Playboys, and
The Second City Detroit 10th Anniversary Alumni
This celebration of all
things Second City features current and former members of the venerable
comedy theater's Chicago home outfit as well as its branches in the U.S.
and Canada. The Second City Almanac Writers All-Stars features
Saturday Night Live alum Tim Kazurinsky and other contributors to
the recently published book The Second City Almanac of
Improvisation, edited by Anne Libera. The Williamson Playboys, Rufus
and Cecil Jr. -- really Doug Morency and Paul Bates of Second City Toronto
-- are "the most under-appreciated act in popular music history." Veterans
of Second City's Detroit franchise round out the bill. Athenaeum Theatre
main stage, 8 PM. $25.
The Groundlings' Crazy Uncle Joe Show, Bevy, and Washington Improv
Theater
Like summer-camp skits on parents' day, Bevy's sketches seem to be
enormous fun for the performers, but for us they're too abstruse and
tedious. (RLF) Washington Improv Theater explores "the extremes of human
proximity" in Elbow Room. See listing for Friday, May 7, for
information on the Groundlings. Theatre Building Chicago, 8 PM. $15.
BarrioSpeedwagon, The Imponderables, and Triplette
The Lady
Troubles is a sketch-comedy revue from Triplette -- Rebecca Fox, Laura
Grey, and Heather Simms -- that combines playful observations on a variety
of mostly female subjects with the slaphappy energy of a slumber party.
Though the show lacks the biting commentary you might expect from a
production purporting to look at 21st-century womanhood, it has a genuine
lighthearted intelligence. The humor is based more on the characters than
the situations, which can be dark. (KW) The LA group BarrioSpeedwagon was
founded by Joseph A. Nunez and Paul Vato of Chicago's ¡Salsation! Toronto's
Imponderables present a sketch show that's described as "part Kids in the
Hall, part Special Ed children playing in the sandbox." Loop Theater, 8 PM.
$15.
Hooray for Mark and Ari, Improsia, and Lloyd Dobbler's Boombox
Mark
Sarian and Ari Voukydis bring their show from New York's Upright Citizens
Brigade. Seattle-based Improsia features the "free form improvisation" of
Tristan Devin and Joel Dale. Mike O'Hara and Douglas Sarine from Second
City LA promise "bizarre realities and truth" in Lloyd Dobbler's
Boombox. Playground Theater, 8 PM. $15.
Jeff Garlin's Combo Platter and Larry Joe Campbell
Two one-man shows
from big TV stars. Athenaeum Theatre main stage, 10 PM. $25.
Chairs, How We First Met, and Calibre: Gros
CarniKid Productions'
Chairs has a premise so simple but packed with possibility it could
pass for one of the original Spolin theater games. Here an ensemble
improvises a one-act about a recently deceased fictional person, played by
the loser of a quick game of musical chairs at the top of the show. He or
she begins the evening with a short monologue reflecting on the person's
life, and everything afterward flows from this soliloquy. But an elegant
premise alone doesn't account for the show's success. Director Bina Martin
has packed her ensemble with smart, quick improvisers who are usually
willing to forgo a quick laugh in order to create comic characters with
some depth. (JHe) Jill Borque and a team of improvisers act out the
true-life love stories of couples in the audience in How We First
Met. Calibre: Gros is a trio out of Toronto. Theatre Building Chicago,
10 PM. $15.
Troop!, 3 People @ the Cinema, and Whoopsa Daisy
Los Angeles sketch team
Troop! got its start at Boston's Emerson College. 3 People @ the
Cinema is a play without words performed by members of Improv Bandits.
Whoopsa Daisy is a local sketch troupe. Loop Theater, 10 PM. $15.
Stacy Hallal and Phil Incorvia
Stacy Hallal combines improv with written
material as she plays all twenty of the Humperdinks and their friends in
The Humperdink Family Reunion. Phil Incorvia of Big Belly Theater in
Portland performs his one-man show One Time. Bailiwick Arts Center
loft stage, 10 PM. $10.
