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It's not to late for you to give to the American Red Cross. |
WE HAVE AWINNER!
Also, the next Improv Challenge will start on May 18, 2002, with eight new Challengers!
Watch for auditions in April!
...a new kind of competitive improv show.
Long Form, Short Form and Democracy
Saturdays at 10:30 p.m. through Oct. 20th at The Playground, Chicago
Who will survive? The Improv Challenge opened as a seven-person improv show featuring long-form montages of improvised sketches based on audience suggestions. At the end of the show, the audience voted one player out of the show. Every week another player will be eliminated until closing night, when the remaining players will improvise until the victor stands alone. Only by proving his or her skills will that player earn the prize -- respect from the improv community...and $100 cash.
Chicago crowds are the most improv-savvy audiences in the world, and The Improv Challenge is counting on their trained eyes to direct the outcome of the competition. Players will have to work to earn the love and respect of the audience, because at the end of each performance of The Improv Challenge, the audience will vote to determine who stays and who goes. The least popular performer will be voted off the stage, and out of the competition, leaving only the best "survivors" to return for your entertainment.
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The Improv Challenge |
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Meet the Challengers from the first Improv Challenge... |
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KAYCE ALLTOP -- Kayce is very excited is be taking the Improv Challenge. She completed Second City's Training Center and just started at the Conservatory. She was last seen on this very stage in Grounded Theatre's Justice Is Served. She also enjoys watching Comedy Central whenever possible while eating cheese and crackers on her couch. Thanks to all for the support, to meems for still paying for her cell phone and to all the CTA "L" drivers...God bless the "L" drivers. |
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HOMER MARRS -- Homer started improvising at Boston College with My Mother's Fleabag, a short-form troupe he later directed. He has trained at Second City and ImprovOlympic, where he performs with Local 914. Homer also understudies for GayCo Productions, holds a day job, drinks soy lattes, and reads Poetry, Spin, Poets and Writers, and Men's Fitness. In his heart is a dog with the brain of a cat who thinks it's a bird. |
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JILLIAN BLANFORD -- She earned her B.A. at Lewis University and currently studies Tai Chi and works at Starbucks. She's also is studying at ImprovOlympic, but the really cool thing is that she's played costume characters at Walt Disney World in Orlando, including Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. If that's not range, what is? Love to Jonah. |
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AARON MARSHALL -- Aaron has been performing around Chicago since 1997. You may have seen him at ImprovOlypmic in The Fandom Menace, at the Annoyance Theater, at Second City's Skybox, or here at the Playground. He was in the acclaimed Shadow of the Master Kung Fu musical at WNEP. Aaron also works with the sketch comedy group Karma. A big shout out to his wife Steph, his sister Kaye, and Karma. |
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GREGG HOLTSCLAW -- Gregg moved to Chicago in June 2001 to duck collection agencies. In Indiana he was a member of Comedysportz Indianapolis, Just Kiddin', and Pumpernickel. He is currently training at ImprovOlympic and Comedysportz. He is on the Playground incubator team Happy Couple, Burning Baby. He is loved and supported by 2 dogs, 3 cats, assorted malt liquors, and Elizabeth. He also loves his mommy. |
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LIZ MCDONALD -- A native of Springfield, Ill., Liz has trained and performed in Chicago for three years and is currently a member of the Playground group Mr. FancyPants. Liz speaks fluent Japanese, plays violin, and works in the corporate world. As a non-competitive person, Liz is nervous about the Improv Challenge but enjoys the cast and hopes sympathy votes will carry her for at least two weeks. |
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KATHERINE LEE -- Katherine received her B.S. (yes, a Bachelor of Science even though she majored in theater) at Northwestern University where she studied acting with David Downs. She received improv training at the Annoyance Theater and the Improv Olympic. Special thanks to her family for their faith, love, and generous support, without which none of this would be possible. |
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ALAN MONTAGUE -- Alan first learned how useful it could be to improvise when a fellow cast member froze on stage in a restoration comedy in London. Since then he has moved to America and studied at The Second City training center and ComedySportz University. As "the Davy Jones of the group," Alan says the Improv Challenge represents his first performance in the U.S. Thanks to Sarah for her constant love and support. Pip Pip! |
