The Definitive Guide to Comedy
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 …
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 …
Improv gets a bad rap from stand-up comedians, but when Saturday Night Live roasts its own, it does so like this short video from the 43rd season finale, Chicago Improv. The sketch imagines NBC stretching for ideas after already green-lighting three dramas from Dick Wolf with Chicago in the title …
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 …
A roast of George Wendt at The Second City over the weekend brought with it some unexpected news about an upcoming movie on the late improv icon Del Close. Various sources reported that the financing for Del needs to be reconfigured, and executive producer and Second City owner Andrew Alexander …
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 …
Longtime Chicago improv actor and teacher Jason R. Chin died suddenly Thursday night. Chin was 46. Improv Olympic founder Charna Halpern passed along the devastating news overnight. “I am heart broken. Our Jason Chin passed away,” Halpern wrote to friends. “He was a wonderful friend and a huge part of …
In Amy Poehler’s inspirational new book that’s part memoir of her life in comedy — up, up and still rising from iO to UCB to SNL to Parks and Rec — and into advising young comedians and other “Smart Girls at the Party” as an executive producer, Yes Please really …
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart has a new correspondent, and his name is Jordan Klepper. Klepper files his first on-air report tonight, “live” from “Ukraine.” And here that is/was! Comedy Central’s news parody program lost two correspondents late in 2013 to other shows — Al Madrigal is co-starring in NBC’s …
Need a fun little ditty about improv comedy that anyone can enjoy, whether you love improvising, hate improvisers, or hate to love loving to hate all of the above! Roll it. From Hard Left Productions, straight out of Boston. Lyrics by Robert Woo. Here are the lyrics if you want …