Imp., The Corduroy Rogers' Boxprov, and Inside Joke Asaf
Ronen and Karen
Wight as Imp. use commedia dell'arte archetypes to create improvised clown
vignettes. The Corduroy Rogers wear cardboard boxes with holes for their
heads and arms. New York improv actor and journalist Carl Arnheiter rounds
out this experimental bill with his interview show Inside Joke.
Playground Theater, 10 PM. $10.
Improv All Night
The lineup for this marathon of sleep-deprived humor
includes two ComedySportz teams, the Hot Karl and the Improv Open Mikes;
ImprovOlympic's Johnny Roast Beef; and additional Chicago groups American
Dream, Jazz Hands Across America, Pimprov, and Obsessed. They'll be joined
by Extreme Improv from Charlotte and Puny Humans from Cheyenne.
ComedySportz, 10:30 PM-6 AM. $5.
Butch Jerinic and Sandra Battaglini
Jerinic's well-conceived
autobiographical solo show, Growing Up Butch, recounts her
experiences as the only one of three children in a Croatian immigrant
family who turned out to be straight. Jerinic alternates monologues
punctuated by one-liners, like stand-up comedy, with sketches in which she
plays both herself and her family members. The monologues are funny but
slightly stiff while the sketches are hilarious, sharply observed, and
fresh. Jerinic allows straight folks to get an insider's view of a gay
family and gay ones to see themselves from the perspective of a loving
outsider. (JV) A Small Battalion of Soldiers is the literal
definition of "Battaglini"; Sandra Battaglini uses clown techniques and
video in her exploration of her northern Ontario hometown. Bailiwick Arts
Center loft stage, 11 PM. $10.
DSI's The Beatbox and Hothouse STC's Slew Deep South
Improv's The
Beatbox shows no signs of stagnation. Accompanied by a DJ, director
Zach Ward's cast lose themselves in the music and the moment by riffing
imaginatively on a single audience suggestion. Typically the themes
explored owe more to the conventions of improv comedy than to B-boy
culture. But the ensemble also rises to the challenge of the closing
freestyle jam with a series of animated raps that tie a neat bow on all the
evening's ideas. Though the show suffers from a few technical limitations,
the group's enthusiasm for the material is infectious -- and true to
hip-hop's pure beginnings. Yo, anything that makes you feel this good
deserves a big shout-out. (NG) The Hothouse Spontaneous Theatre
Conservatory presents a sketch show. Theatre Building Chicago, midnight.
$10.
Bob Wiltfong and Jill Bernard
Bob Wiltfong recounts his tale of walking
away from a TV news anchor job in Anchor's Away! He's now a pretend
correspondent on The Daily Show. Jill Bernard, who performs
regularly with the Twin Cities ComedySportz, appears with her one-woman
show Drum Machine. Bailiwick Arts Center loft stage, midnight.
$10.
The Southpaw Sam McClowski Show
See listing for Friday, May 7.
Playground Theater, midnight. $10.
SUNDAY, MAY 9
Friday 4/30 |
Saturday 5/1 |
Sunday 5/2 |
Monday 5/3 |
Tuesday 5/4 |
Wednesday 5/5 |
Thursday 5/6 |
Friday 5/7 |
Saturday 5/8
Bassprov, The Defiant Thomas Brothers, and ImprovOlympic's Carl and the
Passions
Seth and Paul Thomas -- unrelated blood brothers -- are remnants
of an era before political correctness; their show is part underground
anything-goes comedy routine, part full-on happening. And the show's been
running long enough that the performers' comic timing is exquisite, as in a
crafty, rapid-fire "Who's on first?" exchange between a pot dealer and his
client. The Thomas Brothers' staunch antiestablishment, nonconformist
approach is best exemplified in a father's sage advice to his son: "It
doesn't really matter if you kill somebody or forget to take out the
trash." In their world both are a little bit wrong -- but completely
hilarious. (NG) Joe Bill and Mark Sutton go fishing yet again in
Bassprov, joined by two of Second City's most distinguished alumni
-- guest stars Barbara Harris and Mina Kolb. Noah Gregoropoulos's
ImprovOlympic team opens the set. Athenaeum Theatre main stage, 8 PM.
$25.
Back to Music.
For more information on festivals, try the Mayor's Office of Special Events.
Visiting from out of town? Here's a hotel guide from our friends at chicago.citysearch.com.
