CIC: So Jonathan you have the 10th annual Chicago Improv Festival coming just around the corner. Can you give us some background on the festival.
Jonathan: 10 years ago I had the idea to put together the festival. I then reached out to Frances Callier and asked her if she wanted to co-create and co-produce the festival. She said yes and we started working together on hatching out a 3 year plan. After 9 months of planning, we did the first festival at the old Annoyance place.
CIC: Can you tell us what inspired you to create this festival and what the first year was like?
Jonathan: I was working on a children’s festival when I got hit by the realization that there had never been an improv festival in the history of Chicago. 40 plus years of improv history and no festivals. Weird, especially since Chicago has so many festivals. So, we jumped into it and made it happen. The first year we had 10 shows, 27 ensembles, at 1 venue and we drew 1,800 people.
CIC: Any funny stories you care to share about the past 10 years of CIF?
Jonathan; It’s funny but I can’t think of any funny stories connected to CIF. That’s because it takes so much work to make CIF happen, that all I’m doing is working to make it happen, preparing for it to happen, watching it happen, or putting everything away after the festival is over. The funny happens on-stage, not off.
CIC: This year Chemically Imbalanced Comedy is a co-presenter in the Festival. We will be co-presenting the Apprentice Stage on April 28 at 10pm at the Cornservatory. Tell us a bit about the Apprentice Team program.
Jonathan: We are very excited to debut the Apprentice Team programs with CIC at the Cornservatory. We wanted to do something different than just offer the same improv workshops that we’ve offered in the past, and we wanted to create something that utilized the resources that CIF has both as a festival and as a non-for-profit organization. The Apprentice Teams became our answer. We had 12 teams apply and we accepted 5 of them. These 5 teams are getting 10 hours of coaching from a CIF Artistic Associate, meetings with myself and CIF Artistic Director Mark Sutton, the chance to see some CIF shows, and the chance to perform at CIF with their coach watching and giving feedback. We also want to be able to be of service as an organzation to these 5 ensembles over the upcoming year. We feel the Apprentice Team program can really make a difference in art and business of these 5 teams.
CIC: Any other thoughts you want to share about the upcoming CIF 10?
Jonathan: 10 years is a long time to do anything. In my ten years, I am very grateful to all the many improvisers, literally from all over the world, that I’ve met along the way. I’m also very grateful for all the amazing and great improv I’ve seen at CIF.
Chicago Improv Festival Kicks off tonight at 7pm at the Chicago Cultural Center’s Garr Hall, 78 E. Randolph. CIC will co-present the Apprentice Stage on Saturday Night at 10pm. For more info on all CIF events log onto www.chicagoimprovfestival.org