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...And your charming host, Mike Wylde! |
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Mike started doing improv two years ago with Low Sodium, performing at Stage Left Theater. After teaching high school English for the past five years, Mike became quite demented and has enjoyed suckling at the comic teat with you. With him as host, you become the students...so don't misbehave or Mr. Wylde shall discipline you. |
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SHOW DIARY
Sept. 15th, Week One
We donated $1 per ticket sold to the American Red Cross on opening night. We also raffled off some autographed Dr. Demento CDs and even got our players to donate during the show. In the end, we sent $160 to the Red Cross. We also had a whole lot of fun. The show got off to a great start with a packed house, thanks in part to the many fans and former classmates of Kayce and Jillian, some of whom came from as far away as area code 815 to cheer for their challengers. Alan did a good job of stacking the crowd as well, with Union Jack-waving fans supporting his efforts. In the first montage, Gregg introduced the topic of flirting via pudding...an idea he later thought would be too weird, but which was picked up and expanded on by Katherine, Homer and the rest of the girls in scenes where chocolate mousse emerged as the new way to say "I love you." Halfway through the show, Mike found out just how many fans Aaron had in the audience when he inadvertently skipped Aaron during the mid-show interviews. The Challenge Game for the first week was "Conducted Story," and after a tight end-game, Jillian made the fatal verbal stumble that gave Gregg the Immunity Pin for the show. With nothing to lose in the second montage, Gregg fulfilled his mid-show promise of getting in at least one "coquettish" character. Voting someone out was particularly difficult as all the challengers were in top form, but a vote by applause and then a show of hands narrowed the choice down to Katherine, who gracefully accepted the results by thanking the audience amid thunderous applause, and graciously receiving a bouquet of red rosebuds from an admirer.
What about Liz? Well, her company sent her out of town at the last minute so she missed opening night, but now she's back and ready to take on the Challenge starting this Saturday. And she'll be really warmed up, because her troupe Mr. Fancypants is doing the 8 p.m. show at the Playground! Also starting this Saturday, all voting will be done on paper. After Katherine's dramatic elimination, there was outcry for a more democratic method of voting. After all, this is America, goshdarnit. So look for ballot slips in your programs at the next show. We'll collect the ballots at the end and count the results fairly and squarely. As for Katherine...well, to try and make it up to her, we're having her host the show on Sept. 29th. In the meantime, make your reservations now and be sure not to miss the next exciting round!
Sept. 22th, Week Two
Liz came back with a vengeance! Despite missing Week One she jumped in the game and demonstrated what makes her a Challenger. But enough about that. Let's talk about something different...the Challenger Wives. Three of the four guys in the Challenge are married, and the unfailing support of their spouses has helped the show enormously. Gregg's better half, Elizabeth, was invaluable at this week's show. She helped Katherine hand out magic markers and collect those tiny little ballot slips...a pretty amazing task considering the house was so packed you could hardly walk from one end to the other. We hope she'll be back...hint hint. And while Aaron's wife, Stephanie, couldn't be there this week, her support was evident. Stephanie is one of the keyboardists for ComedySportz, so Aaron has probably seen a lot more ComedySportz competitions than the average bear. That exposure no doubt helped him find the most amazing rhymes in this week's challenge, the Limerick Game. Two syllables, three syllables...the man can do it all, and it won him the Immunity Pin. Maybe he was also inspired by his sister Kaye, whose smiling 21st-birthday face was gleaming in the front row. Of course, Alan's wife Sarah was also in the front row lending her own raucous support. He was doing a great job with the limericks until Mike accepted the suggestion of "orange" for a new rhyme. Too bad...immunity would have been useful for Alan this week.
Speaking of weird suggestions...what the heck are Jimmy Chews? Someone gave that as a suggestion to start the second montage, and even though you could see the question marks floating cartoon-like over all the players' heads, they ran with it. Aaron's Jimmy Chew monologue turned into a father-son moment when Gregg entered to present the heirloom Jimmy Chews, then a family affair when Kayce ran in as mom to photograph the moment.
