Hey Chicago!
This week, we wanted to talk about the comedy scene in Chicago because it’s something that we’re known for. If you’ve spent any time at all following comedians or watching sketch shows on TV, you’ve probably noticed that a huge percentage of them got their start right here in Chicago!
Before we go any further, we’re the Ben Lalez Team, and we’ve been helping families buy and sell homes across Chicago for over a decade. Every week, we publish an article about something interesting or useful in Chicago, so be sure to check back or subscribe to our newsletter to get them sent right to your inbox.
Although many big cities, like New York and Los Angeles, have comedy scenes, Chicago is where modern improv was invented. Our clubs here have produced some of the biggest names in the industry, and a lot of them are still running shows every night of the week.
Whether you’re someone who goes to comedy shows regularly or you’ve never been to one, this guide covers the major clubs, a little bit of history, and what you need to know to plan a night out.
How Chicago Became The Improv Capital
Back in the 1930’s and 1940’s, a social worker and theater practitioner named Viola Spolin was working at Hull House during the Great Depression. She developed a set of theater games to help immigrant children express themselves and communicate through play rather than scripted dialogue. Those games focused on spontaneity, listening, and working together as a group, and they became the foundation for what we now recognize as improv training.
Her son, Paul Sills, took those techniques and applied them to professional performance. In 1955, he co-founded The Compass Players, which is widely considered the first improv theater company in the United States. Alumni from the Compass Players included Mike Nichols and Elaine May, who later had major success on Broadway and brought national attention to Chicago’s comedy scene.
The Compass Players led directly to the creation of The Second City in 1959, and from there, the entire ecosystem of clubs and training programs grew into what it is today.
If you want to go deeper into that history, WBEZ did an excellent piece on why Chicago became the destination for improv.
Where The Clubs Are
Most of Chicago’s comedy venues are concentrated in a few neighborhoods:
- Old Town and the Near North Side are where you’ll find The Second City and Zanies.
- Lakeview has the Laugh Factory, The Annoyance Theatre, and a few other spots.
- Lincoln Park is close to Old Town and has theater spaces and smaller comedy outfits.
- Wicker Park and Bucktown area has newer venues like The Comedy Clubhouse.
The nice thing about this is that you can plan a full evening around a show, because most of these clubs sit in walkable neighborhoods with restaurants and bars nearby. If you’re already going out to dinner in Old Town or Lakeview, adding a comedy show to the night is pretty easy.
The Second City
The Second City is probably the first name that comes to mind when people think about Chicago comedy. It opened in December 1959, and the name is a reference to a New Yorker article that called Chicago a “second city.” The founders took that insult and turned it into a brand.
The alumni list from this place is hard to believe when you see it all in one spot:
- John Belushi
- Bill Murray
- Gilda Radner
- Dan Aykroyd
- Harold Ramis
- Tina Fey
- Steve Carell
- Amy Poehler
- Stephen Colbert
- And many others…
They all came through The Second City before they became household names. The connection between this stage and Saturday Night Live is well documented.
Today, The Second City runs multiple shows each night across different theaters in its Chicago complex. There’s the mainstage revue, the e.t.c. revue, and the UP Comedy Club, which is more focused on stand-up and themed shows. The shows blend satirical sketches with improv, and the content tends to pull from current events, politics, and everyday life.
The rooms are small, so you’re sitting close to the performers, which makes the experience feel more personal. Weekend and holiday performances regularly sell out, so booking online in advance is a good idea. Many of the shows are designed for adult audiences and can include strong language or mature themes. Ticket prices vary by day of the week and the show you’re seeing.
They also run a training center where people at all skill levels can take improv, writing, and performance classes. If you’ve ever been curious about trying improv yourself, this is where a lot of people start!
iO Theater
iO Theater is a different experience from The Second City. Where Second City is built around sketch comedy that originates from improv, iO is all about long-form improvisation.
The theater was founded in the 1980s, and they developed a format called “the Harold.” This is an extended improv structure where performers build interconnected scenes from a single audience suggestion. Instead of short, quick games, you’re watching characters and storylines develop over the course of an entire show. If you’ve never seen long-form improv before, we highly recommend you check it out.
The theater’s alumni list overlaps a lot with Second City. Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Seth Meyers, and Chris Farley all came through iO, and the training program there has influenced improv theaters and troupes around the world.
They also operate a training center with multi-level improv programs. A lot of visiting performers and writers come to Chicago specifically to take intensives at iO.
The Annoyance Theatre And Bar
The Annoyance Theatre pushes boundaries and breaks rules.
Mick Napier founded it in 1989 with friends from Indiana University. Their opening show was a slasher-film parody that covered the white set in staged blood and became a cult favorite. They went on to produce over 250 original shows, including “Co-Ed Prison Sluts,” which was created entirely from improvisation and ran for 11 years, making it one of the longest-running musicals in Chicago history.
