This Sunday, November 17th, marks the 80th anniversary of the release of the Marx Brothers' wildly influential Duck Soup. In celebration of this occasion, , a Chicago-based writer and improvisor, organized on Sunday at 8:30pm at the Upstairs Gallery.
In advance of the screening, Jamison put together a complete history of the film, delving into the minutiae of its production, release, and reception.
Read MoreWalt Delaney and John O'Toole are The Ghoulashes, a Halloween rock band that recently dropped the single "Ghoul Schoul." Originally released in 1964, the single finds the band at their spooky best, and was released in anticipation of their , a fundraiser to help finance their upcoming 2014 tour of Kosovo, happening this Thursday at the Upstairs Gallery.
Check out "Ghoul Schoul" below and don't miss the Ghoulashes Halloween Spooktacular and Telethon!
Read MoreThis Wednesday, the first-ever edition of 's new monthly variety show, , goes up at the Upstairs Gallery. The first edition of this conceptually fluid night will focus on films produced by various local performers in their youths, in an era before Youtube or iMovie.
I Facebook chatted with Irene and Andrew Tisher, her co-producer for this month's show, which is subtitled . The show starts at 8pm this Wednesday, September 18th at the Upstairs Gallery.
Read MoreThe comedy duo of Drew Anderson and Ayala Skopp are presenting an overstuffed lineup of awesome folks from both the sketch and standup worlds tonight at the Upstairs Gallery, including Candy Lawrence, Wes Perry, the Puterbaugh Sisters, Gary Richardson, and Kellen Alexander. The show is tonight, August 6th, at 8pm, you can check out the poster for more information below!
Also embedded below is a recent clip from Drew & Ayala's new series of web shorts that follow two women who own a feminist pottery studio called Kiln Me Softly.
Read MoreThe full lineup and schedule information for A Jangleheart Circus, an independent comedy festival produced by the folks from The Upstairs Gallery, has been announced.
Head over to the Jangleheart website for full schedule and lineup information!
Tickets for AJC are on sale now! I'm personally very excited to see something with this large of scope come together, you should make a point to check out at least one night, if not all, of this crazy thing.
A word from the producers: "We think it's important to celebrate what's being done right now, so we're gathering some of our favorite performers together to showcase our city, the work being done here, and some of the amazing people who make up the improv and sketch community."
Read More
Small Americans is a long-form short film produced in 2012 by Walt Delaney, Mike Klasek, Zephian Michaels, and John O'Toole that follows the ridiculous events of a local election in New Burnside, IL. The film was retooled after a screening in October of last year, and a new cut will be !
In advance of tonight's screening, I talked to Walt, Mike, and John about the creation of the film.
Read MoreRarely do the improv and standup worlds interact in such a unique, exciting way as when they collide at , a new, high-concept show at the . Standups improvise sets based off of set lists made up of audience suggestions, and then improvisers draw inspiration from ACTUAL set lists used by the standups during more traditional performances.
The whole thing might sound confusing on paper, so Dan Friesen (The Nicest Guys In Town) and Daniel Shar (), the show's two producers, sent over this quick audio guide, complete with examples of how the night might go!
Listin Up is tomorrow night (Wednesday, May 29th) at 8pm. The show is totally free but donations are accepted!
I talked to Walt Delaney, Alex Honnet, and Caitlin Stephan, the three folks behind the about the recently announced Jangleheart Circus, a three day comedy festival showcasing independent sketch, improv, and standup comedy. By the looks of the current lineup, they've done a great job highlighting the DIY ethos and experimental bend of the Gallery's best shows. The Jangleheart Circus is August 22nd, 23rd, and 24th at The Den Theatre in Wicker Park.
Read More