Last week, Kayce did a turn as the Voice of God in the first montage, but this week, Homer turned the tables on her. While Kayce chatted with the Almighty, Jill squirmed and waited for a drink that Kayce never made...being distracted by the Word of the Lord and all.
But in the end, the Word of the Audience ruled the night, and lo the Audience did say that Alan would not be back next week. But Sarah's still invited.
This just in...Katherine informs us that "Jimmy Choos are mega-expensive shoes that foot fetishists like myself drool over." She adds, "They're totally hot, sexy, CFM shoes ranging in price from $400 and up." CFM shoes? What could that possible stand for? Perhaps...Come Fetch Me?
Sept. 29th, Week Three
So here we are, halfway through the shows, halfway done with the competition. Does that mean the excitement is half over too? Not at all! The excitement grows every week! Just look at all the folks who came to see the Improv Challenge on the night of the season premiere "Saturday Night Live." Statistics say that only one in ten of us knows how to program a VCR...so thanks to all you truly dedicated fans!
What drives the Improv Challenge? Let's look at the suggestions. They kindle the creative fire, and improv fans the flame. This week's luxury items were "things you'd find in a supermarket." The audience suggested sushi, a hypodermic needle, doughnuts, Red Baron pizza, marshmallows and Grey Poupon. Harmless by themselves, but what happens when we give them to the Challengers?
Jill turned wadded up marshmallows into a weapon, and later into an element of that classic game, "Fuzzy Duck." Gregg became the belligerent "Hypodermic Joe." Kayce begged Aaron to give her a Grey Poupon tattoo. That scene turned into a tirade against Taco Bell. For some reason, Homer took issue with the anti-Taco Bell sentiment, so Kayce, Aaron and Liz spontaneously repeated the scene but with a pro-Taco Bell stance. The supermarket theme rounded out the show in a closing scene where three people locked in a walk-in freezer enjoyed frozen pizza.
This week's Challenge Game was the classic warm-up exercise, "What Are You Doing?" As guest host, Katherine raised the stakes by forcing the players to use only words with specific initials. When the initials were D and M, Kayce lobbed a couple wild ones at Aaron, who had to pretend to be "Doinking Men" and then "Douching Moths." Hey, Aaron...wasn't that your mom in the front row? The pressure must have gotten to him, because in the end, Gregg won Immunity for the week, reclaiming the pin he won in the first week but lost to Liz last week.
Homer had the comeback of the night during a scene in which he chastised Kayce for not being the same woman he married. Kayce said that if a Barbie doll were a real person with her proportions, she'd have to walk on all fours. Homer's comeback: "If Barbie were a real person, she'd be on her back most of the time anyway."
Liz scored the first big laugh of the night. Homer had set a scene by eerily invoking the spirits of the North, the South, the South West, the South-East-West, and so on. Liz entered, noted the circle of prayer, and said "Gee, it's been a long time since I've been to mass." Homer played it back, introducing two impish minions who used to be altar children.
Well, next week, Liz will be able to catch the Saturday night mass at the church of her choice...since was voted out this week.
If you haven't made your reservations yet, email now!
Oct. 5th, Week Four: Five players.
It's October. The days are getting shorter...and so is our list of Challengers! Even though it was the plan all along, it's still hard to watch each week take another player away from us. Because, competition or not, this is a darn fine bunch of improvisers. In fact, they all deserve prizes...not just the $100 cash prize that one of them will get on the last night. Here are the awards they would have won for tonight's show.
Best Impression of a Radio News Anchor: Homer, with his hand over his ear. Too bad he was playing a TV news anchor.
Best Non-Human Character: Gregg, for portraying an asthma attack that took Aaron out after he puffed on an illicit cigar.
Best Offstage Voice: Kayce, as Jill's conscience while she convinced Aaron to puff on that illicit cigar.
Best Singing Waitress: Jill, who made everyone sing after she explained that everyone sings at this singing restaurant.
Best Chair: Aaron, who almost grabbed a stool for Gregg to sit on, but at the last second, became the chair himself.