Alumni include Jane Lynch, Steve Carell, Aidy Bryant, and Vanessa Bayer.
They do a mix of improv, original sketch revues, full-length plays, cabaret acts, and late-night shows that lean into dark humor, genre parodies, and adult themes. It’s not for everyone, but if you want something more experimental and unpredictable, this is where to go.
Napier also runs improv classes based on his book “Improvise: Scene from the Inside Out,” which focuses on personal voice and emotional commitment rather than following formal structures. It attracts students who are interested in a more experimental approach.
Zanies Comedy Club
Zanies is the stand-up comedy anchor in Chicago. It opened in November 1978 and built its identity around traditional stand-up from the beginning.
The club was founded by Rick Uchwat, and has been a consistent Comics who have performed here early in their careers include Jerry Seinfeld, Tim Allen, and Roseanne Barr.
Shows typically feature an emcee, one or more feature acts, and a headliner. There’s a two-drink minimum and table service. Because of limited capacity, popular shows and weekend dates sell out in advance, so it’s worth buying tickets in advance.
Laugh Factory Chicago
Laugh Factory is a bigger venue than most of the other clubs on this list. The main floor seats around 250 people, and there’s a balcony that holds an additional 60, with some sources putting the total capacity closer to 400 when both levels are in use. It has a full-service bar, a separate lobby bar area, and professional sound and lighting.
The club runs shows seven nights a week with multiple sets on many evenings. The programming mixes national touring headliners with local talent, and they run themed lineups and special series like “Chicago’s Best Stand Up” with rotating rosters of comedians.
There’s typically a two-drink minimum in the showroom, and age restrictions usually require audiences to be at least 18. Coming here gives you the big-room stand-up experience that feels similar to the famous comedy clubs in New York or Los Angeles.
The Comedy Clubhouse
The Comedy Clubhouse is a newer venue that opened in 2015 near the intersection of Wicker Park, Bucktown, and Noble Square. It describes itself as Chicago’s number one-rated comedy club, based on aggregated ratings across Google, Yelp, Facebook, and TripAdvisor, and it regularly appears in online roundups of the city’s best comedy clubs.
The vibe here is a cozy neighborhood club that mixes improv, stand-up, and scripted performances, and it also brings in occasional specialty acts like comedy rappers, jugglers, magicians, and poets. Reviews consistently mention that the seating is intimate and well-designed, with no bad seats in the house.
The club focuses heavily on local performers while also bringing in comedians from New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
Other Good Spots For Comedy In Chicago
ComedySportz Chicago runs a competitive, family-friendly short-form improv show where two teams face off in games and scenes. It’s one of the longest-running short-form improv productions in Chicago, and because the content is kept clean, it’s a good option if you’re looking for something you can bring kids or teenagers to.
The Lincoln Lodge is an independent comedy club known for curated stand-up and variety shows at approachable prices. Reviewers have called it a gem for both locals and visitors.
The Comedy Bar is a stand-up club connected to a Gino’s East pizzeria, so you can combine Chicago-style deep-dish pizza with a comedy show in one stop.
The Revival is a South Loop venue with a focus on improv and sketch that offers both performances and training.
Understanding The Different Types Of Shows
If you haven’t been to many comedy shows, here’s a quick guide to the different types.
- Sketch comedy is scripted or semi-scripted scenes that usually come out of improv rehearsals. The Second City’s mainstage revues are the most well-known example of this, and they tend to blend political and social satire with character-driven material.
- Long-form improv is what you’ll see at iO and The Annoyance. Performers build extended, interconnected scenes from a single audience suggestion, and you watch the characters and storylines develop over the course of the whole show. It’s more of a slow build than a rapid-fire experience.
- Short-form improv is the fast-paced, game-based format that most people are familiar with from shows like “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” ComedySportz is the main short-form venue in Chicago.
- Stand-up is what it sounds like: individual performers doing prepared material. Laugh Factory, Zanies, The Lincoln Lodge, and The Comedy Bar are your main stand-up options.
- And then there are hybrid and experimental formats, which is where The Annoyance is good at. Think of improvised musicals, genre parodies, interactive shows, and things that are harder to categorize. Some of the indie productions at iO also fall into this category.
If you’ve never been to a comedy show in Chicago before, our suggestion would be to try an improv show one night and a stand-up show another night.
Final Thoughts
There is a lot of fascinating history when it comes to Chicago’s comedy scene.
It started with theater games in settlement houses almost a century ago and grew into a network of clubs, schools, and performance spaces that has shaped modern comedy.
The fact that you can see a show at a legendary institution like The Second City on the same weekend that you check out an experimental late-night set at The Annoyance or catch a headliner at Zanies is part of what makes living here (or visiting) so good!
And if you’re thinking about making Chicago home, or you’re looking to move to a different neighborhood, give us a shout. We’d love to be your real estate connection and help you find the right place.
Until next week, get out there and laugh!
