Date of premiere 2009 | ||
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Genre Sketch comedy/Improvisation Location Santa Monica, California, U.S. | ||
M.I.'s Westside Comedy Theater (Formerly Westside Eclectic ) is a comedy club, theater, bar, and comedy training center located in Santa Monica, California.
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Company History
In the year 1998, six improvisers from the improv group Mission IMPROVable at UMASS Amherst moved to Chicago, Illinois and began honing their craft in the Great Comedy Mecca itself.
By the year 2000, the group began touring their short form comedy show and in 2001 they performed at NACA (National Association for Campus Activities) and hit it big! They began performing shows at colleges all across the country. Soon there after, the group grew hiring more improvisers so that they could cover more land in their van nicknamed "Vanarky".
In 2002 the first handful of M.I. guys came out to Los Angeles, California to develop a sketch pilot for MTV and were eventually (and rightfully so) beat out by Human Giant. However, they continued to be permanent fixtures on many of LA’s most popular comedy stages.
The theater though was founded in 2009 and opened its doors on April 1 that same year by former members of Mission IMPROVable, including Lloyd Ahlquist, co-creator of the YouTube series Epic Rap Battles of History. At the time of the theater's founding, Ahlquist served as general manager and artistic director. Co-founder Sean Casey took over for Ahlquist in 2011.
Notable past and present performers
Many comedians have performed at the theater, including; Cole Stratton, Alonzo Bodden, David Alan Grier, Tig Notaro, Kevin Pollak, Neal Brennan, Demetri Martin, Aziz Ansari, Bill Burr, Zach Galifianakis, Russell Peters, & Dave Chappelle.
Currently, Mission IMPROVable has over 50 members and performs over 350 shows a year from Hawaii to Singapore. M.I. Productions is also involved in projects for film, TV and created an alcohol awareness show A Shot of Reality for colleges and military bases across the country.
The founders appear together onstage at the theatre weekly in The Grind, a longform improv show.Theater information
The training center runs a six-level course in improvisational theatre and a two-level course in stand up comedy.
Anyone interested in taking classes or seeing shows in improvisational theatre or stand up comedy are advised to contact the theater in Santa Monica, California during their regular business hours or online at westsidecomedy.com