I.O. West
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into I.O.. (Discuss) |
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 it's Hollywood location since October 2001.
[edit] 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.
- Main Article: I.O.
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.[1]
[edit] The Real World: Hollywood
In the third episode of The Real World: Hollywood, 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.[2][3]
