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January 31, 2005

Miami Improv Festival press

The Miami Improv Festival begins this week (February 2-6, 2005) and has garnered a variety of press in local papers:

Funny Festival [New Times]
Just The Funny to present �05 Miami Improve [sic] Festival [Miami's Community Newspapers
Off Cue [New Times Broward - Palm Beach]

Posted by Fuzzy at 5:44 PM

Groups List additions

Added:

Delta City Improv (USA - California)
Impromadrid (World - Spain)
Misplaced Comedy Group (USA - Florida)

Posted by Fuzzy at 5:31 PM

January 24, 2005

Groups List addition

Added: ImproVision (Canada - Manitoba)

Posted by Fuzzy at 4:33 PM

January 14, 2005

Del's Skull makes stage debut

Del Close's skull, which he bequeathed to the Goodman Theatre just before his death in 1999 for use in Hamlet or other productions at "the theater's discretion," is being used in the just-opened I Am My Own Wife. The play's star, Jefferson Mays, was Del's understudy in a California production of The Misanthrope and requested that Del's skull be part of the set.

Bring Goodman cast the head of Del Close [Sun-Times]

Posted by Fuzzy at 4:10 PM

January 13, 2005

Guru

Guru: My Days with Del Close, Jeff Griggs' portrait of Del Close is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com. The book is scheduled for release in April 2005.

Posted by Fuzzy at 5:16 PM

January 10, 2005

Groups List addition

Added: 42 Smack Classic (USA - California)

Posted by Fuzzy at 5:02 PM

January 8, 2005

Groups List additions

Added:
Gated Community (USA - Florida)
IdiotCentral (USA - California)
Improv-Abilities (USA - Kansas)
Placebo (World - The Netherlands)

Posted by Fuzzy at 12:22 PM

January 2, 2005

Upcoming Festivals

2005 is jam-packed with festivals (21 by my count, and that's just through the fall). Here's what's coming up in the next few months. Check out the Festivals page for more.

Chicago Sketch Fest (Chicago, IL) January 6-16, 2005
Yes, as the name of the festival indicates, this is sketch comedy, not improv. But because it's Chicago you'll see a lot of improvisors on stage using their from-a-script muscles. And the Octa-Sketch event, Monday January 10, blurs the line as 4 teams of 5 actors from different sketch comedy troupes will be given 8 hours to create a 30-minute sketch comedy show to be performed that evening.

San Francisco Sketch Comedy Festival (San Francisco, CA) January 13-30, 2005
More sketch. Sue me. Three weeks of performances from great performers from all over the country.

Snubfest (Chicago, IL) January 21-23, 2005
This new festival has one main application requirement - your show has to have been rejected by another festival sometime in 2004. The organizers brag that their participants have been snubbed by HBO's Aspen Comedy Festival, the Amsterdam Improv Festival, Seattle SketchFest, WaffleFest, the Del Close Marathon, Toronto Improv Festival, Montreal Just for Laughs Comedy Festival, Miami Improv Festival, and the Chicago Short Film Festival.

Miami Improv Festival (Miami, FL) February 2-6, 2005
Bare will be there, and it's my birthday weekend.

Seattle Festival of Improv Theater (Seattle, WA) February 16-20, 2005

Dirty South Improv Festival (Chapel Hill, NC) February 24-27, 2005

Posted by Fuzzy at 5:37 PM

NOW Toronto's Top 10 Comedy Shows of 2004

Glenn Sumi of NOW Toronto's annual Top 10 Comedy Shows list includes Second City Toronto, Bad Dog Theatre's Hairy Patter and the Improviser's Stone, New York's Frost & Ronen at the Toronto Improv Fest, and Chicago's Pat Shay Dancers (as one of the Best 2004 Discoveries).

Posted by Fuzzy at 5:09 PM

Groups List additions and updates

Added:
Traffic & Weather (USA - Illinois)

Updated:
Bad Dog Theatre (formerly Theatresports Toronto) (Canada - Ontario)
SUSHI (Canada - New Brunswick)

Posted by Fuzzy at 12:35 PM