Best Bookends: Aaron and Gregg, both redheads with glasses, who mirrored each other's snooty characters perfectly in a scene where they tortured their poor secretary, Jill.
Best Joke about the Bookends: Kayce, who, when asked by Jill whether it was Aaron or Gregg she had been on a date with, answered "The redhead with the glasses."
Best Reason for a Hunger Strike: Homer, who was holding out til they changed the toner in his laser printer.
Best Cross: Jill, who entered clapping after it had been clearly established that today was whistling day. She quickly whistled out.
Best Slow-Motion Fight: Aaron and Gregg, who completely stole focus in the silent part of a split scene.
Best Pimp: Homer, who introduced Aaron as the Weather Bunny who would give the weather in mime.
Best Taking of a Pimp: Aaron the Weather Bunny... "Tomorrow will be windy with scattered interpretive dance."
Best Bit That Could Only Work When You're Miming all your Props: Gregg, as a waiter, who poured water for Aaron and Kayce, then said "Damn, I forgot the glasses."
Best Response to a Cell Phone Ringing in the Audience: Aaron. Gregg hands Aaron a flashlight. Some guy's phone rings. Aaron inspects the flashlight and says "Oh good! The soundy flashlight!"
Grodiest Monologue: Kayce, after winning immunity, talking about a bunch of phlegm she swept under her bed, and which proceeded to grow and talk to her.
Best Butt-Saving: Gregg. First Aaron called him Joseph, then later in the same scene called him Jonathan. Gregg quickly chided Aaron for calling him Jonathan in public, since that was obviously Joseph's private name.
Best Sport: Alan, who was voted out two weeks ago but still joined us for Freeze Tag.
And finally...Best Poetry: Homer, who gracefully read verse after being voted out at the end of the show. Pity because he just got his new headshot to us this week. There there, Homer.
Remember kids, we've sold out every week so far, so make your reservations now!
Oct. 13th, Week Five: Four players.
Ah, the fantastical, fanciful flights of improv. When players free their minds and commit themselves to the moment, there's no end to their invention of the world around them. The empty Playground stage becomes a forest, a bedroom, a freezer, a library. The space is populated by trees, ducks, babies, beerwolves. Pretty wild stuff.
But are the Improv Challenge players really pushing the limits of reality?
Consider this week's show. Aaron's luxury item was a mastodon. He justified owning a mastodon by saying he'd bid for it on eBay. Bizarre? Not really. There are usually several different mastodon items on eBay. And modern education being what it is, there are even more items listed under mastadon. In fact, there's a whole website dedicated to selling fossils online. Check out this mamooth tusk. Yes, they spelled it "mamooth," not "mammoth." It's a British web site...maybe Alan could explain it to us.
For reasons too strange to explain here, Jillian told the audience that she has a terrible fear of dogs and deer. Okay, a lot of people are scared of dogs. But deer? Who's afraid of Bambi? In several scenes, the other players forced her to confront her fears. According to http://phobialist.com/, there is no specific deer phobia. However, Jill may be suffering from agrizoophobia (the fear of wild animals). She might also consider cynophobia (fear of dogs or rabies), and doraphobia (fear of fur or skins of animals). Oddly, there are documented fears of otters (lutraphobia), toads (bufonophobia), and bulls (taurophobia). Jill will just have to wait for medical science to catch up with her.
Jill also did a scene where she presented her husband with a gift-wrapped box...surprise, it's a baby! Shocking? People actually put babies in all kinds of weird containers. At least for photos. Check out some of these freakish images.
Speaking of gifts, Jill later presented Kayce with the gift of a tire iron. Gregg was quick to point that tire irons are useful for more than just changing tires. Maybe he knew about the online art gallery review magazine, Tire Iron. We've all seen tire irons used as weapons in the movies, but here's a story of a man who's life was saved by a tire iron. And you know there's an embroidery pattern called tire iron?
Kayce's luxury item at the top of the show was a souvenir mug from a museum. This suggestion inspired a monologue about how she needs to drink vodka to get through a museum. Looks like she's in good company.
