CHICAGO HAS PRODUCED some of our greatest comedians, and only New York rivals the breadth of Chicago’s comedy scene. Whether you’re looking for standup, sketch comedy, or improvisation, you can find it here, and most of it’s reasonably inexpensive.
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JONATHAN PITTS Back in the 80s Pitts wrote and distributed what’s become a legendary improv guide, An Improvised Almanac, which is chock-full of pithy maxims like “Don’t deny” and “Heighten the reality.” He’s the cofounder and executive producer of perhaps the country’s biggest improv event, the Chicago Improv Festival, which returns in April.
BRIAN POSEN A veteran writer, director, and teacher, Posen produces the January festival Chicago SketchFest and has helped keep Chicago comedy fresh and internationally vital with his terrific programming. He’s also a member of the talented Cupid Players, an all-musical group that performs Saturdays at I.O. | RH
show at Kitty Moon (6237 N. Clark, 312-927-5844), the “Elevated” showcase at Cherry Red (2833 N. Sheffield, 773-477-3661), “Chicago Underground Comedy” at Gunther Murphy’s (1638 W. Belmont, 773-728-0746), or “The Lincoln Lodge”
But those aren’t your only options for sketch and improv. Here’s a short list of venues featuring regular, consistently solid shows: Playground Theater (3209 N. Halsted, 773-871-3793), Cornservatory (4210 N. Lincoln, 773-865-7731), Stage Left Theatre (3408 N. Sheffield, 773-342-3575), The Spot (4437 N. Broadway, 773-728-8933), and Annoyance Theatre (4840 N. Broadway, 773-561-4665), where on Thursdays you can see one of the city’s most accomplished performers, Susan Messing, in Messing With a Friend. Lots of colleges feature student sketch and improv groups, notably the University of Chicago’s Off-Off Campus and Northwestern University’s Titanic Players. Last but not least, watch our listings for two big annual comedy festivals:
