Chemically Imbalanced Comedy's Blog

One of our newest sponsored Improv groups has some new video on the web. Take a peek and get to know A Dozen Red Roses:

We have 25 days left on our Kickstarter project to help raise funds for our expansion project. Maybe you can pledge right now cause times are tough…but maybe you could help spread the word. (Facebook and Twitter goes a long way!) Thanks for all the support to help us grow.

Thats right the Chicago Theater softball games start today and at 5:20 CIC will take on our first victim Strawdog Theatre Company. Sure they can win awards and get great press, but can then play 16 inch? It will be a hard battle but come on out to Clarendon Park at 5:20 to find out who will win and who will just go back to a their Theater and perform later that night.

Two weeks ago CIC hosted one of the Chicago Improv Festival stages. TimeOut Chicago stopped by on Friday night and had this to say:

Fart City, who played Friday night at Chemically Imbalanced, also did a fine job creating artful, rapid-fire scenes that included an ambiguous picnic and a musical about trigonometry among others. I did feel like several of the players dominated but I was impressed enough to want to see them again. They opened for Toronto’s 2-Man No-Show, one of my favorite groups to perform at the Fest. Ken Hall and Isaac Kessler ran around the tiny stage at Chemically Imbalanced creating madcap scenes that included imagining composer Phillip Glass as a boxer and Ronald McDonald as a murderer. Their acting was physical and first-class, their object work immense and their plot lines outrageous. My favorite moment was the opening scene between a highway patrol officer with a glass eye and snarky guy he pulls over. It was great improv.

Read more

This is the only comedy festival that gives a second chance to overlooked performers. This year’s Snubfest line-up features Improvisation, Sketch, Stand Up, and for the first time Comedic Music. At each night’s “The Last Snob Standing” contest, performers compete to appear at festivals and on stages around the country. A judges panel of industry professionals will be on hand to dish out comments and prizes.

2010 Snubfest Festival Schedule:

Thursday, June 3 @ 8:00pm
The Last Snob Standing Contest: Improvisation

Host: Black Irish- (2009 Last Snob Standing Winners)

Featuring:
Boyfriend/Girlfriend – Chicago
Boner Petite – Chicago
Mason & Mason – Chicago
A Dozen Red Roses – Chicago
Unfurled – Austin, Texas

Judges:
Jason Brett (Producer of the film About Last Night)
Jonathan Pitts (Chicago Improv Festival)
Lillian Frances (Laugh Out Loud Theater)

Friday, June 4 @ 8:00pm
Comedy Showcase

Featuring:
Camp Woods-Philly-(Sketch)
Unfurled-(Improvisation) Austin
Quixotic (Sketch)- Chicago

Friday, June 4 @ 10:00pm
The Last Snob Standing Contest: Stand-Up
Host: Danny Kallas (2009 Last Snob Standing Winner)

Featuring:
Kris Shaw -Indiana
Drew Frees – Chicago
Will Miles – Chicago
Nick Dopuch – Chicago
Sarah Blodgett – Boston
Gene Renfroe – Oak Park
Dave Drake – Chicago
Michal Sanchez – Chicago
Katie Hughes – North Carolina
Aaron Foster – Chicago
Jacob Willams – Louisville, Kentucky
Marz Timms – Chicago
Charlie Gadd – Chicago

Judges:
Cyndi Nelson, Pheasant Run/Zanies
Linda O’Connell The Improv Chicago
Kyle Lane Red Bar Radio

Saturday June 5 @ 8:00 PM
Comedy Showcase

Featuring:
Secret Pants (Sketch) – Philadelphia
Inside Joke Films (Sketch) – Rutherford, NJ
Think Pound (Sketch) – NYC

Saturday, June 5 @ 10:00pm
The Last Snob Standing Contest: Sketch

Judges:
Susan Messing (Annoyance/IO)
Matt Kemple (Milwaukee Comedy Festival)
Jason Heidemann(TimeOut Chicago Comedy Editor)
Host: Seth Williams
Featuring:
Think Pound (Sketch) – NYC
Camp Woods – (Sketch) – Philly
Inside Joke Films (Sketch) – Rutherford, NJ
Quixotic (Sketch) – Chicago
Secret Pants (Sketch) – Philadelphia

Sunday June 6 @ 8:00pm
The Last Snob Standing Contest: Battle of the Comedy Rock Bands

Judges:
Swizzle Steve (Goose Island Talent Booker)
Mission Improvable (Westside Comedy Theatre)
TBA

Host: Last Snob Standing 2010 Stand-Up Winner

Featuring:
Matt Griffo (Music) – Chicago
Keith & Tinz (Music) – Chicago
Mike and Duane (Music) – Chicago
Chelsea Devantez (Music) – Chicago
BC (Music) – Chicago
Lola Balatro (Music) – Chicago

Prizes for Last Snob Standing will include performance slots in Hawaii Festival of Improv, Twin Cities Improv Festival, Laugh Out Loud Theater in Schaumburg, Philly Sketch Festival, Milwaukee Comedy Festival, The Improv in Schaumburg, Red Bar Radio Show, and Westside Comedy Theater in L.A. The Music winner will get a one-year subscription to Sonicbids.com

Tonight CPL finished up its run at CIC at 8pm. Check out this video of a recent performance at the I3 Festival in North Carolina.

Counter-Productive Lover – i3 Festival from Peter Robards on Vimeo.

Chemically Imbalanced Comedy is hoping to expand our Theater space. So we are raffling off a pair of 3 day passes to this years Lollapalooza. Only 600 tickets will be sold. 1-300 will win. Drawing live July 10, 2010 at 10:30pm (no need to be present to win)

Raffle Tickets are $10 each

Buy NOW through paypal

Click on the Logo to enter

We have 35 days left in our Kickstarter campaign to help renovate our space. Here is what John Scott of Florida commented on our page:

If they have the skill to pull off this video in one take, you KNOW they have the planning genius do a little expansion project!

Thanks John!

More about Kickstarter;
All-or-nothing funding?
Every Kickstarter project must be fully funded before its time expires or no money changes hands.

Why?

It’s less risk for everyone. If you need $5,000, it’s tough having $2,000 and a bunch of people expecting you to complete a $5,000 project.

It allows people to test concepts (or conditionally sell stuff) without risk. If you don’t receive the support you want, you’re not compelled to follow through. This is huge!

It motivates. If people want to see a project come to life, they’re going to spread the word.

You can find our Kickstarter here:

…the script by Chris Tawfik and Anthony Ellison provides enough fun moments (occasionally pushed to laugh-out-loud funny by the comedically adept cast) to propel it through its full ninety minutes. As a tip to finding a deeper appreciation for the show’s sillier side, it doesn’t hurt that Chemically Imbalanced Comedy is BYOB. (Zach Freeman

Read the whole review here

This week is the Chicago Improv Festival and CIC’s house troupe 96D will headline on Sat. Here is what festival producer Jonathan Pitts had to say about the troupe:

I saw 96D perform at the Improvaganza in Honolulu and they were everything you’d want an improv group from Chicago to be: Confident, smart, tight and good at all aspects of their game. Sometimes you have to go away to find out what you have in your own backyard, so you can either take a plane to Honolulu to catch 96D at Improvaganza or you can grab the Irving Park bus to see them rock their home theater during CIF. – JP