iO Presents: Campfire (2019)
Spooky IMPROV???? Sounds like too good to be true? Well...it isn’t. Anyone who frequents the Chicago improv scene will be familiar with the iO Theater. It is a staple of long form improv and the launching pad for many famous comedians. The improv is there is top notch, so they can make you laugh...but can they spook you? This was a question my friend and I sought answers for on yesterdays chilly October night. The Campfire is reminiscent of childhood ghost stories of old, traditionally told around a campfire. Special guests would come up and tell a personal ghost story (so lie) and the Improvisers would do a series of scenes based off of the stories. These stories ranged from ghost brothers to dreams about birds and each one was spooky. The legitimacy of “real ghost stories” is obviously brought into questions but the spooks cannot be denied. True or not, these stories sure were spooky. I even had to stay up late watching YouTube videos on my phone I was so spooked. I watched a video of a guy making a chair, then I watched a couple Jim Henson interviews, then I watched a review of the Goosebumps TV Show (the very same show I reviewed mere DAYS ago!) My favorite guest speaker at Campfire was this guy who looked like Andre the Giant if he was normal sized. He was a Chicago Haunted Tours guide and he told us a historic story about a fire at the Iroquois Theater. This guy was slingin ZINGERS left and right. But for every zinger, he had a spook. The biggest spook was this ancient death whistle (Mayan in origin, I believe.) And he blew that puppy and BOY HOWDY was is spooktacular.
Spook-O-Meter: 🎃 🎃 🎃 🎃 🎃 🎃 🎃 🎃