Since 1981, iO Theater has inspired and trained generations of America’s greatest comedic talents.
History and Alumni
Chicago’s Comedic Epicenter
Our world-renowned training program has helped thousands of performers develop and hone their skills to launch successful comedy and entertainment careers.
Chicago’s Best Improv Comedy. Witness the next generation of comedic talent across our four stages, five nights a week.
A New Kind of Theater
The founders of iO Theater- Charna Halpern, Del Close, and David Shepard- were instrumental in the creation and development of long form improvisation.
They believed that simple theater games could be elevated to a new expressive artform, and by codifying and teaching these concepts, a new avant-garde style of theater, and comedy, was born in Chicago.
Long form improvisation, specifically The Harold, iO’s signature style, is a daring exploration of ideas and emotions without a script.
Today, the same ideas and lessons developed at iO are taught at theaters and institutions all over the world.
Businesses and schools have begun to teach the tenants of long form improv to help their employees or students learn valuable skills that apply to communication, collaboration, listening, problem solving, and stroy-telling.
Across every industry: medicine, law, entertainment, teaching, caregiving, science, government, the skills of improv are now applied to help teams and individuals grow and improve efficacy.
An Artistic Community
The iO Theater is more than just a venue for improvisational theater.
Our training center strives to be an inclusive artistic community for all. Our world-renowned improv program offers individuals of all backgrounds and abilities the opportunity to learn, collaborate, and grow as artists and performers.
Not an actor? GOOD! Our classes help can individuals become better writers, directors, musicians, or just better communicators.
iO is place for people to collaborate, explore, and develop new and exciting forms of expression.
The iO Improv Program is a year-long program consisting of five levels and a performance series. The program has been built over four decades by some of iO’s most talented performers and teachers and continues to evolve today.
Our training center also offers classes and workshops for a variety of different skills, including sketch writing, pilot writing, stand-up, advance improv, cartooning, and much more.
iO also hosts seasonal intensive programs, specifically designed for students outside of Chicago, who want to immerse themselves in the artform within a limited period of time.
Training Center Principles
At iO we believe our classrooms are made stronger by the inclusion of a variety of voices and persepectives.
There is no prerequisite for improv. As long as you have the desire to learn, you will be successful in your training. Listening, agreement, committment, and collaboration are all it takes to create truly amazing art.
The principles of groupmind, authenticity, and thematic exploration of ideas can be carried with you throughout your life on and off the stage.
Passed down through the hands of generations of the world’s best improvisers, our curriculum is the gold standard for long form improv training in the world.
Our class sizes are designed to ensure plenty of performance opportunity as well as individualized feedback tailored to your own journey as an improviser, artist, or communicator.
History
Using theater games created by Viola Spolin, Devid Shepard created the ImprovOlympic to showcase competing improv teams againt each other in friendly, funny competitions. At the time, performances were held at The Players Workshop in Chicago, where Charna Halpern was a student and assistant to Shepard. Eventually Halpern took over the operations and ownership of the ImprovOlympic name.
As the theater began to gain popularity, Halpern began to think there could be more to these performances and that more was capable than short games and competition style shows that dominated the scene in the 1970s. Halpern then met Second City director Del Close and approached him about teaching at ImprovOlympic. Del agreed and soon became an inspiration to Halpern and the students at iO, who shared their vision for a deeper, more meaningful form of improvisation.
Soon after, longform improvisation was born with Close as the mentor and Halpern as the guide. The work developed here would eventually change the face improvisational comedy and theater forever.
- ImprovOlympic finds its first permanent home in 1995 in Chicago’s Wrigleyville, at Clark and Addison.
- The theater quickly becomes the premiere destination for longform improv.
- In 1997, ImprovOlympic West opens in Los Angeles, acting as a companion theater for Chicago alumni who had moved west.
- In 1999, five days before his 65th birthday, Del Close passes away in Chicago surrounded by friends and loved ones. Halpern promises to devote herself to their shared mission of elevating longform improv as an art.
- In 2001 the International Olympic Committee threatens legal action against the theater for use of the word ‘Olympic’ forcing the theater to change its name to the shorthand version, The iO Theater.
- Halpern moves the Chicago theater to its new and current location in Lincoln Park in 2014, expanding the space and number of stages dramatically.
- The iO Theater closes in 2020 due to financial contraints related to the Covid-19 Pandemic. The theater is dark for over two years.
- Halpern sells the building and theater to Larry Weiner and Scott Gendell in 2022.
