iO Theater

iO, or iO Chicago, (formerly known as "ImprovOlympic") is an improv theater and training center in central Chicago, with a former branch in Los Angeles, called iO West and in Raleigh, North Carolina called iO South. The theater taught and hosted performances of improvisational comedy. It was founded in 1981 by Del Close and Charna Halpern. The theater has many notable alumni, including Amy Poehler and Stephen Colbert. The theatre closed briefly in 2020, though the building was purchased in 2021 and reopened on November 3, 2022. Description iO concentrated on "long-form" improvisational structures, in contrast to the "short-form" or "improv game" format of Theatresports, ComedySportz or the television show Whose Line Is It Anyway? The iO's signature piece is the "Harold", and the theater featured other forms of improvisation, as well as sketch comedy and stand-up comedy. The building had four performance spaces: The Del Close Theater - This was the second-largest of iO's theaters, and was located on the ground floor of the building. It hosted some of iO's premiere shows, such as Virgin Daiquiri, The Improvised Shakespeare Company, and The Deltones. The Chris Farley Cabaret - One of two cabaret-style theaters in the building, this hosted many different types of performances, mostly improvised and mostly non-Harold. The Jason Chin Harold Cabaret - Named after a revered teacher at iO (who died on January 8, 2015) this theater predominantly featured performances of the Harold from house teams at the theater which specialized in that form. The Mission Theater - The largest theater at iO, formerly run and managed by T. J. Jagodowski and David Pasquesi (AKA "TJ and Dave") featured some of iO's most iconic and longest-running shows such as The Armando Diaz Theatrical Experience and Hootenanny, The Musical Armando, and Whirled News Tonight.