Check out this article from today’s Chicago Tribune! Snubfest starts next Thursday June 5, 8pm at the Chemically Imbalanced Theater.
Just for laughs
Rejects gather for an improv fest of their own
By Glenn Jeffers
Tribune reporter
May 30, 2008
When the Hollywood writer’s strike forced him to move the Chicago Improv Festival to the first week in June, Jonathan Pitts found himself placing a strangely familiar call to Angie McMahon.
“I found out that we were running the same week as Snubfest and I had to call Angie and ask her blessing,” says Pitts, the festival’s executive producer. “She already had the week and I wanted to make sure it was OK with her.”
Funny thing, kismet. It was only four years ago when McMahon asked Pitts for his blessing to produce Snubfest, a four-day festival of sketch, improv and stand-up beginning Thursday at Chemically Imbalanced Theater. Now in its fourth year, the festival continues to grow, bringing in acts from all over the country. And even a few from outside the country (Toronto).
But the premise remains the same. Every act at Snubfest has been rejected by another festival within the last year. It’s a celebration of second chances. In fact, McMahon and Pitts are co-producing a show for Snubfest called “Second Chances,” made up of acts that didn’t get into Pitts’ festival. Now, Pitts says, they’re in the Chicago Improv Festival.
Sort of.
“Everyone’s been rejected,” says McMahon, a comic actor who co-founded Chemically Imbalanced Comedy with her husband, Tom. “But just because you didn’t get the job doesn’t mean you weren’t qualified.”
Snubfest has also become a proving ground for up-and-comers, thanks to “Last Snub Standing,” a contest held Friday for stand-ups and Saturday for sketch and improv groups. The contest’s benefit is two-fold. Not only are contestants vying for spots at other festivals, they also perform in front of booking agents and reps looking for the next big talent.
It’s where Bert Haas, executive vice president of Zanies Chicago, says he realized just how good local comic Nick Vanderott was. Vanderott had showcased at Zanies a couple of times, but Haas wasn’t wowed by the young comedian’s six-minute set.
But then Haas came in as one of the “celebrity judges” and watched Vanderott as he hosted the contest. With a little more time, Haas saw more of the comic’s shtick, and liked it. He started booking Vanderott, who is hosting the stand-up contest again this year.
“Most of the comedians I’ve already seen at one time or another,” says Haas. “But it gives me a chance to see them in a little different venue.”
Snubfest has grown to where organizers have to start turning away acts. McMahon sees the irony, but the rejection can’t be helped, she says. Too many performers, not enough slots.
“Some of it is choosing who gets 25 minutes and who gets into a showcase,” she says. “Some of it is that we found a really unique group.”
SnubfestWhere discarded comics get a second chance
When: 8 and 10 p.m., June 5-8
Where: Chemically Imbalanced Theater, 1420 W. Irving Park Rd., www.snubfest.com
Price: $10, 773-865-7731
Copyright © 2008, Chicago Tribune