#31 - See One of My Favorite Comedians Live

Oh dang! I didn't even realize I did this one! 

I've been a Ben Schwartz fan since Parks & Rec, but my fandom deepened in the pandemic with Middleditch & Schwartz, Space Force, and The Afterparty. Schwartz's work is just wildly fun, playful, and smart. 

Because I became such a fan, I was so excited when Instagram let me know he was coming to Chicago for a show with "friends." I had no idea what that meant (well, I guessed it was probably long-form improv), but I jumped at buying two floor tickets at the Chicago Theater.

It took me longer to find someone to go with me, but eventually, my reliable adventure buddy Stephanie Souvenir agreed to come along.

It was, indeed, long-form improv. Schwartz's friends for the Chicago show were Jessica McKenna, Colton Dunn (of Superstore), and Drew Tarver (of The Other Two, which I love).

One unique part of this show was that they did not allow recording of any kind, even pictures. Ben told us this was a time to be present and witness a show that would be only for us in that room, no one else. I kinda loved that we got to share a unique experience together.

End of the show snap. I promise I didn't break the rules.

Because of that rule, I won't share details of the show itself, but I am going to describe a little bit about how it works (in case you haven't seen Middleditch & Schwartz). For long-form improv, the performers interview people in the audience until they find a "meaty" story with enough fun details to improv a show based on the conversation. They probably talked to 4-6 people in our audience before having a 5-10 minute convo with a small group near the front to hear about a recent experience of theirs in the city.

Then, the performers gave us an hour-long improv show based only on things that came up in that conversation or from the improv itself, just four of them rotating, moving, playing off each other. 

It was a ton of fun, and I would definitely go again with such high-quality performers. Great time!