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Details: Published: 30 April 2013

Every year, tens of thousands of people attend our show, ComedySportz, for recreation. Many of them never know that we use many of the same elements of our namesake show to help people in their workday as well! On Thursday, May 16^th, ComedySportz President and CEO, Matt Elwell will address the Chicagoland Chapter of the American Society for Training and Development on how improvisation can be used to develop soft-skills in the incoming workforce.

Although not as fun as an evening of comedy, Matt promises that participants will actually get to try some of the same improv exercises ComedySportz uses to build Chicago’s next generation of improv comedy talent. If you work in the Learning and Development or HRD departments of your company, this is a great way to see how the emerging field of “Applied Improvisation” can benefit your employees and your bottom line.

For more information on this event: http://goo.gl/Slsi1

Or, to talk to someone about all our Workplace Learning Solutions, contact our Director of Creative Services, Greg Werstler at 773-549-8080, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or www.linkedin.com/in/gregwerstler

Details: Published: 29 April 2013

Highly competitive playoffs expected

The fourteen-week inaugural regular season of the Chicago Improv League concluded on Sunday, April 28th with four teams gaining playoff berths and a chance to win the grand prize of $500.00.. Moving on to post-season play are The Barnstormers (Shannon Noll, Mike Norris, Alex Young, Matthew Beard, Nathan Streifel and Judith Schomp), d'Hôtél Winñetkå (Sean Price, Annie Goodson, Chris Littrell, Josh Razvi, Andy Bogue, and Caleb George), Besides Dinosaurs (Nico Carter, Miguel Villa, Nathan Spring, Alison Banowsky, Nathan Verrone, Ricky Haschemeyer and Annie Rix) and Mercury (Derek Shoemaker, Molly Ruthenberg, Carly Heiser, Harrison Stamell, Ruth Morrison and Jordan Williams).

The semi-finals are set for Sunday, May 5^th,with The Barnstormers meeting d'Hôtél Winñetkå in Match 1 and Besides Dinosaurs facing Mercury in Match 2. The winners will play each other in the finals on Sunday, May 12^th. Matches will begin at 8:30 pm each night and tickets are $10.00 per night. All playoffs will take place at The ComedySportz Theatre, 929 W. Belmont Ave. Tickets can be purchased through ComedySportz by calling 773.549.8080, online at www.comedysportzchicago.com, or at The ComedySportz Theatre box office.

Given the intensely competitive regular season, a close and fiercely contested playoffs is expected. Jonathan Pitts, Commissioner of the CIL and Executive Director of Chicago Improv Productions, producer of the league, says “When I was putting together the league and our first season, I aimed to make all the teams good so that like the NFL, we would have parity. It could not have worked out any better. No team went undefeated, every team won at least one match, and we even had one match end in a tie.” He adds, “It’s great that all these super talented young improvisers are alumni of our College Improv Tournament because they are used to playing in a competitive format without losing the camaraderie that exists between them. They play hard, but they still know it’s play.”

Some new rules will be in place for the playoffs. The audience’s votes will now be worth 1/2 of the final vote, instead of just 1/3 of the final vote. The weight of the judge’s scores will be decreased from 2/3 of the final vote to 1/2 of the final vote. If there is a tie between the audience’s votes and the judge’s votes, the tiebreaker will be decided by votes from CIL players who are out of the playoffs but are attending the match.

On Sunday, May 12, before the start of the CIL Finals, there will be an All-Star Showcase as each of the 6 teams not in the CIL Finals will have 2 players from their team all playing together in a 30 minute montage. The CIL Finals and the presentation of $500 cash to the winning team will follow.

Semi-Finals Schedule:

Match 1: The Barnstormers (3^rd) vs. d'Hôtél Winñetkå (2^nd)

Match 2: Besides Dinosaurs (4^th) vs. MERCURY (1^st)

Final Standings (4/29/13):

1st Place: MERCURY, 5-2

2nd Place: d'Hôtél Winñetkå, 4-2-1

3rd Place: The Barnstormers, 4-3

4th Place: Besides Dinosaurs, 4-3

5th Place: Dads’ Night In, 3-3-1

6th Place: Balt & Co., 3-4

7th Place: Jefferson, 3-4

8th Place: Third Place, 1-6

For more info about the CIL: Jonathan Pitts, 773.875.6616 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Barnstormers

d'Hotel Winnetka

Besides Dinosaurs

Mercury

Details: Published: 26 April 2013

Friday, April 26 at midnight, Talk Hard, Chicago’s hit late-night, uncensored talk show is proud to welcome Jimmy Carrane, the host of Improv Nerd! While hosting the live show and podcast, Jimmy has interviewed celebrities including Andy Richter, Key & Peele, Rachel Dratch, Tim Meadows and more. He is also the co-author of Improvising Better: A Guide to the Working Improviser. He is an award-winning improv teacher with new classes including the Art of Slow Comedy starting in May. He was the former host of Studio 312 on Chicago Public Radio and was recently seen in the films LOL and Public Enemies with Johnny Depp.

The show will also feature Michael Lippert, the co-writer/producer/director of the web series Funemployed. Funemployed outlines the lives of five twenty-somethings trying to figure out what to do with life after college; weighing out the stress of not having jobs, while maintaining a sense of worth and enjoying life in dire straits all in a humorous manner.

Gabe Liebowitz

Rounding out the evening is a live musical performance by Gabe Liebowitz! Gabe is the lead singer of the Chicago band Dastardly and recently released a solo album. Talk Hard likes Gabe so much we invited him back for a “threepeat.”

As always, this show is live and uncensored, hosted by the unpredictable Jamie Campbell, and written by a staff that was hand-picked from Chicago’s world famous comedy scene. Tickets are $10 each and can be purchased at The ComedySportz Theatre box office. Call 773.549.8080 in advance or buy them at the door. Attendance to the 10 p.m. ComedySportz improv show gets audience members into Talk Hard at half price. Life is short – talk hard.

Details: Published: 19 April 2013

Genesis League Summer 2013 Auditions to Be Held April 30 & May 1

Join Genesis League at the ComedySportz Theatre for an opportunity to increase your short-form improvisation skills, hosting, stage presence, and confidence.

Genesis League offers near-weekly performance slots on Wednesday nights, in which teams have the freedom to perform anything from standard short-form games to original, co-created formats.

Enjoy a summer with the ComedySportz family performing fun shows with great people.

Auditions to be held at The ComedySportz Theatre, 929 W. Belmont, Chicago. You will be assigned a 30-minute audition timeslot during one of the two audition evenings - Tuesday April 30th 6-10pm and Wednesday May 1st from 6-10 pm

· Requirements: Must have basic improvisation skills, familiarity with short-form games, prior training and performance history preferred.
· What It Is: Completely improvised audition. No preparation required.
· What to Wear: Proper audition attire a MUST (dress slacks, button down shirts, etc.)
· What to Bring: A headshot and resume to audition: DO NOT attach to the email
· What if I Get Cast? Commitments expected if cast: Rehearsal once-per-week, plus almost weekly show commitments on Wednesday nights from June 2013 through September 2013. Please do not audition if you cannot honor time commitments.

To request an audition timeslot, e-mail us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . No phone calls, please. Please indicate if you will be unavailable to audition for any portion (s) of the eight hours in which we’ll be conducting auditions. Your audition time will be emailed back to you. Please arrive 10 minutes early to your audition to check-in and warm-up.