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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 July 5, 2005 2:46 PM