- The iO Theater reopens on Nov. 3rd 2022 under new ownership and management, but comitted to the same princples of elevating improv as a true avant-garde artform.
The Staff
Since its re-opening in 2022, the iO Theater has been operated under new ownership and a new management team.
The theater is still committed to the artistic vision and goals set forth by the founders four decades ago, while also working towards creating new pathways of entry for students, performers, patrons, and partners alike.
Want to get in touch with someone at the theater? Send us a message here and we will work to get back to you in a timely fashion.
Steve Plock has spent the last, roughly, ten years as a manager, bartender, and performer at the iO Theater, except for the last two years which he spent in Wyoming managing one of our nation’s premier honky-tonk bars.
Steve is now excited to return to Chicago as the Managing Director of the new iO Theater and to help steward the theater in a new direction.
Steve is also an accomplished drummer and musician who has toured all over the United States and even most of Europe one time. John Forté once told him he had ‘great pocket.’
Steve is also an avid beef jerky fan and believes that Y2K was a hoax perpetrated by the non-perishable food corporations to scare us into buying lots of old food. I mean, why would a computer *think* that it’s 1900 and just decide to crash? It makes no sense.
Hopefully you’ll be able to see Steve perform with the world famous improv team Dumb John around Chicago soon.
Katie Caussin is originally from Springfield, VA and received her degree in Theater from Radford University.
She has been a Chicago based professional actor for over 20 years. She is an alumnus of The Second City and has performed with ComedySportz, iO, the Annoyance and many others across the Chicago theater and comedy scene as well as television and commercial acting.
She has directed for independent productions and Sketchfest. She was also an improv instructor for The Second City and the Annoyance.
Maureen originally hails from New Jersey and grew up in the music scene in Philadelphia.
Maureen has 15 years of experience in professional event management and has successfully executed thousands of events, including weddings, corporate events, tech showcases, tradeshows, and dozens more.
She has acted as an expert guide for clients like Microsoft, Payscale, Adidas, and Google to create show-stopping event experiences and is most ardent about optimizing the guest experience.
She is also incredibly passionate about the power of improv, and can regularly be found doing stand-up in dirty bars all over Chicago and beyond.
GRETCHEN ENG HAS BEEN PERFORMING IN THE CHICAGO COMEDY COMMUNITY SINCE HER SALAD DAYS IN THE SECOND CITY TEEN ENSEMBLE. AT IO, SHE PERFORMS WITH DEVIL’S DAUGHTER (FRIDAYS AT 8PM), THE ARMANDO DIAZ EXPERIENCE (WHICH SHE ALSO PRODUCES, THURSDAYS AT 7:30 PM), AND HOSTS THE TEACHER JAM WITH JAMES DUGAN, AS JAYMES GRETCHKY. SHE TEACHES ALL LEVELS OF IO’S TRAINING CENTER, COACHES, AN DESIGNS CURRICULA FOR AN ARRAY OF CORPORATE, NON-PROFIT, AND EDUCATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS, INCLUDING OUTLIER.ORG’S ACCREDITED PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION COURSE. SHE IS CURRENTLY A PROFESSOR IN THE CHICAGO COLLEGE OF PERFORMING ARTS AT ROOSEVELT UNIVERSITY AND THE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FOR FOURTH COAST ENSEMBLE, A CHICAGO-BASED, CLASSICAL VOCAL QUARTET.
Dan Wilcop is a Chicago-based designer and visual artist whose work blurs the lines between art, design and fashion. From an early age he was inspired by a mixture of bright cartoons, 90’s fashion and culture, and the vast outdoors of the Rocky Mountains. Later restoring mid-century modern furniture, Dan was immersed in a movement defined by the likes of Irving Harper, Florence Knoll Bassett, and Eero Saarinen who inspired him to focus on the principles of design and functionalism.
Want to work at iO?
iO is an inclusive, dynamic, and exciting workplace that is always looking for dedicated, hardworking individuals to join our team. We’d love to hear from you.
Open at 6PM W-Sun
How to Find us
How to get here
iO is a five minute walk from the North/Clybourn Red Line Stop and just two minutes off the 72 North Ave Bus Route. We offer no parking, but limited street parking and several pay-to-park lots are located within one block.
Food & Drink Menu
We are an all ages venue with full food and beverage service. Our bar and kitchen are open each show night at 6pm and offer delicious and affordable options before, during, and after the shows.
