The Chicago Improv Festival is always a great collection of shows and improvised comedy for one week every year. This year it snuck up on me because I have been focusing on other things (like this blog) and not doing Improv classes anymore. That said, I hope to still get tickets and attend some of the Improv and sketch shows this week in Chicago. The Chicago Improv Festival is one of several comedy festivals that hits the city for a week and brings in talented performers with a Chicago tie-in or just comedy groups who are very good at what they do and want to travel to perform in front of new audiences. They usually try and bring back one or two people who have made it from the Chicago Improv scene to NY or LA on Saturday Night Live or any one of a few other comedy shows on TV.
They also feature some of the best improv troupes in the city of Chicago at CIF. This is always a great opportunity for the rest of the city to enjoy their talents. Usually only a certain number of people venture into the basement of IO or the Skybox theater of Second City to see new emerging artists in Improv. The Chicago Improv Festival gets a much wider attendance and hopefully helps jump start their careers.
Monday night the Chicago Improv Festival kicks off with the superpower comedy duo of Jack McBrayer (from 30 Rock) and Paul Scheer (also of 30 Rock) at the Lakeshore theater in Lakeview. The first few nights of the festival are at the Lakeshore Theater which is an ok venue except there is no parking. So, if you go to this it will be a hilariously funny show that ends with the hilarious towing of your car. (sirusly still go to it anyway)
Tuesday Scott Adsit (also of 30 Rock, the major employer of Chicago Improv Alum) hits the stage at the Lakeshore Theater with 3 local Improv Gods (read: they make a living at this in Chicago): Susan Messing, Mick Napier and TJ Jagodowski. I have to go to this one too now. (shit! when am I going to sleep this week?)
Wednesday there are no CIF shows at the Lakeshore Theater. Thank god, I can finally get some sleep. Or not? There is a show at the ETC stage at Second City with Franken Matt, Frank Caeti and Matt Craig opened by Brian Gallivan’s one man show. Zexy.
Thursday night the Chicago Improv Festival recovers with Miller and Middleditch, two veteran IO performers that should surely deliver the goods at the Lakeshore Theater. All these shows btw are at 8pm.
Friday night the Improv fest features a group of familiar faces at the Lakeshore theater with DITKA featuring some of the best Second City Mainstage cast to go to LA in the past few years: Frank Caeti, Maribeth Monroe, Brian Gallivan and Marc Warzecha. It is always interesting to see new groups of people play together and this is a new pairing that shouldn’t disappoint.
On Friday night The Playground Theater gets in on the action also with 2 shows, The Irish Mutts and Ay Diego with Zabeth Russell and Will Luera.
Saturday has many shows: 7:30 starts off with 313 from LA, which has a cast of very talented alley jumpers Keegan-Michael Key, Larry Joe Campbell, Nyima Funk, Josh Funk, Marc Evan Jackson and Andy Cobb. 8 pm features the cast of Sports Action Team of which you might have seen on at midnight after SNL here on NBC Channel 5 in Chicago. It actually has a great cast of very funny people in it ,but the show has never really been a good use of their talents. I hope they are paid well. This show will most likely feature a screeching hawk at some point.
And Sunday we all fall over and die from all this comedy and partying and no sleep. Seriously though this is a huge week for comedy in Chicago and if you can make it to any of the shows from the Chicago Improv Festival it will be well worth the time, money and towing fees. Check out chicagoimprovfestival.org for the full bios and for more information on tickets and addresses of the theaters.