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4 Days Late: #SHOW

Through 6/15: Saturdays, 10 PM

Includes improv with a few dance moves, following the overarching theme of technology. $15

Studio BE Theatre (map)
3110 N. Sheffield Ave.
Lakeview
phone 773-248-5900

Tools

The Armando Diaz Theatrical Experience

Open run: Mon 8:30 PM

A monologist tells personal stories that inspire the improv. $12

iO (map)
3541 N. Clark St.
Wrigleyville
phone 773-880-0199

Tools

Baby Wants Candy: The Rock Musical

Open run: Fri 10:30 PM

Baby Wants Candy--a tight troupe now famous for its improvised musicals--began in 1997 as one of the dozens of ImprovOlympic teams formed every year. Somehow they've avoided the usual dissolution of such groups. More impressive, they've never experienced the artistic conservatism that paralyzes improvisers eager to "do it right"--and reap the reward, presumably, of a career in NYC or LA. Instead the troupe has become the very model of smart, physical, quick-thinking, and just plain silly long-form improvisers; they still play well together and manage to entertain. Inspired by the improbable suggestion "So this is it" at the show I saw, nine actors (backed by the five-member Yes Band) improvised a complicated, hilarious, tongue-in-cheek tale of three partnerships on the rocks--two marriages and a professional relationship--and the narrator who helps bring the couples back together. --Jack Helbig $15

Apollo Theater (map)
2540 N. Lincoln Ave.
Lincoln Park
phone 773-935-6100

Tools

Bare Knuckle Comedy

Second Wednesday of every month, 7 p.m.

Local standup and improv groups perform. Kevin White and Jack Ritchie host.

Schubas (map)
3159 N. Southport Ave.
Lakeview
phone 773-525-2508

Tools

Best Musical!

Through 5/23: Wed 7:30 PM

A full musical comedy is improvised with audience suggestions. $15

Stage 773 (map)
1225 W. Belmont Ave.
Lakeview
phone 773-327-5252

Tools

Best Musical!

Wednesdays, 7:30 p.m.

Best Musical! At the top of this highly entertaining show from Porchlight Music Theatre, cast members ad-lib five songs based on titles suggested by the audience. Then we vote for our favorite, and the winner serves as the foundation for a wholly improvised, hour-long musical comedy. On the night I saw the show, the winning number, "When Todd Met Michael," inspired Nativity My Way, an LGBT retelling of Christ's birth involving a carpenter and the burly gym owner he miraculously impregnates. It was hilarious, blasphemous, and heartwarming in equal measure. The charming, whip-smart cast are accompanied on piano by the show's creator and musical director, Matthew Loren Cohen, who churns out one catchy tune after another. —Zac Thompson $10-$15

Stage 773 (map)
1225 W. Belmont Ave.
Lakeview
phone 773-327-5252

Tools

The Big Yellow Bus

Open run: Thu 8 PM

A core cast performs a different type of long-form improv each week, with guests. The actors meet once just before going on, which gives a frenetic unpredictability to their bits and leads to prankish pushing and pulling, but it also produces occasional fumbling to discover others' sensibilities. (RH) $10

Playground Theater (map)
3209 N. Halsted St.
Lakeview
phone 773-871-3793

Breast in Show

Through 5/26: Sun 7:30 PM

GayCo Productions presents an all-woman sketch comedy show. $15

The pH Comedy Theater (map)
1515 W. Berwyn Ave.
Andersonville

Tools

Bri-Ko

Open run: Sat 2 PM

How many bumbling buddies does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Or juggle? Or deliver a meal in a water balloon? On Saturday afternoons at Stage 773, the answer is three—specifically the three members of Bri-Ko. The sketch-comedy troupe Rube Goldberg would've created if Rube Goldberg had created sketch-comedy troupes, Bri-Ko puts on a silent clown show for the sort of kid who'd appreciate British humor. The name suggests bricolage—i.e., art improvised from materials found at hand. But the many kooky props at hand here (Nerf darts, ping-pong balls, various foodstuffs) are used to make a great, big mess. Tim Soszko, Brian Peterlin, and Chicago Sketch Fest founder Brian Posen bop happily about like Beaker the Muppet, contriving difficult ways to accomplish routine tasks. High art it's not, but the slapstick is practiced and the dumb smiles on these bozos' faces are contagious. —Asher Klein $10-$20

Stage 773 (map)
1225 W. Belmont Ave.
Lakeview
phone 773-327-5252

Tools

Bye Bye Liver: The Chicago Drinking Play

Open run: Fri-Sat 8 and 10 PM
phone 773-904-8777

A show about and with drinking. $20

The Public House Theatre (map)
3914 N. Clark St.
Lakeview
phone 1-800-650-6449

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Cafe Cabaret

Every third Friday

This variety show hosted at Cafe Ballou has a new cast every month..

Cafe Ballou (map)
939 N. Western Ave.
Ukrainian Village/East Village
phone 773-342-2909

Tools

Chicagoland and Fish Nuts

Open run: Tue 8 PM

At the start of each show an all-star ensemble creates a tableau onstage, then asks after a blackout, "Where in Chicago did that take place?" "Soccer practice" was the response the night I was there, and after an hour the improvisers--intensely alert and feisty--had crafted a veritable community, complete with idiosyncratic characters, unpredictable backstory, and tragicomic intrigue. Veteran T.J. Jagodowski, recognizable from a series of Sonic commercials he's done with quick-witted cast member Peter Grosz, played a thick-accented German coach. Abruptly launching a new scene by charging to the front of the stage, he squatted and gestured as he yelled at his coed youth team, "I will yank on your nuts like the Hunchback of Notre Dame working a bell!" --Ryan Hubbard $8

Annoyance Theatre (map)
4830 N. Broadway St.
Uptown
phone 773-561-4665

CIC Saturday Comedy Showcase

Ongoing: Sat 10:30 PM

Counter Productive Lover headlines with a rotating line-up of comedy teams. $10

Chemically Imbalanced Theater (map)
1422 W. Irving Park Rd.
Wrigleyville
phone 773-865-7731

Tools

The Comedy Rock Show

Through 5/28: Tue 8 PM

Comedy music performed in a wide array of genres. $7

The Ace Bar (map)
1505 W. Fullerton Ave.
Lincoln Park
phone 312-970-1505

Tools

75 total results