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The Annoyance Theatre, or Annoyance Productions, is a theatre and associated ensemble based in Chicago, Illinois, that deals mainly in absurd and outrageous humor. Many people who have performed with the ensemble have gone on to become successful stage and screen actors. Popular productions have included Co-Ed Prison Sluts and That Darned Antichrist. Annoyance Productions currently runs classes in improvisation, writing, musical improvisation, acting, and solo work.
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Edward Mitchell "Mitch" Rouse is an American film and television actor, director, and screenwriter. He is known for co-creating, Comedy Central's Exit 57 (1995–1996) and Strangers with Candy (1999–2000), with fellow The Second City alumni Stephen Colbert, Paul Dinello and Amy Sedaris. In 2008 he created and starred in Spike TV's comedy series Factory.
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Mark Levenson, a member of the Dramatists Guild of America, is a musical director for The Second City Detroit. Levenson helped open Second City Detroit in 1993. In addition to his work with The Second City Detroit, Levenson scored the hit Comedy Central series, Strangers with Candy. He has also written music for shows on MTV, VH-1, NBC and scored productions at both Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Levenson composed music for David Sedaris's two Off Broadway shows and numerous recording projects. He recently toured the country with Stephen Colbert, Amy Sedaris and Paul Dinello in their production of Wigfield, which concluded its run at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado.
Eric Forsberg is an American writer. He wrote and directed the feature film Mega Piranha, as well as the writer of the feature film Snakes on a Train, one of the first mockbusters produced and released by The Asylum. He also wrote the screenplays for 30,000 Leagues Under the Sea and War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave, also for The Asylum. He directed the film Alien Abduction which aired on Sci Fi Channel, as well as Night of the Dead which aired on Chiller TV. Other writer and director credits include the political thriller Torture Room, and the stoner comedy Sex Pot as well as Monster, Almighty Thor, Arachnoquake, and Age of the Hobbits. He also worked as a Co-Producer and assistant director on numerous films for Christopher Coppola and Alain Silver, including White Nights, Bel Air, and Palmer's Pickup. In his early years Forsberg was an improvisational comedy instructor at The Players Workshop and The Second City Training Center in Chicago.
Created in 1971 by Josephine Forsberg, The Players Workshop was Chicago's only official school of improvisation for over a decade. Although it was never officially a part of The Second City cabaret theater, The Players Workshop was often referred to as Players Workshop Of The Second City, due to the school's close affiliation with the famous sketch comedy stage. From 1971 through the mid-1990s, performers flocked to The Players Workshop to study improv with Josephine Forsberg, Linnea Forsberg, Martin de Maat, or one of the school's many other instructors, in the hopes of eventually getting onto The Second City mainstage.
References
- ↑ Scott, A. O. (2006-06-28). "Strangers With Candy - Review - Movies". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved 2018-02-15.
- ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-05-15. Retrieved 2010-04-17.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ↑ "Artist Corner: Greg Hollimon Interview". April 9, 2009. Archived from the original on August 29, 2021. Retrieved February 27, 2024.
