By Laura MayerPLAY Writer
Get ready to laugh, because the Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival is back in town. Previously called the Chicago Sketchfest, the festival started in 2001 as a small event but is now one of the largest sketch comedy festivals in the world.
Brian Posen, a festival producer and a Chicago comedy veteran, created the event to create a community experience “allowing sketch comedy artists to network, collaborate and celebrate,” he says.
Running for 11 days, the fest boasts almost 100 troupes, all free and open to the public.
While simultaneously expanding the number of troupes and shortening the length of the festival, this year’s festival features events such as OctaSketch, incorporating and honoring four of Chicago’s major sketch and improv forces – Second City, iO, Annoyance and Comedy Sportz.
Jill Valentine, an executive director of this year’s festival and member of the duo Hot Toddler, met Posen through previous Chicago comedy connections while performing with The Cupid Players. She also directs fellow performers OneTwoThree Comedy.
Valentine says Hot Toddler draws its inspiration from many things, including TV, movies, traditional theater, beer and other acts they saw around Chicago and at Sketchfest itself.
“A bunch of the groups we saw last year made us laugh, while they also got us thinking of different ways to present material,” she says.
Hot Toddler performs on Sun., Jan. 14 at 5:30 p.m. According to the festival’s Web site, the name originated when “Kevin and Jill got drunk and decided to write a show. Hence the name Hot Toddler. It was funny when they were loaded … now it is just kind of creepy.”
OneTwoThree Comedy features members Kelly Bolton, Rob Nastoff and Liz McArthur. Bolton describes the reason for performing in the festival.
“The three of us worked as volunteers, and being around all of the buzz and energy of Sketchfest was such a motivation for us to want to perform here,” she says.
Certain events at the festival cater directly to the performers. MasterSketch, for example, brings together a panel of sketch experts. Troupes prepare a performance in front of the panel and receive feedback on their acts.
Stir-Friday Night! began eleven years ago. Their show for this year’s festival, “The Caste and the Furious: Tokyo Drift,” goes up Sat., Jan. 13 at 6 p.m. The troupe wrote and produced the show this past summer at Donny’s Skybox Theatre.
“The Caste and the Furious: Tokyo Drift” proved so popular that it sold out, which troupe member Jennifer Liu says is a reason the group decided to perform at this year’s festival.
The group was formed in 1995 by several Asian-American actors, comedians, dancers and singers that were “frustrated by the lack of opportunity and having to play stereotypical, demeaning roles in order to land a job,” Liu says.
“We have worked with Brian Posen many times in the past. He directed three shows of ours, so we participate in part for new exposure and also to support Brian and his cause,” she also says.
The Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival runs through Sun., Jan. 14 at the Theatre Building Chicago, 1225 W. Belmont Ave., All performances are free of charge to the public. For more information on ticket sales see http://www.chicagosketchfest.com.
Medill sophomore Laura Mayer is a PLAY writer. She can be reached at [email protected].
