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American Idles American Idles 2
m. Leffingwell, j. deGise, r, Schiffmann, t. Copeland
photographer: austin Cadore

Press Reviews

"The perfect masters of improvisation."
-New York Times

"Hilarious!"
-Daily News

"Funniest Show in Town... not to be missed."
-New York Post

"One of New York's 10 Best Shows!"
-WWOR-TV

"Forget Young Frankenstein and Spamalot: the funniest musical I've seen lately was invented right before the audience's eyes...astonishing and faithfully hilarious."
-NY Theatre

"These Actor-Writer-Comedian-Psychopaths will have you rolling in the aisles! "
-Newhouse Papers

NYTheatre 12/07

Forget Young Frankenstein and Spamalot: the funniest musical I've seen lately is without a doubt "Jordan Gets a MacBook," which was invented right before the audience's eyes—based on the life of one its members, no less—by the always astonishing and faithfully hilarious denizens of Chicago City Limits. Now, you won't get to see this 20-minute mini-epic when you go to CCL's new show Without a Net, but you'll see something sort-of like it: a Broadway-style musical comedy improvised by four performers and their intrepid accompanist, on the spot, following a three-or-four minute conversation with a patron about some event that recently happened in his or her life. (Jordan talked about how he got a new MacBook with the Leopard O/S as an early Chanukah gift; this led to a truly inspired song in which Rob Schiffman, as Jordan, rhymed Leopard not only with "peppered" but also "shepherd," as well as a very funny scene in an Apple Store that featured a musical number that the Apple people may want to use for themselves.)

Great stuff, and I've only just started to scratch the surface of the excellent time had by all on the night I caught CCL's Without a Net. Regular cast members Schiffman, Annie Figenshu, and Joe De Gise II, along with understudies Sharon Fogarty and (at the piano) Ben Rauch, were totally on a roll: practically every sketch in this 90+% improvised show landed solidly on target. There was a game of Jeopardy (a long-running bit at CCL) whose contestants were Fogarty as a pregnant Romanian schoolteacher, De Gise as a counselor, and Figenshu as a phone sex operator (occupations all courtesy of audience suggestions, mind you); a one-act play about Orpheus's plan to fly to the sun performed in styles ranging from Shakespeare and Hip-Hop to Scorsese and Sex and the City; a deliciously convoluted group storytelling bit in which Fogarty played a lab technician who falls in love with Schiffman's miraculously straight-arrow gas station attendant; and of course the signature CCL finale, dubbed "Torture the Actor," in which one of the performers has to guess an uncommon phrase suggested by someone in the audience based only on clues provided, often charades-style, by her fellow CCL-ers. The phrase of this particular night: illegitimi non carborundum.

Maybe the highlight of the evening, though, was Schiffman's set, in which he chatted with folks in the audience and then composed and sang faux-folk songs about them. The results were an unexpected treat, I imagine, for the army accountant from Fort Bragg and the husband and wife from Atlanta who came in to see a show and left having become mini-celebrities for the evening as the subjects of Schiffman's clever ditties.

It amounted to a delightful, light-hearted evening, one of the best times I've ever had in my many visits to CCL. This company never lets us down: they provide smart, topical humor that never lapses into vulgarity and seldom even stoops to cheap laughs; they're inventive and fresh even within the confines of improv styles and games they've been working on and perfecting for, yes, decades; they're respectful of their audiences and genuinely seem to enjoy the challenge of entertaining us and each other for 90 fast-moving minutes.

Strike or no strike, they're one of the few sure things in the Theatre District, and that's saying a lot when the subject is comedy improv. Kudos to artistic director Paul Zuckerman for keeping this franchise at peak form for more than a decade.

--Martin Denton

read the review at NyTheatre.com

NY Times

Frisky risky business is afoot on First Avenue, where "America Idles," the 31st edition of the comedy revues of the improvisational troupe Chicago City Limits, is hip deep in mischief.

Laying claim to a run of nearly 24 years, more than 8,500 performances and the longest-running-production-in-New-York crown, Chicago City Limits derives its appeal from a variety of sources. The audience takes part in the act, suggesting material that the actors turn into songs and sketches. That material is unpredictable. The audience has the fun of watching actors faced with daunting challenges rise above what seems like inevitable disaster, and the actors themselves experience a palpable exhilaration perhaps comparable to escaping a straitjacket anchored to the ocean floor.

The results may not always be Shakespearean, Puccinian or Mel Brooksian. But given an audience armed with good-natured sadism, the experience offers an enjoyable mixture of tension and humor.

