Mark Bolan, one of the founding ensemble members the Chicago outpost of ComedySportz, was killed in a car accident early Monday morning, the improv theater has confirmed.
Bolan, a 55-year-old married resident of Lombard, was the passenger in a car that was struck by a runaway tire from another vehicle. He was traveling on I-90 to Wisconsin on a fishing trip with a close friend, reports NBC Chicago. The driver of his car was not injured.
ComedySportz, which specializes in short-form, fast-moving improv games, originally opened in Milwaukee in 1984. Just a few years later, a Chicago theater sprung up as well, with Bolan as one of the company’s mainstays during the last 27 years before he retired in August.
Though not necessarily a name known outside improv circles, Bolan was an integral part of ComedySportz. Dave Gaudet, who is one of the theater’s owners and a founding ensemble member alongside Bolan, said that “Mark embodied this unique balance of playfulness and competitiveness that made him a fan favorite. We say this a lot about our ensemble: ComedySportz is a family, and Mark was its patriarch because you just knew what he was going to say was right. Nothing fazed him.”
When Bolan announced that he would be stepping back from things two months ago, he sent his colleagues a few words. “He said he’d always be there,” said Gaudet, reading from the note. “If we needed a sub, he’d be there. If we needed a driver, he’d be there.”
Despite announcing his retirement, Bolan was on stage as recently as last week, performing with Gaudet and another founding member. “We were in giggles because between the three of us we had almost 80 years of ComedySportz experience sitting on this bench, and we all still felt like we were 23.”
The theater says it will announce plans for a celebration of Bolan’s life in the coming weeks on their Facebook page (facebook.com/comedysportzchi).
