Under the Gun Theater

Under the Gun Theater is a professional theater company located in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by Angie McMahon and Kevin Mullaney, Under the Gun is a sketch and improvisational comedy theater which opened in Chicago's Lake View community in 2014.^[2] The theater is also known for its interactive show Comedy Against Humanity based on the game Cards Against Humanity.

History

Under the Gun Theater had its origins in 2013. Kevin Mullaney, former artistic director at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York, and Angie McMahon, founding director of Chemically Imbalanced Comedy and a faculty member of The Second City,^[3] developed a partnership through a series Skype experiments they used to help set goals.^[4] As their friendship progressed, they decided to form a theater company. Initiating as an itinerant company, they created shows and produced them at various Chicago venues such as the Apollo Theater and The Second City.^[5]

Eventually McMahon and Mullaney settled on a building to create their own space. In an interview with DNAinfo Chicago, Mullaney shared that the goal of their theater was to create a comedy theater and not just an improv theater. He stated, “We're also going to do sketch and plays and musicals, storytelling, whatever we can think of. The common thread is comedy."^[5]

The current location of the theater is on the second floor of Links Hall located in Wrigleyville.^[2][4]

Ensemble

Under the Gun is an ensemble theater. Typically an ensemble-based company is formed by a group of artists (actors, directors, designers, playwrights, etc.) who work collaboratively to create each production. The theater currently has 36 members, 18 male and 18 female.^[3] It also includes visiting artists among its members. The directors and ensemble members had created several original written shows at the theatre’s inception: The Last Mall Santa,^[6] Halloween Hell House,^[2] and The Zombie Diaries.^[4] The theater’s improvised performances include shows such as Comedy Against Humanity, as well as Fucked Up Family Reunion—a show created by Good Morning Gitmo writer, Mishu Hilmy.

Comedy Against Humanity, which is an improvisational show inspired by the party game Cards Against Humanity, is one of Under the Gun Theater’s more successful shows. According to Drew Wancket of the Chicago Stage Standard, he considered it, “enormously funny, and the audience ate it up.” Wancket went on to write, “With IO moving south, Under The Gun is positioning itself to be the new force for comedy on the North Side.”^[7]

In April of 2015, the Under the Gun Theater created Swarm of Spoilers, a parody show based on George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones series. The comedic play recaps the previous four seasons of television show and premiered the Friday before HBO aired the first episode of its fifth season. Kevin Mullaney, who directed Swarm of Spoilers, stated: "I'm somebody who's very sensitive about spoilers, so I wanted to make sure it was very clear from the title." The final production included 45 of the series' characters, and was played by an 18-person ensemble.^[8]

See also

• Cards Against Humanity
• Theater in Chicago
• Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre

References

External links

• Official Under the Gun Theater Website
• Official Twitter Account

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