Here and there in the show, with Frank Spitznagel's spirited and eclectic piano accompaniment, prefabricated topical songs and sketches of varying quality turn up. Like the latest Capitol Steps revue at the John Houseman , "America Idles" uses the music ""Maria" from "West Side Story" as the underpinning for lyrics that dig at Washington by saying, "Korea, I just want a war with Korea." And the music of "All That Jazz" from "Chicago" enlivens lyrics that address New York's budget problems.

But the pleasures of this Chicago City Limits performance, directed by Paul Zuckerman and Joe DeGise II, arise from the segments when the cast of four invite the audience to provide a place name (Miami) and a characteristic (likes sports) and action and activities (hits the ground and eating carrots) and proceeds to build a song from these ingredients. Or for further example, when they manage to play a coherent scene that starts and ends with lines given at the outset by the audience while leaving holes in the dialogue for the audience to fill in. Or when they construct a musical with characters, including a mother, teenage daughter, psychiatrist and neurotic patient, out of an audience member's factual account of a minor automobile accident en route to summer camp. Or a grand finale called, simply, "Torture the Actors."

The commendable daredevils who subject themselves to such challenges on a Thursday through Saturday schedule are Tara Copeland, Michael Leffingwell, Rob Schiffmann and Mr. DeGise.

Like most actors they suffer for their art, and this show invites their audience to enjoy watching them do it.

-LAWRENCE VAN GELDER

NYTheatre

...For my money, the best part of any CCL show is the "torture the actor" finale, in which one of the four cast members has to guess an unusual or obscure phrase, abetted only by clues provided by his castmates. The phrase on this particular night was particularly tough as it was in Latin; DeGise valiantly managed to stitch it together in about 20 minutes, syllable by syllable (e.g., "spiritus" was conveyed in parts as a synonym for ghosts + a colloquial term for the derriere). This game is always great fun, thanks to the quick-witted cast, not to mention the comforting effects of schadenfreude as we watch the designated victim squirm.

I've said it before and I'll say it again now: in terms of consistent, funny, warm-hearted comedy, CCL is unmatched among the improv groups...

--Martin Denton 12/30/2004

read the entire review at NyTheatre.com

Talkin' Broadway

...The most engaging parts of the show are the improvisational numbers, which provide the cast with the opportunity to stretch creatively and show off their talents. At the same time, these pieces illustrate the most exhilarating part of an improvisational comedy show - because the cast takes its cues and shapes its improvisational pieces around audience suggestions, the audience members have the chance not only to watch the actors create comedy before their eyes, but to participate directly in the creative act...

Read the entire article at www.talkinbroadway.com

NYTheatre.com

With Chicago City Limits Directors' Cut, New York's longest-running comedy troupe once again gives us a smart, sophisticated and satisfying evening out. The current regular cast includes Tara Copeland, Joe De Gise II, Rob Schiffman, and Victor Varnado, with Frank Spitznagel on piano, Jay Stern on lights, and director Paul Zuckerman behind-the-scenes. The mostly-improvised sketches and songs that these seven people create together at each performance are always entertaining and, well over half the time, very funny. No wonder these folks have been in business for more than 22 years. If you've been to a CCL show before, then you won't be much surprised by the evening's itinerary. There's a musical created on-the-spot from an anecdote shared by one of the members of the audience. (At the performance attended, it concerned a young woman who fell down a flight of stairs at her best friend's house at four o'clock in the morning, an event that probably doesn't suggest to you the comic possibilities it did to the CCL gang; that's why they're the comics and we're the audience.) The centerpiece of Act One is the long-running "Jeopardy" sketch, in which three improbable contestants (in this case, a beautician, Superman, and a headhunter--the kind that hunts for human heads, that is) make up silly answers to questions called out by spectators.

And the Act Two finale, likewise, is still the "Torture-the-Actor" game where one CCL-er has to guess, from wacky pantomimed clues, a weird saying suggested by someone in the house.

New to the CCL format this time around are some clever, high-tech-inspired bits, such as one in which a scene is played out in alternative styles using a "rewind" button, and another in which some of the actors review and comment upon their own work from earlier in the show, captured on video and projected on a big screen on stage. Video is also used for transitions between scenes, which is most effective; there are also some wonderful old silent comedies from nearly a hundred years ago (Chaplin and Keaton at the show I attended) to pass the time before the show and during intermission.

Missing, interestingly, are any topical or political sketches: no Bush, no Bloomberg, no Bin Laden. A good move, I'd say, especially given that satire has never been CCL's strong suit. They're best at high-energy, low-impact comedy, the kind that never insults the audience's intelligence and never resorts to cheap jokes or vulgarity to win laughs. Chicago City Limits is still the most consistently quick-witted and good-natured improv show in town.

