M.I.'s Westside Comedy Theater facts for kids
Quick facts for kids M.I.'s Westside Comedy Theater |
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| Genre | Sketch comedy/Improvisation |
| Date of premiere | 2009 |
| Location | Santa Monica, California, U.S. |
| Official website: http://www.westsidecomedy.com/ | |
M.I.'s Westside Comedy Theater is a fun place in Santa Monica, California. It's a comedy club where people perform funny shows. It's also a theater, a bar, and a place where you can learn to be a comedian! It used to be called Westside Eclectic.
How the Comedy Theater Started
The story of this theater began in 1998. Six friends from a comedy group called Mission IMPROVable moved to Chicago, Illinois. They wanted to learn more about improv comedy and perform there.
By 2000, the group started traveling to perform their short comedy shows. In 2001, they performed at NACA, which stands for the National Association for Campus Activities. This helped them get shows at colleges all over the country. The group grew bigger, hiring more performers. They traveled in their van, which they called "Vanarky."
In 2002, some of the Mission IMPROVable performers came to Los Angeles, California. They hoped to create a TV show for MTV. While their show wasn't picked up, they became very popular on many comedy stages in Los Angeles.
The M.I.'s Westside Comedy Theater officially opened on April 1, 2009. It was started by former members of Mission IMPROVable. One of the founders was Lloyd Ahlquist, who later helped create the famous YouTube series Epic Rap Battles of History. Lloyd Ahlquist was the first general manager and artistic director.
In 2011, co-founder Sean Casey took over. He helped the theater grow and made it even better. He expanded the shows to happen seven nights a week! Today, Chris Gorbos is the General Manager.
Famous Comedians Who Have Performed Here
Many well-known comedians have performed at this theater. Some of them include:
- Cole Stratton
- Alonzo Bodden
- David Alan Grier
- Tig Notaro
- Kevin Pollak
- Neal Brennan
- Demetri Martin
- Aziz Ansari
- Bill Burr
- Zach Galifianakis
- Russell Peters
- Dave Chappelle
The original Mission IMPROVable group still performs a lot. They have over 50 members and do more than 350 shows each year. They perform everywhere, from Hawaii to Singapore! M.I. Productions also works on projects for movies and TV. They even created a show called A Shot of Reality to help college students and military members make good choices.
For ten years, the founders of the theater performed together weekly in an improv show called The Grind. They stopped doing that show in 2019.
Learn Comedy at the Theater
The theater also has a training center. You can take classes there to learn different types of comedy.
- There are seven levels of classes for improvisational theatre.
- You can also take two levels of classes to learn stand up comedy.
