What Improv Textbooks Won't Tell You
Occasionally, people talk to me. Some of those people like to ask my opinion about Chicago improv and where the best places are to learn improv in the city.
Fortunately, I have had the pleasure of graduating from The Second City Conservatory, iO , Annoyance, ComedySportz, and I currently teach at pH Comedy Theater.
All of these theaters helped shape my approach and love of improv. Long, Short, Mid, Meta, Musical: however you form it, I dig doing improv.
Plus, every training center in town is an excellent place to network with some of the most kind, caring, and talented people in the world. Thus, you build life-long friendships, business partnerships, and sometimes loveships (not for me though, I am too much of a steamroller).
Unfortunately, these answers do not please the askers. They press on, they want to know IN WHAT ORDER should one take the different training centers, hoping to invest wisely in the magic combination.
There is no magic combination, or correct order to your training in Chicago. Most people moving to Chicago are so concerned with this order that they forget the most important step on the journey. This step also isn't found in any textbook about improv, or on any forum.
THE FIRST STEP FOR LEARNING IMPROV IN CHICAGO IS: BUY SNOW BOOTS.
Not just any run of the mill Payless Shoe Carnival knock off brand; I am talking about investing in Columbia brand Bugaboots: Water-proof leather, omni-grip soles, and omni-heat insulation to keep your feet warm in -65 degrees!
Water-proof leather to keep your feet dry. High ankle support to plow through feet of snow. Omni-grip soles to keep you from falling on the El platform. Omni-heat insulation up to -65 degrees for that Antarctic Improv Fest.
Boots like this demand respect and exude professionalism. They show your peers you aren't into excuses or tired conversations about the weather. You are just into rocking it out on stage with equally-motivated people.
For those who are planning a move to Chicago, you are going to love it here. Relax and you will find your own comedic path ,and that path will be alot easier to trek with snow boots.
Bundle up, and then you'll have something to say.
