The Definitive Guide to Comedy
Noah Gregoropoulos, a celebrated teacher of improv comedians from Chicago, has died from cancer. He was 63. A graduate of Northwestern University, Gregoropoulous taught comedians and comedic actors at improvOlympic (iO) since the early 1990s, and fully took over when Del Close died in 1999. Which meant he helped shape …
Remember last year during the pandemic when Chicago’s comedy community asked The Second City and the iO to change their ways when it came to respecting racial diversity onstage and in the business, and the The Second City sacked its longtime CEO and then Charna Halpern suddenly shuttered the IO? …
First the UCB closed up its doors in New York City. Now comes word that the Chicago theater that gave birth to the Upright Citizens Brigade also will not reopen. Charna Halpern, co-founder and still head improviser in charge of improvOlympic (aka iO), confirmed today that Chicago’s iO Theater will …
Michael Clayton McCarthy achieved the comedy dream and proved you could do it going in the opposite direction. McCarthy (no relation) became a staff writer for Saturday Night Live at age 24 in 1983, followed that up with two years writing for Sesame Street, and then went to Chicago, where …
Red Crown Productions LLC announced it’s developing a biopic about Chicago improvising legends Del Close and Charna Halpern, Del & Charna. Kay Cannon will direct the film, off a script from Rich Talarico and Alex Fendrich. All three are alums from The Second City, and Cannon and Talarico both studied …
When Viola Davis accepted her Emmy Award last night for Outstanding Lead Actress in a TV drama series, she said: “The only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity. You can’t win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there.” Powerful, moving words. Even more …
Comedian, actor, writer and director Jay Leggett died suddenly over the weekend, collapsing after a hunting trip with family in his native Wisconsin. Leggett was 50. Leggett, born Aug. 9, 1963, grew up in Tomahawk, Wisc. (where he died), and graduated from University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. He was a product of Chicago’s legendary …
When Robin Williams visited Jimmy Kimmel Live on Tuesday night, Kimmel was impressed not only just to have Williams on as a guest — it made him feel like he’s actually hosting a TV talk show — but also because he’d heard that Williams performed improvisational comedy with “the kids” …
