Cheeky, profane, irreverent and thoroughly original, the shows aren’t easily forgotten: “Co-Ed Prison Sluts.” “That Darned Antichrist.” “Tippi: Portrait of a Virgin (An Afternoon Special Gone Bad).”
Nor are the personalities. Mick Napier, churlish cigarette dangling perpetually from his lip, attacking curtain speeches by giving them. Susan Messing, embarking on a one-woman campaign to rid Chicago improv of sexism. Mark Sutton, constantly working every whacked-out aesthetic angle. And wild Joe Bill, mostly nuts.
Then there was that mean dude who was always on the door–the one who hated critics and treated the conga line of theater-goers cooling their heels down Clark Street like they were cattle at the slaughterhouse. I’ve repressed his name but still carry the scars.
It was the Annoyance Theatre: Uber-hip, always edgy, constantly packed. In its glory days, you could hear monologues by Jeff Garlin–long before Larry David changed his life. Andy Richter and Amy Sedaris were rolling around in there. All were in various states of disrepair. And all were in their youth and enjoying a bout of astonishing Chicago creativity.
But that was before the theater lost its Lakeview home in 2000. Before the famous home of “The Real Live Brady Bunch” was knocked down to make way for a darn parking lot. They’ve been years in the wilderness, cool kids.
Now the Annoyance is back–and spiffier than ever–with an all-new 110-seat theater. And it officially opens this weekend, assuming the liquor license has come through.
The operation is older and much sweeter. The theater looks a lot more plush (hardwood and all) than the utilitarian old digs. And the organization surely has greatly improved. But these folks are no sell-outs. For starters, the new Annoyance Theatre is located in the grittier Uptown (just a few doors up Broadway from the Green Mill), rather than Lakeview.
And then there are the shows. So, Mick Napier, what’s the title of the new main attraction in your spiffy theater?
“President Bush is a Great Man,” he says, grinning.
Hmm. More political than the anarchic old days. But the same sort of spirit.
Annoyance is, of course, banking on the hope that people remember them. That’s open to debate–audience tastes and the cast of characters change fast on the improv circuit. But Annoyance has been teaching students this whole time–improv classes abound in Chicago, and Annoyance is a brand name among insiders. Still, that’s not the same as in 1992, when Annoyance was producing 13 shows a week. Heck, “Co-Ed Prison Sluts” ran for years with most of its performances packed to the gills.
“We now have students,” says Annoyance leader (and Napier partner) Jennifer Estlin, “who have never seen any of our shows.”
That all should change. And being older and more successful has its advantages. Architect Gary Rudoren–an Annoyance company member and an accomplished, licensed architect–has designed, pro bono, a beautiful new theater replete with a bar on the street, a theater behind, and offices above. “You don’t usually see ceilings like these,” Rudoren says, looking over his work with pleasure. People associated with Annoyance have pretty much built the whole place by themselves.
Meanwhile, the over-40 version of bad-boy Napier–who has taken a turn toward the mainstream these last few years by directing a slew of widely acclaimed shows at Second City in Chicago, Las Vegas and Toronto–now has all kinds of varied experience at the top levels of comedy. He’s learned how to protect his integrity and still be funny–the kind of funny Joe Six Pack can understand.
Napier is busy, but Annoyance still is his baby. “This theater,” he says, smiling, “will be my main focus.” With no producers in his face, there he will surely be: Napier, unplugged and uncensored.
When Annoyance lost its old space in 2000, there was much talk of moving the Annoyance aesthetic into film. “I want to start distributing our stuff through digital technology,” Napier told me at the time. “It’s time to reinvent Annoyance.”
There were a few experiments by Sutton and others. Napier was involved in a couple of movies. But that big move to film and the Internet never really happened–in part because Chicago isn’t the best place to try that, and in part because the Annoyance people all had trained and worked in a theatrical medium. Now Napier and Estlin say they’ve belatedly realized that without the live experience, Annoyance isn’t really Annoyance.
The moniker means, in essence, original live shows created by an ensemble of players through improvisation. Most of its hits were scripted–albeit fluidly. And the focus always was on the individual scene rather than, say, the long-form improv found, then and now, at i.O. The Annoyance method was close in technique to Second City–which was why Napier made such a smooth and easy transition.
But Annoyance could and did take a lot more risks than Second City, which has always had to please a more mainstream audience. Annoyance could afford not to give a damn about the suburbs.
More than any other Chicago company, Annoyance cultivated and popularized the campy, pop-culture parody. Even though it consisted of little more than reading actual screenplays of the sitcom, “The Real Live Brady Bunch” was a huge hit in Chicago and beyond, spawning many imitators.
And what now? The multi-show weekly calendar is still in development, but it will follow the same formula of different and several shows a day, mostly around 75 minutes long.
Messing is back–her new show, “Messing With a Friend” already is slated for the late-night Thursday slot. There’s a new improv show. And a scripted piece about life as a bike messenger called “58.”
But instead of asking you to BYOB in a paper bag, Annoyance will now serve you a cocktail in a bar that seems likely to become a new improv-lovers hangout–and maybe help re-establish the Uptown entertainment district.
“We’re 10 years down the line,” says Estlin. “It’s up to us to figure out what we now have to say.”
Then again, “Co-Ed Prison Sluts” might come back. For the pleasure and edification of a whole new generation.
WHAT: The new Annoyance Theatre
Where: 4840 N. Broadway
More info: Call 773-561-4665 or visit www.theannoyance.com for a schedule of shows
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cjones5@tribune.com