For this week's Immunity Game, each player named a favorite (or at least most-tolerated) game from the previous weeks. Aaron's choice was the Limerick Game, and the audience agreed to torture the Challengers by making them do limericks with only four people. Aaron's choice won him immunity, but only after a round of staggeringly bad rhymes from everyone. As he put on the pin, Aaron remarked, "No one really deserved this." Not sure if he was talking about the pin or the pain the audience had just endured. At least they got to enjoy the spectacle of Jillian jumping for joy after she rhymed "reboot" with "troubleshoot."
Liz, Alan and Homer were all in the audience for this penultimate show, and they all agreed the show rocked. Indeed, everyone did an awesome job. But in the eyes of the audience, Kayce apparently rocked a tiny bit less, because she was voted off in the end.
So next week, week six, the final week, will feature Jillian, Aaron, and Gregg in competition for the $100 cash prize.
Hey, people have already started making reservations. What are you waiting for?
Oct. 20th, Week Six: Three players.
You really should have been there. Not only was the winner crowned, but we enjoyed a special appearance by Tim Kazurinsky. Tim, the ultimate good sport, played Freeze Tag with the Challengers and personally handed the $100 cash prize to the winner. He's the greatest. Now, every week so far you've been treated to an insightful but one-sided view of the action. So for an inside look at the final show, here are the words of some of the players themselves.
Alan: It may have been the Romans who really went for the concept of gladiators but on Saturday night Gladiatorial conflict went to Greece. Host Mike's request for luxury items you might find in Greece (or did he mean "grease") yielded a Gold Plated Brassiere (which Mike heard as a Gold Plated Perseus) a Taco and a Ruin. What then followed was an hour that must have rivaled the finest of arena fights at the coliseum. The first set had Aaron taxing everything found in HIS ruin, from Jill's dug up Taco (tax rate: one nibble) to Gregg's golden statue (tax rate: the left foot from just below the knee). Instead of an immunity game this week, the ex-cast members who had been voted off in previous weeks returned to the stage and shared with Mike and the audience their views and inside tips on what was going on. This included Homer's tale of being poisoned by a certain challenger who works at Starbucks, who served him a full milk "not even skimmed" latté even though they "knew full well I am Lactose intolerant." The second half included some excellent break-dance pimping by both the Bookends, followed by Gregg's monologue apology for portraying a stereotype even though he was not "urban" himself. And then as the votes were being counted, all eight challengers along with our host, were reunited on stage for a final game of Freeze-Tag joined by a surprise guest player...Tim Kazurinsky. The winner? The audience.
Aaron: I was being sucked into the so-called sofa in the dank basement of The Playground Theater as I talked with Jill and Gregg about how we were feeling about our task at hand. We spoke about our mutual lack of sleep, upset stomachs and various other gastro-intestinal problems. Overhead we could barely hear the house music playing over the dull roar of footsteps from the crowd as they took their seats. Holy cow, 62 reservations plus walk-ins! Amanda called places, the lights went up and suddenly we knew everything was going to be okay. Hopefully you saw the show because improv is a had to be then type of thing and loses something in translation, kind of like a Xerox copy of a donut: you can't really enjoy it. Here is my brief facsimile of the show.
The King taxed a taco found in his ruins then got a piece of a statue. There was also something about people eating macaroni in cardboard boxes. Break-dancing, seaplanes and dismembering members. I think unemployment was touched on. Fishing. Did I mention Tubercular Al yet? Climbing Doric (or maybe it was ionic) columns. Past cast members dished the dirt and we all learned that shrapnel in your back gives you purpose. Oh yeah, Tim Kazurinsky showed up and played freeze tag with us.
Everyone in the cast was concerned about our first show opening the Saturday after Sept. 11th. None of us could have predicted the fantastic reception we received that continued throughout the run (even with a shrinking ensemble) and grew into the frenzy that was week six. At this point I want to thank everyone who supported the show, and kept coming back, we couldn't do it without you! Big props to all the other cast members. A shout out to Mike for a fantastic job as host. Thanks to Tim for all the kind words about the show. Last but not least enormous thanks to Amanda for letting me be in the show and congrats on a hugely successful run.
