By Third Coast Review Staff
Chicago’s rich comedy and improv tradition takes center stage this weekend as iO Fest 2025 returns July 24-27 to the iO Theater with 120 comedic performances from all over the world. The fest features two more days of entertainment including workshops and special events. Homegrown Chicago talent and nationally recognized headliners are showcased in this year’s fest.
If you go, you can expect an eclectic blend of long-form improv, sharp sketch comedy, stand-up, experimental shows, and even live podcast recordings. The fest is your chance to experience the creativity and spontaneity that have made Chicago a global leader in comedy. All performances take place at iO Theater, 1501 N. Kingsbury St. Get tickets here. Our Third Coast Reviewers are attending shows throughout the weekend. Here are their capsule reviews from the first two days of the fest.
The Sloppy Boys
The Sloppy Boys lit up iO Fest with a surge of party rock energy, flipping the script on an improv-heavy weekend. The Los Angeles-based trio, Mike Hanford, Tim Kalpakis and Jeff Dutton, delivered a set that blended sharp comedy with infectious, high-energy songs that proved why they’ve built such a devoted following. Known for their podcast and tongue-in-cheek approach to music, the band brings a sense of unpredictability that feels tailor-made for an improv festival.
The iO Theater isn’t a concert hall, but that didn’t matter. Technical hiccups became part of the act as they leaned into the festival’s unpredictable spirit. When a microphone needed new batteries and a guitar reset briefly paused the set, the band kept the energy high with quick jokes and crowd work. “Everything tonight has been improvised,” they quipped before launching into “I’m One Hell of a Dude.”
Between songs, the trio delivered rapid-fire banter and absurd bits that had the audience laughing as hard as they were dancing. In one of the night’s standout moments, Slophead Dan Padley joined them on guitar for “Yuppie Man.” They ended with a rowdy encore of “Tom Collins,” closing a set that thrived on riffs, whether from their guitars or their quick-witted jokes. (Tumpale Mwakasisi)
Midwives—Plus Blast and Edie & Maggie
This year, iO Fest features the hilarious, all female, New York City-based team, Midwives. Midwives consists of members JR Atkinson, Baiz Hoen, Olivia Murphy, Noa Rosenburg, and Zoe Tanton. They began their set with a living room, which is a long-form opener where the improvisers have a conversation with each other onstage-- asking each other questions, sharing stories, and laughing together. It feels like you are watching a group of friends hanging out and you’re a part of the inside joke!
Performing before Midwives was the Chicago-based team, Blast. Their name says it all: they’re a blast! You can see them perform at 9pm every Monday at iO Theater. This team is sharp, wacky, and a ball of energy. Opening up this top-tier lineup in the Fremont Theater was a New York City musical improv duo, Edie & Maggie. They improvised four silly songs that were truly so catchy the audience simply had to join in singing the choruses and clapping along.
iO Fest has two more jam-packed days of incredible comedic acts. Get over there and pop into any of their many shows. If you unfortunately missed this funny line-up of women, follow them all on instagram @midwivesimprov, @blast_improv, and @edieandmaggie. (Erin Ryan)
Ladies Who Ranch
Ladies Who Ranch kicked off their show with the players singing "This land is your land" to a backup track, subbing in the lyric "ranch" wherever it would fit. The show takes place in the year "1870-something" with five drunk women at their local saloon, a historical riff on Sex and the City, if you will. The players undid their bonnets as sexily as a person can, and we met Sophie Zucker, Kelly Cooper, Caitlin Dullea, Maya Sharma, and Carol Yost. They began with a short game that was a crowd winner: Bring an audience member on stage, then make them cover their ears as the audience assigns each of the five players to be a different kind of therapist. What ensued was excellent physical comedy and various accents, as we met a pilot therapist equipped with tons of flight metaphors, a Broadway veteran, a serial cheater, and even an octopus. The audience members gave some difficult therapeutic situations for them to remedy, and honestly, the cast gave some pretty solid advice!
The short game transitioned into long-form improv, which lost its way at times but always kept the audience on its toes. There were lots of New York and Jersey accents and silly back and forth bits, but I couldn't tell you an actual situation they set up in the latter half of the show. Each scene blurred together, as the players made sweep edits to add their own riffs and played to each other's strengths by tapping players in by choice. Even though these ranchers' wagon got a little off track on their way out of the saloon, the audience still wholeheartedly enjoyed the ride.
Here's how these ladies sell their show. "The Ladies Who Ranch are a group of comedians who care deeply about uplifting women's voices, particularly their own. As artists, they create comedy that acknowledges the tension between the sterile media conversation around womanhood and the vibrant, complicated inner lives of women who don’t quite fit the mold society has made for them." We didn't really get to see them take on societal expectations for women in any substantive way, but it's always good to see ladies onstage going full-out. (Row Light)
2 Square
2 Square features Rob Janas and Peter Grosz in a show that more than lived up to its description: The show features “a kaleidoscope of scenes, absurdist transitional elements and callback—all while never once using a ‘sweep edit’ to get from scene to scene." The players were able to circumvent the easier option, clearing out an entire scene if it wasn't working, and instead made everything feel connected and fluid.
Originally billed to include John Lutz, the players didn't seem at all flummoxed by the change of plans, and they appeared as natural scene partners with a great rapport. Grosz's background in teaching improv comes across in his clear reverence for the form, and you may recognize him from numerous stage and screen roles over the years. Rob Janas also showcases his quick wit and easy character play, making him the perfect match for Grosz.
With a classically simple set for improv—a window and two doors, a few chairs, and purple and green lights—the players didn't let anything go to waste, popping in and out of the window French farce style. The show started with the suggestion of a song lyric: "Hit me baby one more time," by Britney Spears. What began with a scene on new fatherhood transitioned into a wrestling match, as the players divulged "how their wives don't touch them" and explained that "women aren't bad, they're just different." More gems came from this silly dude vibe, transitioning to a grandpa falling at a baseball game, resulting in lines that sounded straight out of a Taylor Swift song: "Don't wait till I'm gone to put me in your hall of fame."
The players used action and often a single word to transition scenes, moving from an empowerment conference to couples therapy to an improvised jazz band seamlessly. The audience was loving it all the while, and 45 minutes was the perfect length for this longform show. My personal favorite was the development of a Liz Taylor, Dwight Eisenhower, and Richard Burton love triangle, which ultimately excluded Liz and went full-in on the theme of dude-based loving. Well done! (Row Light)
Images courtesy of IO Fest or of the artists, unless identified otherwise.
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