by William McEvoy

The Chicago Improv Festival announced their lineup for CIF 5, being held this year from April 1 through 7. This is the largest improv festival in the world and this year's festival is the largest ever. New performance categories have been added to the festival, notably a Fringe stage and a Digital Video Night. (For the complete line-up, click here). When asked about the choice to expand the Festival in the midst of a recession, CIF Executive Producer Jonathan Pitts said "CIF is built steadily upon the previous year's successes, and with an eye towards the next year's festival. Each year, CIF has been able to expand because of the support we receive from our audiences, the talent, and the many improv theatres and training centers."

And expand they will. Over fifty troupes and acts are scheduled to appear over the seven days, with troupes from Israel, New Zealand and Japan joining three Toronto-based groups and American troupes from all over the country. In addition, the annual Improv All Night show will feature at least another 30 troupes in fifteen-minute slots. "This year, CIF received a record amount of entries for performance slots," said Mr. Pitts "We got triple the amount of applications. The level of talent applying also was higher than ever before. We turned down ensembles that in previous years would have been selected."

There will be both old and new faces at CIF. Toronto's Slap Happy, which turned in a critically acclaimed performance last year, is showing an entirely different side " Founding member Sandy Jobin-Bevans will be back with us after a year in Toronto's Second City Mainstage cast." said Slap's Dave Pearce. "However, it seems likely that Tabetha Wells will be on tour on Canada's East Coast during the festival [she's with the Second City National Touring Company], so we will remain a trio for the time being. We'll just be estrogen-challenged." Mr. Pearce also promises a new format, called Narratron, will be introduced, but is keeping the details about the format a secret. Solo performer Jonathan Appel also guarantees a new look "I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to do for half an hour. I know I'll improvise something. I know I'll be honest. That's my thing. Who the hell knows?"

Some groups don't mess too much with success or make subtler changes. According to Baby Wants Candy's Nick Kanel, "We try to mess with our form every performance - little challenges that make each show inspiring to us. Hopefully over the course of the year those little changes cause the entire show to look and feel different."

A couple of new faces at CIF this year will be Austin's Well Hung Jury and Toronto's The Imptaients. Jury's Jeremy Lamb doesn't know if they're going to show Chicago audiences anything new but "…they can expect to see an original format approach to long form improv. They will definitely witness a tight ensemble that can produce good comedic stories and characters." Impatients' Kevin Patrick Robbins says, "Chicago is so friggin' hip that they've got the territory covered in the field of new shit. Toronto's still lagging behind somewhat. However, the Impatients will do our best to bring something new to the table." Both are looking forward to making new friends and bringing something back to their hometowns from Chicago.

Another old face will be the Doubtful Guests' Todd Stashwick. Once part of the Chicago improvisation scene and a founder of New York's Burn Manhattan, the perambulatory Mr. Stashwick has established himself in Los Angeles now and is bring his Edward Gorey-inspired Doubtful Guests to CIF this year. "The closest thing I can compare it to, that I have seen in Chicago, was 'Klown: Die Hanswurst', a brilliant show done a number of years ago." said Mr. Stashwick, "I do believe, however, that was scripted not improvised. Hopefully the audience that comes to The Doubtful Guests will walk away feeling like they've seen funny theatrical piece as opposed to an 'improv comedy show.' The goal was to create a submersive world… costumes, make up, with a back story as our starting point."

Improv Review will again be providing comprehensive coverage of CIF, trying to review every improvised show presented. Look for more articles in our February and March issues. Go to www.cif.com for more information about tickets and performers.