Citysearch

Jump In
Improv hit the big time with "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" But the real magic occurs live nightly as skilled actors spontaneously generate entire shows without the aid of editors. With 20 year's to its credit, Chicago City Limits now boasts a fresh and funny ensemble able to elicit guffaws from bad puns, strange props, and timely references.

Method to the Madness
Games are central: A "Jeopardy" parody gets categories and answers from the audience; a musical is based on a ticketbuyer's anecdote. This interactive element strengthens the connection between players and viewers by making external input as crucial as the onstage talent. In tune with the times, the troupe has gone multi-media with silly short films replacing scripted interludes. High tech or low brow, veteran funnyman Victor Varnado (the "Best Albino") steals the show.

NYTheatre.com

by Martin Denton

My third trip in as many years to Chicago City Limits convinces me that New York's longest-running comedy troupe is unstoppable. Even at a late night show on a hot, humid summer evening; even with two replacement cast members on hand (Stephen Barrett subbing for Joe DeGise II and Danny Glover subbing for Victor Varnado); even with things not always going smoothly or well, Chicago City Limits never fails to deliver a polished, entertaining, crowd-pleasing, and--above all--funny performance. Their professionalism is unflagging: though some of the quips fall flat and some of the flubs feel forced, there's always wit in abundance and--thankfully--things never get vulgar or dumb.

The new show at Chicago City Limits is called Chicago City Limits Turns 20: Now and Forever...And We Mean It! Not surprisingly, it's a lot like their last show, which was called Y2K, You're OK (these titles don't actually mean anything). There's a small amount of scripted sketch comedy, mostly of the blackout variety, including a cute mini-musical about the travails of poor Elian Gonzales, a clever sketch about contemporary dating techniques set in an elevator, and--a rare misfire--a politically-loaded bit about the NYPD that parodies the musical Chicago without much success.

Better are the improvised bits, which incorporate suggestions shouted out by the audience to produce comedy ranging from desperate to mildly amusing to--a remarkable percentage of the time--hilarious. Signature bits are back, like the parody of Jeopardy and the nail-biting finale in which one cast member has to guess an obscure phrase using only the (wildly bizarre) improvised clues provided by his/her co-stars. At the performance reviewed, one of the best piecees was the "theatre styles" improv, in which a play about a young man and his frisbee got performed as if it were written by Arthur Miller, Dr. Seuss, Bernard Shaw, David Mamet, and a heavy metal rock band. (It's always a joy to see Carl Kissin do Mametspeak: absolutely dead-on.)

New to the canon are a '30s-style radio drama (funny, but a little long), and a presidential debate between two fringe candidates, in this case a wigged-out Peace Corps volunteer (played brilliantly by Stephen Barrett) and a middle-aged Jewish man (almost as funny, played by Kissin). They took questions from the audience about topics ranging from the Microsoft breakup to the USAir/United merger; their answers were consistently clever and amusing.

For me, the best part of watching Chicago City Limits is to marvel at pros at the very top of their craft: Denny Seigel and Kissin, especially, have such dexterous comic muscles that almost no impending catastrophe cannot be overcome with a well-timed quip or change in direction. Frank Spitznagel, the show's musical director, is invaluable too, as are director Paul Zuckerman and the unbilled technical wizards who work lights and sound. Barrett and Glover acquitted themselves nicely as well: if they're collaborative instincts aren't on par with Kissin and Seigel's, their comedy chops are nevertheless impressive, with Glover very funny doing sign language interpretation during the presidential debate skit and Barrett revealing a monumental gift for characterization as the Peace Corps volunteer and, elsewhere, as a very strange ventriloquist.

I don't see sketch comedy/improv that much, but for my money there's no better purveyor of it than Chicago City Limits. Whenever you go--and no matter how often, I think--you're pretty much assured of clever, lively entertainment. Here's to 20 more years... and I mean it.

Time Out New York

By Greg Emmanuel

Long May You Run. Chicago City Limits recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. How does the troupe do it? Two words: Hard work. CCL performs seven shows a week (the latest is titled Chicago City Limits Turns 20: Now and Forever... and We Mean It!). Thanks to a tried-and-true format (sketches interspersed with improvised bits) and talented four-person cast (Joe DeGise II, Carl Kissin, Denny Siegel, and Victor Varnado), there's hardly a dull moment. It's still a treat to see CCL improvise a short musical inspired by something that recently happened to an audience member. I knoow "Joe the accountant" never imagined his car accident could be so funny.

New York Post

By Chip Deffaa

The city's most famous improv troupe, Chicago City Limits, has launched its 20th season in excellent trim.

