Pier Review

The improv group I perform with, "Whirled News Tonight", had a corporate gig at the famous Grand Ballroom of Chicago's Famous Navy Pier. The show was set up through the spouse of a castmate and paid rather well for a couple hours of sitting around eating catered pulled-pork followed 45 minutes of actual performance. Artistically, though? Not the most satisfying.

The Grand Ballroom is immense. Over 18,000 square feet with an 80' domed ceiling and panoramic view of Lake Michigan. It's a beautiful space for a corporate function complete with fancypants cocktail hour and high-falootin' dinner, but not the best venue for live improvised comedy. For one thing, the lapel mics were giving feedback for the first 5 minutes or so. After that, they backed off the volume so much that a few people could hardly be heard. The fact that a video projector was showing slides of company employees behind us during most of the show didn't help either.

More than anything, though, improv comedy feeds off the energy of the crowd. This is great for our normal, more intimate theater space that seats around 100. But when the crowd is nearly 700 people who are separated from the stage by a dance floor and just finished a full dinner? Not the best recipe for a symbiotic performance experience. I don't want to make it sound like a diaster. Far from it. Several scenes played well, especially the one that joked about the evening's crappy charter bus service which, we heard, was dropping attendees off at a remote spot on the opposite end of the Pier.

When this improv group is disappointed in a performance, it's usually the result of our being spoiled by the good shows and generous audiences we've been used to at our regular weekly slot. There's also just a bit of a learning curve on these corporate and road gigs as we feel our way out at new venues. But since it's paid training and there's barbecue pig in the deal? I suppose we could do a lot worse.