Usually, at this time of year, Ebenezer Scrooge learns the true meaning of Christmas. Funnily enough, trios of Christmas ghosts regularly haunt all kinds of grumpy people - and you get to watch it happen live! Back by popular demand, each 45-minute show of An Improvised Christmas Carol drags a new curmudgeon - who hates something the audience loves - through a hilarious journey of self-reflection. You'll laugh, you'll gasp, you'll sing along! This holiday season, pull up your easy chair, grab a mug of hot cocoa, and don't miss the cozy, fully improvised, made-for-television-but-appearing-on-stage special that is An Improvised Christmas Carol!

Calling all 90s kids! This show is for you. Each week Chicago’s hottest comedians share PowerPoints on their favorite 90s obsessions, while the audience battles over trivia from Boy Bands to Beanie Babies. Hosted by Colette Gregory and Bren Tran, this show mixes comedy, crowdwork, and (your favorite 90s) crushes into a wild night that will make you forget you’re grown!

One virgin (maybe two, only seems fair), one miracle, one night only! A child is born! Witness the Nativity of our Savior, Jesus H. Christ, only at The Annoyance Theatre. Jesus isn’t anywhere else - we checked.

The Annoyance's very own musical ensembles. They sing funny songs. Off the top of their heads. Every Tuesday at 8.

Usually, at this time of year, Ebenezer Scrooge learns the true meaning of Christmas. Funnily enough, trios of Christmas ghosts regularly haunt all kinds of grumpy people - and you get to watch it happen live! Back by popular demand, each 45-minute show of An Improvised Christmas Carol drags a new curmudgeon - who hates something the audience loves - through a hilarious journey of self-reflection. You'll laugh, you'll gasp, you'll sing along! This holiday season, pull up your easy chair, grab a mug of hot cocoa, and don't miss the cozy, fully improvised, made-for-television-but-appearing-on-stage special that is An Improvised Christmas Carol!

You've been summoned...to laugh.

Jury Duty is a fully improvised courtroom comedy where the only thing on trial is sanity itself.

Each night, the cast creates a brand new legal disaster based on audience suggestion, questionable logic, and total chaos. Watch as the foreperson loses their mind, evidence makes things worse, and deliberations go off the rails.

No script, no rules, no justice. Just comedy

The trial is fake, the laughs are real

All the way from its one-year run in Los Angeles comes a brand new team built for Chicago! It's Asshole's Advocate, the court room show for situations that can't be taken to court. This improv show is based off the highly popular subreddit, Am I the Asshole. This long-standing online forum is where millions of people post their awkward social dilemmas or petty revenge and ask if they are the asshole in the situation. We take it a step further and bring in evidence and witnesses to prove that they are or are not the asshole. 

Fishbowl hosted by Sight Unseen is a two act improv show. First, Annoyance students get a chance to enter their IDs into a fishbowl to be randomly selected to perform in an improv jam with veteran Annoyance teachers and performers. The night closes with a set from Sight Unseen - an Annoyance house team that prides itself on being equal parts heartwarming and offensive.

Step into the one glamorous but now lovingly frayed Blue Velvet Lounge, where the only thing not improvised are the jazz standards crooned by lounge singer Seth Lowry. As Seth’s velvet voice fades, the ensemble sweeps in, spinning spontaneous scenes inspired directly by the songs just performed. One moment, you’re eavesdropping on the eccentric regulars tucked into the lounge’s candlelit corners; the next, you’re whisked far beyond the club to follow the unexpected lives of the characters you just met—bartenders with secret ambitions, mysterious strangers with tangled pasts, and dreamers who stepped into the Blue Velvet for reasons they can’t quite explain. Playful, surprising, and steeped in a retro-cool vibe, this show blends live music and improvised storytelling into a one-of-a-kind night where every note inspires a new twist—and every visit to the Blue Velvet reveals something you’ve never seen before.

Step into the one glamorous but now lovingly frayed Blue Velvet Lounge, where the only thing not improvised are the jazz standards crooned by lounge singer Seth Lowry. As Seth’s velvet voice fades, the ensemble sweeps in, spinning spontaneous scenes inspired directly by the songs just performed. One moment, you’re eavesdropping on the eccentric regulars tucked into the lounge’s candlelit corners; the next, you’re whisked far beyond the club to follow the unexpected lives of the characters you just met—bartenders with secret ambitions, mysterious strangers with tangled pasts, and dreamers who stepped into the Blue Velvet for reasons they can’t quite explain. Playful, surprising, and steeped in a retro-cool vibe, this show blends live music and improvised storytelling into a one-of-a-kind night where every note inspires a new twist—and every visit to the Blue Velvet reveals something you’ve never seen before.

Oh, we're keeping the yuletides GAY! Join us for a queer take on the classic A Christmas Carol as some of your favorite characters from the hit summer show "Steamworks the Musical" navigate the past, present, and future while trying to save the building from being destroyed by an evil Grinch! 

Written by Connor James Hirsch, Noah Lanos, Nathan Wetter, and Ryan Brown , "A Very Steamworks Christmas" is coming back for its second year after a sold-out run in 2024. 

Brand new sketch comedy every week from one of Chicago's premiere sketch teams.

Hail and well met, traveler! Grab a drink, put up your cloak, and I’ll tell you a tale. Escapades is a completely improvised choose-your-own adventure. Sprinkled throughout each story are opportunities for the audience to vote on what happens next. Whether we’re riding jetpacks on Mars or a unicorn through a gumdrop forest, you’re guaranteed a night of gasps, laughs, twists, turns, and daring rescues. Excelsior!

A Chicago based improv comedy show and drinking game based on the works of Alfred Hitchcock.

See a collage of character studies, scenes, songs and maybe even some audience interaction, all written in a week by some of Chicago’s most accomplished comedians. The “Holy Fuck Comedy Hour” is a curated hour of eclectic, comedic material written in a week with no rehearsals. Featuring a powerful collective representing a wide cross-section of the Chicago comedy community, the material varies every week.