IO Theater

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages) This article relies excessively on references to primary sources. Please improve this article by adding secondary or tertiary sources. Find sources: "IO Theater" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (March 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This article needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (January 2025) This article may contain excessive or inappropriate references to self-published sources. Please help improve it by removing references to unreliable sources where they are used inappropriately. (June 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This article may rely excessively on sources too closely associated with the subject, potentially preventing the article from being verifiable and neutral. Please help improve it by replacing them with more appropriate citations to reliable, independent, third-party sources. (June 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this message) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

iO, or iO Chicago, (formerly known as ImprovOlympic) is an improv theater and training center in central Chicago. The theater teaches and hosts performances of improvisational comedy. It was founded in 1981 by Del Close and Charna Halpern.^[1][2] The theater has many notable alumni, including Amy Poehler and Stephen Colbert.^[3]

The iO Theater formerly had a branch in Los Angeles called iO West (1997-2018), and in Raleigh, North Carolina called iO South. The Chicago center closed briefly in 2020,^[4] but reopened on November 3, 2022.

The ImprovOlympic was created in 1981 as the brainchild of David Shepherd who originally created the format in 1972 in New York with Howard Jerome. David Shepherd used the Theater Games, created earlier by Viola Spolin, as a way for teams of improvisational comic actors to compete. The first ImprovOlympic classes and shows took place at The Players Workshop in Chicago, where Charna Halpern was an improv student. Charna Halpern became David Shepherd's assistant, and eventually the producer of the competitions. There were also competitions at a network of local bars and clubs.

In 1982, the ImprovOlympic moved from The Players Workshop to its own space at Thomas Goodman's CrossCurrents theatre, 3207 N. Wilton Street.^[5] Teams began to form out of every major improv troupe in Chicago.^{[citation needed]} Shows began shifting to a long-form approach by 1983.^{[citation needed]}

In 1995, the ImprovOlympic moved to its location on Clark St. in Chicago.^[6]

An additional theater, iO West, was opened by Paul Vaillancourt in Los Angeles, California in 1997. The theater originally took up residence at The Stella Adler Theater (6773 Hollywood Boulevard), then The Complex Theater (6470 Santa Monica Boulevard), before finally moving into a new purpose-built space in the Palmer Building (6366 Hollywood Blvd) in 2000.^[1][7] The theater was home to the Los Angeles Improv Comedy Festival. It was managed by Colleen Doyle and Zach Huddleston, before closing on February 24, 2018.^[1][7][8]

In 2001, the International Olympic Committee legally threatened the theater over its use of the name "ImprovOlympic" and the name was subsequently changed to "iO." On September 2, 2005, iO held its 25th anniversary show at the Chicago Theatre in downtown Chicago.^[9] The wireless microphones went dead shortly into the show, so the improvisers played using wired mics for the rest of the performance. Celebrity veterans of the iO program who returned to play included Mike Myers, Tim Meadows, Amy Poehler, and Ike Barinholtz. The opening to the Harold piece performed was conducted by the most veteran iO house team, The Reckoning.^[10] A DVD of The Reckoning is included in the book Art By Committee^[11] a sequel to Truth in Comedy.

In August 2014, after almost 20 years in Chicago's Wrigleyville neighborhood, Charna Halpern bought a building in the Lincoln Park neighborhood and moved the iO Theater to its new home at 1501 N. Kingsbury St.

On June 18, 2020, it was announced that iO would be closing permanently. Controversy ensued regarding whether the closure was due to financial difficulties or allegations of racism that had emerged in the form of an online petition that began circulating only a few days before.^[12] Halpern stressed that the reasons were strictly financial, highlighting the property taxes bills of nearly $100,000 that "would have had to come out of her personal savings" as the theater was not making any income as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and acknowledging that, if not for the pandemic, she would not be closing.^[13] "I'm 68 years old," she said. "It's scary for me. We're in a pandemic right now and there's no end in sight. Even if we were able to open at half capacity it was not going to work."^[14]

In July 2021 the theater was bought by Scott Gendell and Larry Weiner of Chicago. The duo stated their intention to resume shows and classes at the theater, which was due to reopen on November 3, 2022.^[15][16]

This includes people who have performed or taught at either iO West or iO Chicago:^[17]

• Annoyance Theatre
• The Groundlings
• The Second City
• Under the Gun Theater
• Upright Citizens Brigade

• iO Chicago
• iO West
• Interview with iO founder, Charna Halpern, on BLACKOUTpresents: Radio

41°54′31″N 87°39′06″W / 41.9085°N 87.6517°W / 41.9085; -87.6517