A Jangleheart Circus: The Upstairs Gallery Goes Galactic took over The Den Theatre this past weekend, putting up three days' worth of sketch and improv shows from very talented and eclectic teams.

As the weekend progressed, I started thinking of Jangleheart as Chicago sketch/improv comedy's Pitchfork Fest. It's a more niche-oriented, community-driven event that provides a much-needed counterpoint to Sketchfest's populist, unwieldy Lollapalooza. Granted, Pitchfork is as gross and corporate as Lolla at this point but you know what I'm getting at, right?

Jangleheart was a great way to see a bunch of teams I'd heard of but not yet seen (Sand, Dead $$$, who had two of the best sets I saw at this weekend) as well as some familiar faces going extra hard and extra silly (like Tim Baltz, Superhuman, and Cook County Social Club, all of whom totally destroyed in front of packed audiences).

I'm not one to speak in big, sweeping language, or to point out generation defining moments, so I'll just say that in 10 years, a bunch of nerds are going to look at the lineup of this festival and be super jealous that they weren't there.

Check out a bunch of pictures from podcaster, filmmaker, and all-around multimedia expert below.