No Intermission

I’m interviewing the artists who run the organizations that make up Chicago’s theatre scene to hear about their history and recent work, and to learn about how they’re adapting to the challenges of COVID-19.

You can donate to these companies through the websites provided in the episode links!

John Stoops is the Executive Director of The Revival, a theater and education company that uses improvisation and its underlying skill set to affect personal, professional, and social change both at home in Chicago and around the world. The company is located in Hyde Park, which is often considered the birthplace of modern improvisational comedy.

John began his career working in advertising, but after taking employer-sponsored improv classes at The Second City and realizing how much he enjoyed it, he began performing around the city and even moved to Amsterdam to join an improv group at one point. After 17 years in advertising, John left the industry and created The Revival, which officially opened in 2015.

As an arts organization on the south side of Chicago, The Revival has prioritized gathering an ensemble of teachers and collaborators that reflect the diverse community that it serves. While much of Chicago theatre is situated on the north side of the city and tends to draw in largely white audiences, The Revival has laid the foundations to be an organization that stays engaged with a wider demographic.

In this episode, John tells us about finding his way from advertising to the performing arts — and back agin, and then back again — as well as what sets the Revival apart, and how learning improv can serve people who are pursuing pretty much any career path.