9 Actors. 30 Hours. No Script. No Sleep. No Sanity
On September 10-11 at the Playground Theater, local improv troupe K.C. Redheart will perform 30 straight hours of comedy as part of the inaugural Playground Improv Marathon, a charity event benefiting the Illinois Coalition of Reach Out and Read and the Playground Theater.
The nine members of K.C. Redheart will test their wits, endurance, and sanity as the core group of “Marathoners,” going without sleep while performing for the Marathon’s entire 30 hours. Additionally, each hour will mark the start of a new show, as the Marathoners welcome guests from around the city to improvise with them, including performers from Second City, ComedySportz, the Annoyance Theatre, iO, and K.C. Redheart’s home, the Playground Theater.
With the help of so many different performers, the Playground Improv Marathon will showcase the diversity and vitality of Chicago’s improv scene. There will be short-form games a la “Whose Line Is It Anyway?,” experimental and narrative long-form shows, family-friendly shows during the day, and anything-goes sets during the late-night hours. As an added bonus, the audience will witness the Marathoners’ transformation from well-adjusted adults to sleep-deprived comedy nutjobs by the end of it all. And most importantly, all of the proceeds go to a great cause.
The Playground Improv Marathon begins Friday evening, September 10, at 6 p.m. and ends Saturday night, September 11, at midnight. Tickets are available at the door, and prices are as follows: $5 for matinee shows, $10 for prime-time shows, and $25 for passes to the entire Marathon. Tickets to the Marathon include entry in a raffle to win prizes donated by local businesses, with drawings held every hour. Extra raffle tickets will be available for purchase.
K.C. Redheart is an improv troupe formed by the Playground Theater in June 2008.
The Playground Theater, is the nation’s only not-for-profit co-op theater dedicated to the performance and instruction of improvised comedy. The Playground’s 140 affiliated actors work on a 100% volunteer basis to perform and operate the theater.
Reach Out and Read is a nonprofit organization that promotes early literacy and school readiness in pediatric exam rooms nationwide by giving new books to children and advice to parents about the importance of reading aloud.
MARATHON LINEUP
FRIDAY Sept. 10th
6pm: K.C. Redheart (no guests)
7pm: Wing Night
8pm: Comedy Sportz
9pm: HouseCo: The Second City Training Center house ensemble
10pm: Bad Touch
11pm: CEO of Everything (Improvised “Caroline in the City”)
SATURDAY, Sept. 11th
12am: Karate Van
1am: Burrito Wilson
2am: pH productions
3am: Off Off Campus (“Off-Off Presents: Pancakes,” with actual pancakes)
4am: Sam Hill (Improv in the Dark So We Can Rest the Lights)
5am: Gypsy F@#k Fight
6am: The Era
7am: K.C. Redheart (no guests)
8am: KC Roommates (“Real World”-style improv with K.C. Redheart’s actual roommates)
9am: Basic 8
10am: Hogwash (Improv for kids)
11am: Frenz LaRonde’s Wand’ring Minstrels (Improv for kids, with puppets)
12pm: After School Matters (Improv with teenagers)
1pm: Big Yellow Bus
2pm: Schnauzer
3pm: Stranger for a Day
4pm: Lumberjack Tsunami (Improv in the Dark So We Can Rest the Lights)
5pm: Katydids
6pm: Computer
7pm: The Timmy Mayse All-Stars
8pm: 1,2,3, Fag!
9pm: 3033
10pm: Skinprov
11pm: K.C. Redheart (no guests)
Where: The Playground Theater, 3209 N. Halsted St.
Cost: $5 for matinee show, $10 per primetime show, $25 for a full 30-hour pass
Contact: Dave Maher (daphima@gmail.com, 773-706-5890)
Troupe: K.C. Redheart
Performers: Adam Shalzi, Bill Stern, Dave Maher, George Serad, Karisa Bruin, Katie Thomas., Margaret Conway, Mark Logsdon, Nick Leveski
Performance: 30 hour improv marathon
Venue: Playground Theater
Neighborhood: Lakeview
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