The Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival (Chicago SketchFest) is the largest sketch comedy festival in the nation. Similar to previous years, the festival plans to showcase performances by more than 100 sketch comedy groups over a two week period. While many of the participating groups will be Chicago-based, the festival will also include groups from across the country and around the world.

"The excitement surrounding this event increases every year," says Executive Producer Brian Posen. "Once again, for two weeks in January - maybe just when Chicagoans need it most - we will bring funny to Chicago with more than 800 comic performers in one location over two weeks. We are proud to offer audiences a chance to see a variety of the best sketch comedy in the nation under one roof."

Sketch comedy, which consists of short, satirical scripted scenes, is especially popular in Chicago, home of The Second City and other sketch training and performance institutions. Chicago lays claim to dozens of sketch comedy groups, both established troupes and newcomers to the scene. "You'll see a lot of local Chicago troupes at SketchFest," says Posen. "We include many of the bigger name Chicago troupes - groups that have many years of experience, critical respect and a good audience following. But we are also eager to promote newer groups that show great potential. We help the newer groups reach new audiences, showcase their talents, and give them the experience of performing alongside veteran talent. It makes us very happy to see groups that had their first big audiences at SketchFest go on to develop their own following. And we see it every year."

SketchFest will also feature top national and international sketch groups. Previous years have included groups from New York, Boston, Philly, Miami, San Fransisco, Minnesota, Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle, Austin, Denver, Toronto and Vancouver. When asked what the SketchFest staff looks for in selecting its lineup, Posen replied that they seek excellence and variety. "We look for remarkably talented performers - not only as comic performers, but the performers must be talented as writers and storytellers, too. Unlike improvisational theater, the often-confused sibling of sketch comedy, sketch performances are scripted, making good writing essential. Additionally, we make sure the selected performers represent a variety of themes and styles."

In addition to performances by participating groups, a number of special events are part of the Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival. They include:

- OctaSketch: The Eight Hour Project. This annual popular event is an experiment in creating comedy under pressure. Teams are created featuring performers from different sketch groups and often different cities. These performers are paired with a top sketch director and given eight hours to create a 30-minute show to be performed that evening - Monday, January 8th at 8PM.

- Sketchubator, Saturday nights following the performances, is a fast-paced open-mic event where SketchFest participants have five minutes to try out a new scene or concept in front of an audience. This proves helpful in allowing performers and writers to see how an idea or scene would work.

- MasterSketch workshops on Saturday afternoons allow participating groups to perform one sketch in front of a panel of industry experts, their fellow performers and other audience members. The panel will then give feedback and suggestions in a Master Class format.

By www.theatrebuildingchicago.org