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

Start your weekends early with Cafe Lounge Underwater, Thursdays at The Annoyance!

Cafe Lounge Underwater is a sketch show that feels like a great house party. There’s dancing, music, drinks, and of course, laughs. Join Caroline Burke, Tom Phelan, and Maryrose Sheridan as they perform sketches from their monthly show run!

After two sold-out runs at Chicago’s Annoyance Theatre and features in the Chicago Sketchfest and Miami Improv Festival, Cafe Lounge Underwater brings a brand new show that will have you asking, “when can we all hang out next?”

Gifted Children Winter Break is a three person holiday sketch show from AJ Hernandez-Sortore, Alex Limarzi, and Miranda Bianchi. The Gifted Children will take you on a winter wonderland journey through Santa’s Workshop, Whoville and of course, a really big hill. This show will have 100s of festive lines, and presents for all!

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.

Four teams. One night. One take. Join us for One Take, a night of monoscenes! Each team will perform an entirely improvised extended scene with no sweeps, edits, or openings. 

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 Lowery. 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.

WOAH! NEW EVERY MONTH. A raucous. raunchy, sometimes juvenile but always funny sketch show that will make your daddy give your mommy a pearl necklace... to clutch. Get tickets now, they're selling faster than a Stewie doll at Spencer's. DM: @Antivirginclub proof you bought tickets and we will draw you boobs.

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.

Join us for a showcase of game-based improv based on The Annoyance Theatre's collaboration with Face Off Unlimited. The course has explored techniques to empower the improviser in professional work beyond The Annoyance and Chicago, and into a world where product is queen. This Showcase will be a celebration of all things game-based improv (short form). Think Who's Line Is It Anyway or ComedySportz, with an Annoyance twist.

Saturday 5:30 pm

*No ticket required

*Any money collected will be considered a donation to The Annoyance's Scholarship Funds

What even is Hanukkah? And how the hell do you spell it?? "OY!" is back with sketches, songs, and improv from an all-Jewish cast exploring the customs and cultures that bring Jews together all over the world, while also celebrating Jewish joy and traditions. So get off your tuchus and come celebrate the holidays with us!

Mentalism meets improv comedy in the entirely unique form created by Annoyance founder Mick Napier. There is truly nothing else like it.

In this 90-minute original Christmas musical, a high school drama teacher is tasked with writing an award-winning musical to restore the scandal-plagued school's reputation - and save his job. Along the way, he faces the challenges of directing a difficult cast of teenagers, dealing with a gym teacher determined to see him fail, an impossible-to-please principal, visits from the ghost of Charles Dickens, and the taunts of a pop star.

Kath Courtney and Rockie Wenrich are: Father Figures! Two dudes with the ability to fill you with holiday cheer, be fuckable, and die before you really get the chance to understand them. Special thanks, as always, to Chelsea Matkins. Made for fathers and DILF-enjoyers everywhere.

An hour long comedy show featuring some of Annoyance Theatre’s best and funniest.

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. 

A bunch of grown-ass adults get high and play make believe.

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!

Celebrate a showcase of Annoyance Students! See what we've been working on during the term and witness the growth of our student artists!

Specific class slots TBD

General slots:

AP1 4pm

AP2 5pm

AP3 6pm

AP4 7pm

AP5 8pm

MI1 9pm

MI2 9:30pm

MI3 10pm

Sunday 4:00pm - 10:00pm FREE

*No ticket required

*Any money collected will be considered a donation to The Annoyance's Scholarship Funds

 “Paint & Pyro” is a fast-paced, 60 minute stand-up comedy showdown where five comics each perform a tight individual 5–6 minute set while painting live onstage, racing the clock and each other. When the brushes stop, the audience votes the best finished portrait and chooses the worst one to be dramatically burned in the alley, blending comedy, chaos, and creative destruction into one unforgettable spectacle.  

In AP5 and MI3, students work with their instructor/director to collaborate as an ensemble and create an original improvised show. Come see these ensembles as they perform a run of shows!

Sundays 7pm

*No ticket required

*Any money collected will be considered a donation to The Annoyance's Scholarship Funds