Its current members -- Carl Kissin, Victor Varnado, Denny Siegel, and Joe DeGise II -- are impressively well-matched: funny, facile, and good-natured.

I used to worry that Chicago City Limits was resting on its laurels, settling for some too-casy, smart-alecky laughs.

But this current group of improvisers can spin almost any audience input (from a problem involving Viagra to the Million Youth March) into entertainment that's full of surprises and suitable for nearly all ages.

Even when given input by audience members that could elicit coarse, obvious humor, these guys take the high road.

A case in point: During a recent performance of the group's current show "Y2K, You're OK," an 18-year-old drama student in the audience told how she and a classmate had just seen a man exposing himself in Central Park.

From this dicey starting point, the Chicagoans concocted well-plotted scene after scene.

They started by depicting the gals bemoaning the lack of boyfriends at theri school ("all these self-absorbed, misfit acting types") and heading to Central Park in search of "regular guys.

Then a second plot was introduced, involving a fellow at Gambers Anonymous and John Lennon's ghost.

The disparate strands eventually were woven together, with a clever explanation devised for how the gals had not seen what they thought they had, but rather had misconstrued something entirely innocent.

In another bit, following audience demands, the group switched mid-scene from performing in the style of Shakespeare to the style of Woody Allen (with Kissen, as Allen, groveling neurotically, while the house pianist, Frank Spitznagel, grandly offered Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue").

Even at the lower moments, there was always a wonderful sense of anticipation: What would these playful performers create next?

NYTheatre.com

by Martin Denton

Any sketch comedy show can consider itself a success if its batting average is better than .500; for a good improv show, the acceptable ratio of hits to misses can be even lower. Which is why Chicago City Limits, now in their 20th year in New York City, is such an awesome troupe: their stuff lands right on target way more than half the time. I recently caught their latest show, which is trendily titled Y2K, You're OK. As expected, I laughed and laughed and laughed.

Chicago City Limits keeps the format simple: a mixture of scripted, topical sketches and improvised pieces incorporating suggestions from the audience comprise the two-hour, two-act show. In Act One they solicit our input to create a play in varying theatre styles (the night I went they ranged from David Mamet, which they did superbly, to Tennessee Williams, which they handled with somewhat less assurance). There's also a Jeopardy sketch, in which the "contestants" provide answers to questions shouted out by members of the audience. (Sample: To the answer "2 B.C.," one of the quick-witted "contestants" came up with "What was the date when Joseph was still trying to get Mary's phone number?")

The nimble, irreverent tone continues through Act Two's pair of set pieces. First, a brief interview with a volunteer from the audience provides all the material that's needed to create an improvised musical based on his or her life. And then, for the finale, one of the four Chicago City Limits players is elected to identify an unusual phrase or motto supplied by someone in the audience, using only the (sometimes far-fetched) clues provided by the other three performers. This segment, at once hilarious and awe-inspiring, typifies what's best about the folks at Chicago City Limits: their dextrous, fast-working minds; their keen wit; and, most important, their dazzling instincts as showpeople. These performers know what works and what doesn't, and--what's more--they almost never have to resort to hoary schtick or coarse, crass, lowest-common-denominator material just to keep the laughs coming. The humor at a Chicago City Limits show, unlike lots of other sketch and/or improv comedy, is consistently adult, topical, intelligent, and sophisticated.

And, of course, it's different every time: that's why you can keep coming back. And one thing more: Chicago City Limits gives you a lot of show for your money: a $20 ticket buys you nearly two hours of their exceptional brand of original, on-the-spot comedy.

The cast of Chicago City Limits is, at the moment, Joe DeGise II, Carl Kissin, Denny Siegel, and Victor Varnado, all of whom are virtuosic and invaluable. Accompanying them on piano is Frank Spitznagel (he performs an enormously clever millennium-themed song to open the show, as well). Huzzahs to each and every one, and to executive producer-director-writer Paul Zuckerman, who keeps the magic flowing from behind-the-scenes.

Time Out New York

By Greg Emmanuel

This troupe has been in New York for more than 20 years (at least various incarnations of it), and its longevity is a sign of the kind of performances it continues to put on four nights a week in its very own east-side theater. The latest CCL show, Y2K, You're OK, is no exception. Joe DeGise II, Carl Kissin, Denny Siegel, and Victor Varnado string together classic improv routines around skits that deal with American culture and politics on the eve of the millenium. If you've seen Whose Line is it Anyway?, you'll recognize these basic improvs. (In fact, Siegel appears on that show.) Audience members participate by yelling out fodder for the players to act out. At a recent performance, the troupe turned a teen's night out and subsequent fight with his mother into an uproarious musical. Go on down and have these four spin your boring life into real comedy.