1920s: Viola Spolin creates the “theater games” that would become improv
Ms. Spolin was a social worker who helped immigrant children assimilate into the United States during the Great Depression. Throughout this era, she invented improvisational performance games to help the children socialize with each other. Her book, “Theater Games for the Classroom,” became standard practice for improv performers, particularly those new to theater.
Source: NPR
1955: Founding of the Compass Players
A group of students at the University of Chicago — including Ms. Spolin’s son Paul Sills — created the first improv ensemble, the Compass Players. They met and performed at the Jimmy’s Woodlawn Tap on 55th Street. The group’s experiments, like the format of short skits and the now-foundational rule of “yes, and,” greatly influenced the future of improv and comedy as a whole.
Source: Chicago Historical Society
1959: Founding of The Second City
Now a world-renowned improv theater, The Second City was founded by Compass Player members Paul Sills, Bernard Sahlins and Howard Alk. They wanted to create the stronger center of comedy which Chicago lacked at the time. It was named after an insult in an article published in The New Yorker calling Chicago the second city to New York. Several famous comedians were trained at and performed with The Second City, including Stephen Colbert, Tina Fey and Bill Murray.
Source: Chicago Historical Society
1981: Opening of iO Chicago
Formerly known as ImprovOlympic, this theater is known for their longer-form skit-style performances. When David Shepherd started iO, it focused on lighthearted, comedic competitions between teams of performers. However, in partnership with The Second City’s director Del Close, Shepherd expanded into teaching improv classes out of which their longer-form performance style was born. This theater shares a large share of alumni with The Second City and was also the start of many comedians’ careers, like Seth Meyers, Bob Odenkirk and Amy Poehler.
Source: iO Improv
1987: Opening of The Annoyance
The Annoyance theater was opened by a group of friends to put on their own scripted performances. Their first script was a parody of gory horror movies that they put together in a month. They relied on improvisation to flesh out the plot points, creating a unique experience from performance to performance. The original theater was located in Chicago’s North Side, but has since expanded across the city and into New York. Their work focuses on prewritten content, but mixed in with improv, resulting in many successful original productions throughout the ensemble’s existence, such as “The Real Live Brady Bunch,” in which a cast would reenact full episodes of the ’70s “The Brady Bunch” with an ironic tone, and “God in a Box,” satirizing commercialism in the United States.
Source: The Annoyance
2012:
Opening of Definition Theatre
In recent years, a theater has opened on the same block where the Compass Players first met and performed what would become improv. Though Definition isn’t strictly focused on comedy as the other theaters listed are, the significance of its location to improv’s history still isn’t lost. Off-Off Campus, The University of Chicago’s comedy troupe of which the original Compass Players were members, host many of their shows at Definition. Thanks to this collaboration, today’s UChicago comedians perform yards from where improv’s roots grew 70 years ago. The dates of Off-Off Campus’ ongoing shows are available on their website.
Source: Definition Theatre, Off-Off Campus