iO West in Hollywood to close Feb. 24, 2018
In the mid-1990s, as a handful of Del Close’s disciples moved to New York City to pursue their own show-business dreams as the Upright Citizens Brigade, another Close loyalist and student had gone Hollywood. Paul Vaillancourt saw he wasn’t the only improvOlympic alum in Los Angeles, and he asked Close and Charna Halpern for approval to open a second branch of iO out West in 1997. After a long, colorful run that included many present and future comedy stars, iOWest is closing later this month. Halpern announced the closure officially on Tuesday. Vaillancourt’s troupe, Beer Shark Mice — whose...
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