Hodgepodge Improv Weekend: Sunday, November 22 | 6:30 pm Show
Doors: 5:30pm | Show: 6:30pm
Oh do we got a banger of a show to close out the Hodgepodge Weekend! Kicking it all off will be the 5 Horsemen of Existentialism and their unapologetically queer, high-energy monoscenes featuring local improv faves Nora Tramm, Megan Piscitelle, Kai Chamberlain, Sevynn Shaughnessy, and Stevie Ramirez, followed by the hilarious trifecta of Jillian Burfete, Carin Metzger, and Stacey Uria; aka the Bernese Mountan Hogs! Added bonus: ME Time, featuring seasoned improvisor Emily Anderson and a special Chicago guest improvisor!
Capping it all off, the genius that is Hodgepodge! Made up of veteran improvisors Sayjal Joshe, Shelby Burton, Liz Allen, and Dee Ryan, Hodgepodge is a lauded assembly of improv, acting, writing, and teaching talent, joyfully crash-landing in the 828!
Sayjal Joshi is an Indian-American actress, improviser, and teacher. She holds a BA in Theater from UNC Greensboro and has been performing and teaching theater, sketch & improv for the last 20 years. Credits include FOX’s Empire and Presumed Innocent, The Kennedy Center, The Goodman, Woolly Mammoth Theatre, The Second City e.t.c., The Second City National Touring Company, Norwegian Cruise Lines, The Annoyance, Laugh Out Loud Theater, The Improvised Shakespeare Company, and critically acclaimed Asian-American sketch ensemble.
Liz Allen has been teaching, performing, and coaching improv in Chicago and Las Vegas for the past 31 years. Liz won the Coach of The Year Award at the iO Chicago Theater so many times, they gave up and renamed it. It’s now, officially, The Liz Allen Excellence In Teaching Award. At the Flamingo Hotel & Casino in ‘05, Liz directed the first ever long form improv show for The Second City on The Vegas Strip. Liz coached The Commune, the improv ensemble in Mike Birbiglia’s 2016 film, Don’t Think Twice.
Dee Ryan is a an alumna of The Second City having written and performed three shows on their Second City ETC stage. She toured Nationally and internationally with The Second City Tour Co The Best of Second City and The Reduced Shakespeare Company’s The Complete Millennium Musical – ‘abridged’. Dee has written, performed and toured her one-woman shows Deeconstruction and Broadguess at such theaters as: The Reston Community Theater in Reston, VA, Flatwater Shakespeare in Lincoln, NE, Pittsburgh Public Theater in Pittsburgh, PA and The UCB Theater in Los Angeles, CA. Dee has taught improvisation for over twenty years at The Second City in Hollywood and Chicago.
Shelby Burton is the Artistic Director of Bughouse Theater and co-producer of “Forward In Comfortable Shoes,” a showcase highlighting diverse perspectives in comedy. She has performed at iO Theater, Laugh Out Loud Theater, Improv Acadia, and Comedy Sportz in Chapel Hill, bringing her unique blend of wit and spontaneity to each stage.