*Warning! The following paragraph is so sweet and sappy that it my cause the reader to experience high blood sugar and become light-headed.* I was honored to take part in this show, and grew as a performer as a result of it. Having Tim Kazurinsky take part was the icing on our cake that we got to have and eat too. The afterglow of this show will be something I will always carry with me, like a lighthouse in my soul. The Improv Challenge was supposedly a competition, with winners and losers. One person may have walked away with the prize money, but just like the Special Olympics, we were all winners.
Liz: I understand now that an enormous conspiracy was put in place to keep me from being one of the finalists. The finalists had a special bond that made them untouchable in our group. You'll notice that each of them has a double letter in their names. I'm not bitter, no not at all. In fact, I'm hopeful of winning the next time around. I remain your obedient servant, Lizz.
Kayce: Highlights of Saturday October 20th 2001: Went to work. Left work a little richer and a lot older. Went to dinner at Caeser's with my parents and a friend. Ate a chicken burrito. Rode in Mom's new car. Had dinner again with some funny people at the Pick Me Up Cafe. Ate Hummus. Went to bar. Met lots of people. Drank Vodka Tonics. Went home. That's about it...That's my day...Wait...I think I'm forgetting something..... Huh...
Oh yeah, I watched some awesome improv and got to participate in some fun scenes with some talented performers for a house full of people. Yeah, that's it.
Homer: The Final Week started off with a bang! I was late arriving and Amanda practically clocked me in the head. I was lucky enough to have a British friend give up a seat in the front row for me. I told him this was nice, but I'd much rather he convince his people to give up Northern Ireland than a measly seat at the Playground. Then I got clocked in the head again.
The cast was on from the beginning. That is to say they were on something. Probably the respective drugs for each person: Jill, caffeine from her day job at the coffeehouse; Aaron, assorted pain killers which were legitimately prescribed at some point in his life; Gregg, wheat germ. You've gotta watch out for those vegans, they're crazy.
The tension coming from the stage was so think you could cut it with a chainsaw. I thought Aaron was going to start crying at one point, but it wasn't until Gregg screamed "I can't take it anymore! I'll never be as cute as you" to Jill that I knew something was amiss. Kate and I had a good laugh over that one. Then the scenes got dull for a spell so we asked Alan to use more cockney colloquialisms and laughed at those.
It was around that time that two small German children--a boy and a girl--came into the theatre as though on a trail dropping stones behind them. They left, then returned twenty minutes later picking up the stones one by one on their way back, as though the stones were leading them home. Then ten minutes later, the same German children--who may very well have been brother and sister--came back into the theatre, this time dropping breadcrumbs in their wake. After they exited, a small flock of birds flew in and ate all the breadcrumbs, not knowing why they were left on the ground or by whom. We never saw the children again. I hope they're okay.
Upon awaking I realized it was time to play Freeze Tag. First, I voted for one of the three challengers. They were all great and it was such a difficult decision to make. As with all difficult decisions, I closed my eyes and divined the answer, allowing holy forces to guide my pencil. Accidentally circling the name of the show, I erased my mistake, picked an actor, and hopped on stage. We had a great time performing with our special guest: that guy who was on that TV show and then in those movies as that one guy back when we were kids. He was really sweet
And finally, a word from the player voted as the winner of the very first Improv Challenge...Gregg Holtzclaw.
Gregg: Six weeks. It is amazing that the entire run of the improv challenge only took six weeks. During the run, and even looking back, it felt electric. The energy crackled off the stage and good improv was had. However, the part that was so damned exciting to me was the instant the lights darkened and the buzz of the audience stopped. When the music kicked in and the lights came up, I felt I was part of something special. The improv challenge wasn't my first show in Chicago, but it felt like the moment when I actually began performing here. I look at improv challenge as a moment that helped define me, and from the audience response they must have felt a bit like that as well. People continually remind me of their favorite moments over the six weeks, and bring up things that people did. From the characters to the dialogue to the exit monologues...people were watching and enjoying. And I guess that is all you can ask for. So thanks.
Produced by Fine Point Productions
