I.O. West

The iO WEST, (formerly known as the "Improv Olympic West") is the Los Angeles branch of the iO in Chicago. The theater is located at 6366 Hollywood Blvd., in Hollywood, California. In addition to presenting improv and sketch comedy shows every night, the iO West has improv training classes and is the home for the Los Angeles Improv Comedy Festival. iO West, recently celebrated its 10th anniversary and has been performing in its Hollywood location since October 2001.

History

The i.O. was founded in the 1980s by Del Close and Charna Halpern in Chicago. The iO approaches improvisation as an art form in and of itself; this differs from the Second City approach, where improv is used as a tool in creating sketch comedy.

In 1997, Paul Vaillancourt opened a companion theater to the iO Chicago, then "Improv Olympic West," now iO WEST, in Los Angeles, California.

iO WEST’s two theater spaces -- the Main Stage, a two-level, 99-seat theatre, and the Andy Dick Black Box Theater -- features various stand-up, sketch, and improv shows nightly. iO WEST's training center offers long-form improv classes year-round. The iO WEST is also involved in the annual Los Angeles Improv Comedy Festival.

iO West's Artistic Director is James Grace.

The Real World: Hollywood

In the third episode of ', Andy Dick informed the cast they would be taking classes at IO West as their season-long group assignment. The cast's coach would be Charna Halpern. [ [http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?id=1586176&vid=229717 Video of Episode 3 of ' at mtv.com] ] [ [http://www.mtv.com/ontv/dyn/realworld-season20/episode/episode.jhtml?episodeId=134975#bio Summary page for Episode 3 of "The Real World: Hollywood" at mtv.com] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.iowest.com/ iO West - Official Site]
* [http://www.myspace.com/iowest/ The iO West MySpace page]
* [http://www.improvolympic.com/ The iO - The Original Chicago Theater]
* [http://www.iosouth.com/ The iO South - Improv in North Carolina]
* [http://home.comcast.net/~openingnight Opening Night: The Musical - iO West's Longest Running Musical Long-Form Improv Show]
* [http://www.trophywifeimprov.com/ Trophy Wife - The Official Site for Harold Team Masters, Trophy Wife]