Laugh riot

Improvisers, monologists and sketch comedians from around the world descend upon Chicago from Friday 22 to May 1, taking over stages in every corner of the city. The eighth annual Chicago Improv Festival—the city's premier comedy fest—spans nine dizzying days, offering nearly 50 shows put on by hundreds of performers. To keep your head from spinning, we've selected some of the fest's best bets.

Beer Shark Mice + The SNL Writers
Athenaeum Theatre, Fri 22 at 7:30pm, $25
They've all got IMDB credits out the wazoo, but the Chicagoland natives who make up Beer Shark Mice say they get more recognition on the streets of SoCal from their self-titled ImprovOlympic West show than their work on-screen. They love coming back to the Windy City, and why wouldn't they? Their hometown showed them the love with the Ensemble of the Year award at the 2003 CIF. If you haven't yet had the pleasure of seeing the troupe onstage, you still might recognize Waukegan native Neil Flynn from Scrubs (the maniacal janitor) and Dave Koechner from Anchorman (the raucous sportscaster). The bicoastal bill also features an act by four Saturday Night Live writers.—Tim McCormick

Bassprov
Athenaeum Theatre, Fri 22 at 10pm, $20 (with Defiant Thomas Brothers + Horatio Sanz All-Stars)Athenaeum Theatre, Apr 29 at 10pm, $20 (with Pax-TV's World Cup Comedy + Annoyance Productions)
A nine-person Harold team (a traditional ImprovOlympic-style ensemble) following a strict, complex structure of scenes and beats can make for some brilliant improv. On the other hand, so can a couple of guys sitting on stage pretending to be fishing for bass in Indiana—provided those guys are as talented and funny as Joe Bill and Mark Sutton. They take an audience suggestion, then seemingly ignore it as they begin to converse about whatever comes to their minds. At some point in the show they're joined by a guest (for the first of their two CIF shows this year, Horatio Sanz will do the honors, while Emo Phillips pitches in during the second), then slowly, surely and brilliantly, they direct the conversation back to the original suggestion.—Mark Sinclair

Baby Wants Candy + ComedySportz' All-Stars
Athenaeum Theatre, Sat 23 at 10pm, $20
Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats holds the record for the longest-running musical in history, turning in nearly 7,500 performances at New York's Winter Garden before emptying the litter box in September 2000. Chicago improv troupe Baby Wants Candy, which passed the 1,000 performance mark last fall, has a ways to go if it hopes to catch up with ol' Rum Tum Tugger and his feline gang. The difference is, Cats had one book and one score for its entire 18-year run, while Baby Wants Candy generates an entirely new show each time out. Baby's shows aren't quite polished Broadway spectacles, but at least they don't wear a lot of creepy makeup and ugly-ass costumes. As a special treat for fans of Bruce Springsteen's rhythm section, Garry Tallent, bassist of the E Street Band, will pitch in to provide the show's musical accompaniment.—Mark Sinclair

Super Cage Match Championships
ImprovOlympic, Tue 26 at 7pm, $5
In 2001, New York–based improviser Kevin Mullaney wanted to put a new spin on an old improv form, the Harold, developed by the late Del Close at ImprovOlympic. He came up with the idea of pitting two teams of performers against each other in a battle for applause, and called his show The Cage Match. The concept caught on like gangbusters. Nowadays, improvisers duke it out at theaters around the country, and top teams come to Chicago to fight for the right to call themselves national Cage Match champs. Dual Exhaust, the reigning champ for two years running, represents Chicago and takes on contenders from Seattle, New York and Florida.—Mark Sinclair

Mo vs. Mo + Sirens
Theatre Building Chicago, Wed 27 at 7pm, $15
CIF organizer Jonathan Pitts assures us Mo Collins will not "get naked or nothin'" during Mo vs. Mo, a one-woman show that pits herself and her dark shadow against each other in a balls-out, cuss-filled brawl, but "it's definitely rated R," he says. That means it's an 18-and-over show, so leave your Mo-obsessed little brother at home. A MADtv veteran who most recently appeared as Starla on Arrested Development, Collins performed a similar sketch last summer at the Bailiwick Arts Center, and the positive response convinced her to develop it more. After this performance, she might take it on the road.—Laura Baginski

Shared Property + Zach & Risa + Hallal & Sutton
Athenaeum Studio Theatre One, Apr 29 at 9:30pm, $15
The fest's duo stage boasts an especially solid lineup on April 29. Starting things off will be Hallal & Sutton, featuring Stacey Hallal (who, in her one-woman show, The Humperdink Family Reunion, plays 20 distinct characters) and Mark Sutton of Bassprov. They're followed by Zach & Risa, a couple of Upright Citizens Brigade vets who teamed up for a performance at CIF in 2003 and liked it so much they stuck together back in New York. Shared Property usually consists of Jordan Klepper of The Late Night Late Show at ImprovOlympic and Megan Hovde. She's on the road with the Second City National Touring Company, but filling in will be the always fantastic TJ Jagodowski.—Mark Sinclair

Mother + The Resistance
Theatre Building Chicago, Apr 29 at 11pm, $10
When New York troupe Mother was just getting started, its players were lucky enough to be coached by improv legend Armando Diaz. After nearly six years of inventive long-form madness (in one of the shows, rather than ask the crowd to call out suggestions, the group borrows audience members' CDs and iPods for inspiration), they just might be earning legendary status themselves. Mother's performers create believable characters and give them room to grow, never neglecting the funny. Their shows are what improv newcomers aspire to achieve.—Mark Sinclair

Superpunk + fon.ta.nelle
Athenaeum Studio Theatre Two, Apr 29 at 11:30pm, $10
Every joker in the city thinks he and his buddy are the smartest, funniest guys around. That's probably because they all haven't seen Superpunk. Mike Betette and Philip Mottaz definitely lean toward the absurd, but don't let their odd outlook get in the way of the joke. During January's Chicago Sketchfest, they interrupted a sketch a few beats in when one of them realized he had lost his wallet. They concluded he must have left it in a previous sketch, so they "traveled back" to the offending scene and ran through it again until the wallet turned up. It's rare to find performers who make a point of playing with the form yet still manage to get the laughs.—Jonathan Messinger

P.O.W. + KevINda
Athenaeum Studio Theatre Two, Apr 30 at 11:30pm, $10
There's just no getting around it: The people who run business seminars—things like sensitivity training and team-building—are downright clueless. At least Bob Wiltfong (from The Daily Show) and Matt Oberg (who's taking a break from his one-man show, The Levitation of Kenny Mambo at New York's People's Improv Theater) think so. Their sketch revue, P.O.W.: The Professional Opportunities Workshop, takes the gloves off and fights back against the inanity for you, because if you did it yourself, you'd probably be fired. Opening the show is KevINda, a local duo whose revue, These Coloreds Don't Run, pokes the political scene in the eye with sharp, witty sketches.—Mark Sinclair

For more Chicago Improv Festival listings.