After a fun filled Snubfest weekend CIC’s Artistic Associates Brian Kash and Chris Froseth better known as BC or “The Last Snob Standing” is in a contest for Freecreditscore.com. If you could take a second to vote for them. They don’t ask for any information just a click of the mouse.
Vote here:
Snubfest starts tomorrow!
Hosts Black Irish (Marz Timms and Tom McMahon) lead a “Who’s Who” of snubbed improv groups from Chicago and Austin, TX, including:
– Boyfriend/Girlfriend
– Boner Petite
– Mason & Mason
– A Dozen Red Roses
– Unfurled
The show starts at 8 pm. Join us for improv and craft beer from Metropolitan Brewing Company!
Tickets are available at www.brownpapertickets.com.
We had an Ebay auction to name our pony. The winner has decided the name of our pony will be….
Kyle Bethea
Thanks everyone who made a bid. The money will help toward our expansion.
You can still make a pledge to our expansion for as low as $10. We have 8 days left to reach our goal of $5,000 on our kickstarter. We are $2,000 away from our goal. Every little bit helps. Thanks CIC
Pledge here:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cicomedy/chemically-imbalanced-comedy
Loyal CIC fans, company members, and blog readers may remember this little gem:
watch?v=aoRFkJJATu8
Months ago we set out on a mission to get Conan an award for enduring such a snub and having the presentation of the award coincide with Snubfest. Our goal was to get him to judge, just because we love him and we wanted him to know. Plus, how cool would that be? We tried every Chicago connection to Consie we had. Everyone was as helpful as possible, but this was the most feedback we received: “I’m sure if Conan were going to be in Chicago during your festival, he would love to accept the award. But I don’t know what his schedule will be.” Leaving us to ponder…”Wait…schedule?”
Lo and behold, Conan announced his Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television tour several weeks later. We booked the final two tickets for the last Chicago show (probably) and then we said, “I guess we should think about making an actual award now.”
Thanks to Nathan Petts and Cynthia Shur, we had this beauty: 
A beautiful, golden, Snubfest statuette. Accompanying the statuette was a certificate of appreciation and an explanation of the thing so Conan wouldn’t think we were just flipping him off.
(Side note: This thing was in my possession for several days before the show. I was carrying it back to my car on Monday night when I was stopped by a cop writing a ticket. “Is this your car?” he asked. “Nope, ” I said, as I slyly flashed the award. I strategically placed it in my window each morning before work. Something for the neighbors as, it truly was, a glory to behold.)
I was sure security would take it from me when they checked my bag, but the guy at the door seemed to have little issue with it. He even fondled it. Good stuff.
We walked to our seats, which were ridiculous. Please look: 
As I said to Lina in a text message upon entering the theater, “Shut the fuck up at how close we are!”
The Coco fans were out and proud and there were no less than six opportunities for us to grab his attention with the award. All of which were missed by mere nanoseconds. Angie even came across his executive producer by the stage door. Andy Richter panned the crowd with a camera for Conan groupies and put them on the big screen.
Angie was equipped with my digital camera because I knew, if he saw the thing, he’d comment on it.
The dream: Conan sees the statue. “Are you flipping me off?”
“No.”
“What the hell is that thing? Get up here”
I go onstage and am asked to read the explanation of the award. My friends in the balcony piss themselves, I faint, then piss myself, Conan carries me gingerly (pun intended) back to my seat and thanks Angie for the award and promises to follow CIC on twitter. I see all of the video footage once I come around.
The first version of the dream did not happen.
Conan did an encore and it was glorious.
Our keen and perceptive eyes caught a security guard jump down from the stage. He stood in the aisle, not a foot from me. Angie says, “Why’s the security guard standing there?”
My response: “Exactly what I was thinking.”
This was our moment.
Conan walked down the stairs towards the aisle. My heart was pounding out of my chest. If you don’t understand my love and adoration for this man, I will have to explain later. Just to let you know, it’s somewhat ridiculous. He was coming towards me, holding his guitar. I held out the award and the only word I could think of at the time was “Conan!” (Idiot.)
He looked down for a brief moment and there was a look on his face of “What? Are you flipping me off?” Then his expression lightened. He touched the bottom of the award, but was high fiving so many people up the aisle, that he didn’t have a second to grab it. If I’d known it was going to be that type of a situation, I would have offered my own hand instead. Nevertheless, he took off towards the balcony and gave out hugs like a maniac, pleasing the screaming fans. Then he came back down a different aisle, took the stage, which was rushed by me and other screaming chicks.
A security guard tried to push me back. I said, “I don’t want to go onstage. I just want to give him this!”
“No.”
“Will you please give this to him?”
“No!”
Show over. Dream #1…didn’t come true.
At the stage door, I was in a prime spot for a photo-op if he chose to come out for a meet and greet. Angie’s keen eyes landed on someone with a laminate. She starting talking with him while I waited. She called me over because he was actually someone important. My spot in the front was filled by other fans. It was worth the sacrifice.
