Chicago MMXII

I'm listening to Dots and Loops in an attempt to make one last push to get this case done before the weekend (and posting on ILX lololbarf) and this is a really good album. I mean, you all knew that, but it really holds up nicely.

"just for laughs" (ugh) seems like CMJ or something where at first it's like oh shit there's so much awesome stuff happening then you get stressed out about what to see when and then you realize how much it's all going to cost so you don't do any of it

Yup. Plus a lot of the stuff I'd want to see is at late o'clock (like Scott Adsit/Jet Eveleth tonight at iO ... at midnight).

^^ lol old

speaking of iO, what should I see there July 4th week? This seems like one of the more intriguing shows.

http://ioimprov.com/chicago/io/shows/tj-and-dave

Yeah, that show is generally recognized to be the ne plus ultra of Chicago improv. I saw it once, years ago, and enjoyed it, but I'd need to see it again to offer a more-informed opinion. I have seen TJ perform with other groups, though, and he's really sharp.

You're here first week of July, right? Of the teams performing then, the only ones I know well are Cook County Social Club and Carl and the Passions. I'd recommend both. The former is a small group of three or four guys who excel at fast-paced, quick-witted long-form flights of fancy. The latter is generally a looser experience, but its members are some of the most-experienced improv performers in Chicago. One nice thing about Carl and the Passions is that they headline the free show on Wednesday nights, though in my experience the opening groups (who rotate from week to week) can be hit-or-miss.

Fwiw, I also saw The Reckoning once, and they really impressed me.

That said, you probably also can't go too wrong with the Armando Diaz Experience or Whirled News Tonight. Both entail large-ish groups of performers, generally made up of whichever iO mainstays show up that night. (Armando Diaz follows basically the exact same form as ASSSSSCAT at Upright Citizens Brigade, if you've ever seen that.) You're not going to see anything too formally out-there, but it'll probably be funny.

You're here first week of July, right?

Duh, you just said that, never mind.

Also, Deric W. Haircare might have his own recommendations, although he doesn't post in this thread for some reason.

this was fun. I was on the near side edge trying to get people to work together, little kids were having a ball w/ it but their parents not so much

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXJzIWYcQOA

Chicago threads are odd b/c they originated after some fapping in around 2004, and I guess they became a hangout for a certain group of people who know each other IRL and for visitors to the city to ask for advice and recommendations. Maybe some people stay away b/c they think it's a clique, which is too bad. And others stay away b/c they think we suck, which is fine.

joke's on them, because THEY suck

hahahahahahahahahahahahaha BURN

thx jaymc. I think I have been to one improv-related show in NY in the 5 years since my last one in Chicago.

DWH is in Chicago?!?! I became fond of him during the horror poll because of our apparently similar tastes in horror movies. DWH, if you are reading this and you ever want to catch a movie, you should ILX message me.

What if DWH thought you sucked?

I thought about that after I posted that!!!!

I'd probably be a little sad.

I like DWH too and I'd be sad if he thought I sucked. Should probably start a thread about his opinions about us.

i got a rotten cold y'all

Announcement: Jesse and my Official Song is "My Own Worst Enemy" by Lit.

That will surely get Deric W. Haircare to like us.

Amanda, I am sorry about your cold and I hope you feel better soon.

hey thanks

i know one sure way to get people to like us is by complaining about my upper respiratory ailments, so
YOU'RE WELCOME

Sorry Amanda.

Our personalized version of My Own Worst Enemy should reference an IGo car being parked on the sidewalk.

My I-Go carrrrrr
Is parked across the sidewalk
And I'm sleeping with my clothes on.
I forgot to take the car back last night
and you're gone.

i had brunch with the jammermans over the weekend!

OK so this is probably not at all fair and totally judgmental on my part, but I wonder if anyone else has ever noticed that people driving car sharing service cars tend to drive horribly? In two lanes, not signaling, rolling stops, etc etc. I catch myself thinking that and have to forcibly remind myself that there are a lot of terrible non-car-sharing drivers out there too.

It might be confirmation bias since car share cars are v noticeable as a separate class of cars.

I haven't noticed, but one of Courtney's former neighbors used my being an IGo user as part of her stream of invective directed at me for blocking her car while parked to pick up something at Courtney's apartment. She said that she could tell that I couldn't handle owning a car in the city b/c I had double parked.

It's true that people who own their cars outright never double park.

I have a meeting at a place that is a little farther from public transit than I want to walk on this shit hot day so I took a delightfully cool cab ride (dark tinted windows in the back, too!) but traffic was v light and now I'm 25 min early and sitting in a hot, dusty, windy park waiting for the meeting to start or for me to die, whichever comes first.

