Mark your calendars, because this Wednesday Valid Hysteria is going to be opening for our fourth of six performances at Chicago’s Apollo Theater Studio. As you can tell from the photo, the make up of Valid Hysteria is a little different from Batterymouth – they’re a larger all-female team, we’re just three guys.
Valid Hysteria has been around since 2006 and you may have seen them perform at any number of places around the city including The Playground, the Apollo Theater Studio and various barprov shows. One of the cool things about the ladies of VH is that I’ve seen them improvise within the constraints of wildly different long form structures throughout the years, which always leaves me with that delightful “what are they going to do this time” feeling before I see them perform. So, come on out to the Apollo Theater Studio on Wednesday and take in that feeling with Batterymouth as we wait for the laides of Valid Hysteria to hit the stage.
Hey! If you’re free tonight, stop on over to the Playground Theater to catch Tarantino: The Improvised Show. Batterymouth’s own, Dave Urlakis, will be packing heat and shouting expletives in this improvised homage to Quentin Tarantino‘s canon of work. The show was recently covered in a Time Out Chicago article (Batterymouth even got a plug because my boy Dave is a straight-up smooth pimp). The show is every Saturday night at 10:00pm and runs through March 7th. Check out all of the details here.
I mean, this show is PERFECT for Dave. You see, Dave is Lithuanian and Lithuanians are, by nature, pretty angry people. In fact, Urlakis actually means “Angry Eyes”…seriously. Ask him. I can’t seem to find anything online to back that up, but Dave told me that it’s true…and I think that it’s safe to say that I will believe anything that Dave Urlakis says. I also found this video…aaaand this one. Cheers.
Tomorrow, long form improv group The Cosby Sweaters are going to be opening for our second of six performances at the Apollo Theater Studio. These guys are based out of DePaul and we first met them when we opened for them and our friends Nipple Competition at The Playground in the middle of 2008. A few months later we did a full run with both groups and got to know these guys pretty well (and even after that, I got to know two of their members – Tom Dean and Pete Parsons – when we started working together on Battle-Prov at ComedySportz Chicago). They have a strong following and there’s really no question why – they’re funny, they’re high energy and they have no fear of going blue. So, come on out to the show on Wednesday and catch The Cosby Sweaters and Batterymouth in action.
This Wednesday, long form improv group The Fling opens for us, kicking off our six week run of Wednesday performances at 8:00pm at the Apollo Theater Studio. The Fling has been around in various incarnations since 2004 and they’re one of the Member Teams at The Playground for good reason. Every time I’ve seen them they’ve done fun, patient, character-based scenes that are a real treat to watch. Plus, they’ve got some real rockstar performers like Heather Svoboda and Jamie Buell who are always solid no matter what project they’re involved in. So, come help us kick off our run at the Apollo Theater Studio. Come see The Fling. Come have a good time with Batterymouth.
