about us
'We're glad you're here.'
Charles Grodin is a Chicago-based long form improvisational comedy troupe featuring Philip Amler, Eric Pedersen, Joe Hartenstine, James Tierney, and Lars Weborg. They have extensive performance experience playing in the city's vast primeval forest of comedy venues, including: Second City's de Maat Studio Theatre, The Playground, Chemically Imbalanced Comedy, Studio Be, Gorilla Tango, The Cornservatory, The Spot, Mullen's, Uncommon Ground, Underground Lounge, and Rumble Arts Center. Recently, they traveled to Bucknell University to teach a two day workshop and perform on campus.
Eric, James, Joe, Philip, and Lars
Charles Grodin honed their style with help from directors Andy St. Clair and Bill Arnett. Their shows do not follow a strict improv form; instead, Charles Grodin finds form on the fly, meaning that the shows come to exist as "worlds" unto themselves, with specific rules, characters, motifs, and themes. The first few scenes and occurrences are an unspoken promise to the audience as to the content they can expect to see throughout the piece. The show builds on itself, creating a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.