And coughing like a consumptive thanks to The Never Ending Lingering Cough and the dust in the wind. Also I have to pee.

In conclusion, my meeting is in a 3rd floor apt w/ no AC.

The wind blowing the trees around is kind of pretty though.

Why did you not wait in a cool building instead of a hot and terrible park? Or have the cab drive you around until the meeting started. Or hold the meeting in the cab.

There were no cool buildings to which I had access in the immediate vicinity (have you ever wished there were more Starbucks in Chicago?). Too expensive. Not enough room.

Show of hands, please!

How many of you would be like to attend an event at Rev Brewing on July 29 that would involve you paying a certain amount (prob $35) and then drinking all you can hold of five different types of beers and also eating all you can eat of three types of appetizers for two hours?

If we are in town I'd be interested.

can my inlaws come? they don't drink and are not particularly good at conversation.

I would go especially if there are fancy kiddie cocktails for me.

With crazy straws.

Inlaws are welcome. Anybody can come because it's a fundraiser. Jesse I will verify that they can at least make you a Shirley Temple.

I would probably do that.

Hey, y'all. DWH here. Your words of kindness have summoned me back (however briefly) from my password-bombed login.

Morbs! Re: iO shows, I hardcore second jaymc's recommendations of TJ & Dave (probably the most consistently good improv show in town) and Cook County Social Club. Luckily, although I've been gone from Chicago for a little while now (sorry, folks!), there are still a lot of mainstays that I'm sure have maintained their quality. Revolver and Family Tree House Boat Accident are good value, and I have a lot of affection for Sears Tower. Depending on your tolerance for puppets and Elizabethan wordplay, Felt (secretly my favorite) and Improvised Shakespeare are worth checking out. Also (although I somehow doubt you'll be in town that long), I see that two of my absolute favorite people who I've worked with personally are performing in the unfortunately-named Joss WeeDone on the 9th.

P.S. I only think a very, very small handful of ILXors legit suck and I'm absolutely certain that they know who they are (and that the sentiment is shared). Y'all're good eggs.

P.P.S. Morbs, again!! I don't know why it didn't occur to me earlier, but you might also want to check out a show at Annoyance Theatre. It's the oft-overlooked step-sibling of the Chicago improv Big Three (nevermind the dozen or so smaller theatres that have started getting buzz in the past couple years). I've been away too long to tell you what to see exactly aside from Messing With A Friend (Susan Messing is a great performer), but the overall ethos of the theatre is probably a little more in line with your sensibilities, I'd wager. Allow me a brief metaphor: if Second City is old school SNL and iO is current day SNL, Annoyance is probably closer to "Michael O'Donaghue scaring Catherine O'Hara away"-era SNL.

DWH, I have close to 4 of 5 days' worth of misadventures scheduled, it may be hard to make it to more than one comedy show.

"iO is current day SNL"! wasn't nearly that bad when I went 5 years ago.

Yeah, I wouldn't go see a troupe named after a "current Golden Age of TV" producer.

It was an admittedly strained and facile metaphor. iO is largely quality with a few rough patches. I mean, I studied there, so the maintenance of some incredulity is advisable.

Also, the day you stop seeing improv groups with stupid names is the day you stop seeing improv groups.

If you're planning to see TJ & Dave, it may be worth calling ahead to make sure they'll both be there (and I definitely recommend getting tickets ahead of time, as it often sells out). They occasionally have replacement players, and the replacement is often Tracy Letts. Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright or no, the dude couldn't improv his way out of an imaginary paper bag. A must to avoid.

OK! I wonder how Letts' adap of Three Sisters will turn out.

http://steppenwolf.org/Plays-Events/productions/index.aspx?id=531

Well, I would be seeing TJ & Dave on July 4. Surely Mr Letts will still be monitoring his Chekhov play.

I've been to the Annoyance a few times, but I think they were all R. Buscemi-related shows. I've been meaning to check out Messing with a Friend for the longest time.

FYI of no particular importance - if anyone wants to join me, I plan to bike to the repulsive Wicker Park fest to see Dinosaur Jr (again?! again!) on Saturday night.

also dr aj how come you didn't tell us that you played el acordeón?

http://new.assets.thequietus.com/images/articles/9117/ondatropica_1340207805_crop_550x488.jpg

i don't see dino jr. on the wicker park fest site? wouldn't mind seeing screaming females though

also wicker park fest is in late july so we must be talking about different events