The man Angie had met was friends with the executive producer that she’d seen pacing by the stage door before she show. He told us that Conan was exactly what you would expect him to be and that he would help us get the award to Jeff, the exec pro. If that didn’t work, this lovely man was going to personally see to it that Conan received it later. We exchanged contact info. He was amazing. He took off backstage to see if he could find his friend.
Dream #2– This lovely man comes back to us and says, “I’ve told Jeff and Conan about the award. Conan would like to meet you both. Please follow me backstage.”
Fifteen minutes later, he came out and said, “Where are my girls?”
Angie and I perked up immediately. He walked over and said, “Let me see this thing. He’s getting it right now!”
He rushed through the crowd with our award in hand. Meanwhile, La Bamba came out for autographs:
I thought there was no way Conan would approach this crowd. They were pretty tame for the moment, but I was sure his presence would send them into a frenzy. All we needed was confirmation he received the award.
Ten minutes later, our new friend came by to tell us he got it and he loved it. Great, so let’s leave…right?
Wrong. Conan O’Brien, at least while in Chicago, does post-show meet and greets. We were too far back to get anything signed but check it:
Dream #3- Conan tweets about his prestigious award. Fingers crossed.
I’m seeing him again in Atlanta. It’s the final night of the tour. Rest assured, I will be front and center for that meet and greet and I will mention CIC’s tribute to him. Keep the dream alive, folks!
*~*Casey
Here is what the new Goldstar.com reviews are about the show:
Loved it! Great writing, props, acting and storytelling. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a show in a nice intimate theater.- 4 starts gilli999
Great acting, funny script, good direction with large cast.
I would recommend going with friend for some good laughs. -3 stars Kevin Zematis
I had put a lot of thought into our recent “asking of monies” to expand our space. I wanted to share some facts with you as to why this is important for us.
1. We run, and have run, for the past 10 years on no debt. We have no loans, credit cards, or debt to speak of. We had decided in the start that if we couldn’t afford something we wouldn’t get it. Why is this a problem now? Well our current savings will most likely not cover all our costs, or leave us with very little to operate with. And because our buisness has no credit (and hasn’t had any for 10 years) we are finding it harder to get these kinds of small buisness loans now.
2. We don’t pay anyone. Well we do pay small amounts to designers for shows (mostly $100-$150 per project) for set designers, light desingers, sound designers, costumers, and stage managers. We have paid actors up to $10 per show depending on the project. We also have a daytime staff that works in the office and gets paid between them less than $1000 per month no matter the hours put in (split 2 ways)
The rest of our performers, box office, and staff do this out of the goodness of their hearts for the love of the company. It is our hope with the added income of more chairs and drink sales we will be able to start to pay more of our staff, and dare I say a living wage.
3. We keep our ticket prices low. We do this cause we want everyone to be able to see Theater and not break the bank. If we wanted to actually cover the costs of putting up productions, and paying folks we would have to charge much higher prices then $10-$20 tickets ($20 is the highest we have ever charged it it is very unusual for us to go that high)
So we ask you as artists who have performed with us, neighbors who have supported us, and audience members who have seen our work…do you feel we are worthy of your donation?
We have many programs we want to offer and don’t have the resources to do now (for instance we would like to offer classes for children and teens, free neighborhood appreciation nights, continued education workshops for our staff in audience development, pr, board building, grant writing, etc)
Don’t get me wrong, we are lucky to have such a wonderful space to perform in. And have been blessed that we have been able to save any money in this tough time. We know lots of hands are being held out these days asking for support for many worthy causes. We know times are tough and asking for support so we can create paying positions and free programs may not feel as worthy. (Am I talking you out of this now?)
We do appreciate all the support that has been given us through out these past 10 years. We could not survive without you. Please consider supporting our expansion effort.
Thanks Angie McMahon, founder CIC.
Chemically Imbalanced Comedy, a 10 year old Not For Profit Theater located in the heart of Chicago’s Wrigleyville Neighborhood, is auctioning off naming rights of our pony.
This hand crafted set piece designed by Nick Quinn graced our stage during our production of Texas Sheen in the fall of 2009. Currently we are doing an expansion project to gain the empty store front next to us and turn it into a bar/lobby space for our 50 seat Theater. This fantastic set piece will be on decorative display in our new lobby space.
You can name our pony whatever you like, and a plaque of the name you choose will be displayed with it.
All proceeds from the auction will benefit Chemically Imbalanced Comedy, a Not For Profit organization
The Bidding is through EBAY and only last 10 days
Bid here:
HERE
Here is a video tour of the new space CIC is currently raising funds for to expand into a bar lobby
Only 19 days left to pledge in our kickstarter, you can pledge as little as $10. Its all or nothing. Thanks for the support.
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.
Site last updated December 19, 2011 @ 4:27 pm