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July 29, 2005
We've moved!
If you can read this, the server move was successful. Here's looking forward to a stable and happy FuzzyCo.
Posted by admin at 5:37 PM
July 21, 2005
Groups Update
Groups Added:
BlackFish (World - Pakistan )
Composte Comedy Heap (USA - California)
Impromptu (World - The Netherlands)
Improv This (USA - Illinois)
Jazz Hands Across America (USA - Illinois)
Kiwi Impro Show (World - Germany)
Las Vegas Improvisation Players (USA - Nevada)
Laughing Matter Improv (USA - Oklahoma)
And thanks again to Sylvia Toone for helping me clean up, this time, Connecticut, DC, Florida, Georgia, and Illinois.
Posted by Fuzzy at 2:50 PM
July 11, 2005
Miami Improv Fest dates and submissions
The 2006 Miami Improv Festival, hosted by Just the Funny, will be held January 11-15, 2006. The festival will be accepting performance applications through November 15.
Posted by Fuzzy at 3:57 PM
July 9, 2005
Southern Improv Festival
Dates for the second Southern Improv Festival in New Orleans, LA have been announced - October 11-16, 2005 - and the festival is now accepting performance applications.
Posted by Fuzzy at 3:53 PM
I.O. Rebranding and 25th Anniversary
Bowing to years of pressure from the International Olympic Committee, the renowned ImprovOlympic theater is becoming simply the I.O. Theater, with a new web address - http://www.iochicago.net/. The theater's LA branch will become IO West.
I.O. will be celebrating its 25th Anniversary this summer with a star-studded Reunion Show at the Chicago Theater. Scheduled to appear are Ike Barinholtz, Andy Dick, Kevin Dorff, Rachel Dratch, Tina Fey, Neil Flynn, Ian Gomez, David Koechner, John Lutz, Brian McCaan, Adam McKay, Seth Meyers, Joel Murray, Mike Myers, Amy Poehler, Andy Richter, Horatio Sanz, Brian Stack, Rich Talarico, Stephnie Weir, and The Upright Citizens Brigade.
I.O.'s 25th Anniversary Reunion Show
Saturday, August 27, 2005, 8 pm
Chicago Theatre, 175 N. State Street, Chicago, IL
Tickets: $25-$75
(The I.O. website notes that the theater had its 20th Anniversary show in August 2001. Was that anniversary late or is this one early?)
Deanna Issacs' The Business column in the Chicago Reader this week covers the history of the ImprovOlympic, the rebranding, and the anniversary show. The article is not available online, but Chicago readers can pick up a copy and find the article in section 2.
Update:
Chicago Tribune: No laughing matter: Club gets new name after Olympian spat
Chicago Sun-Times: No joke: ImprovOlympic changing name to avoid suit
Posted by Fuzzy at 1:18 PM
July 8, 2005
David Shepherd on Chicago Public Radio
David Shepherd, co-founder of The Compass, was on Chicago Public Radio to talk about the 50th anniversary of Chicago Improv and that show is now available in WBEZ's online archive: The Birth of Improv (RealAudio).
Posted by Fuzzy at 3:46 PM
July 6, 2005
Groups update
Groups Added:
Therapy: Beyond the Red Couch (USA - Arizona)
Also, thanks to Sylvia Toone of Artistic New Directions who sent me a large number of defunct groups that I've since removed from the lists.
Posted by Fuzzy at 11:52 AM
July 5, 2005
Happy 50th, Improv
On July 5th, 1955, a group of University of Chicago students called The Compass performed what is arguably the first piece of modern improv theater in a bar in Hyde Park, Chicago (they were supposed to have performed the night before, but air conditioner problems in the bar delayed them by a day). Tonight, the Chicago Improv Festival is hosting a celebration of that beginning with an awards ceremony and a performance by U of C's Off-Off Campus improv troupe recreating the format of that original performance.
Chicago Sun-Times: Seeds of improv sown at U. of C.
Chicago Tribune: Improv Theater Celebrates 50th Anniversary
Chicago Improv Festival: CIF Celebrates the Compass Players' 50th Anniversary
Amazon: The Compass: The Improvisational Theatre that Revolutionized American Comedy by Janet Coleman
Amazon: Something Wonderful Right Away: An Oral History of the Second City and The Compass Players by Jeffrey Sweet
WBEZ radio: The Birth of Improv with David Shepherd�Cofounder, The Compass (real audio)
Posted by Fuzzy at 2:46 PM
July 1, 2005
Minneapolis Improv
A short write-up on Brave New Workshop's Improv-a-go-go and Huge Wednesdays in the Minneapolis City Pages: Spotlight: Improv-a-Go-Go, Huge Wednesdays
Posted by Fuzzy at 4:43 PM