All Against One & One Against All
CIT 2008 ARCHIVES
To see video from the National & Regionals, please click: 2008 Video
UPDATES 2008 Update: 1/25/09
CIT's 2008 National Champion The Improv Mafia from Illinois State University received an article from the Daily Vidette about their title win. To read the article that also profiles the team, please click: Daily Vidette. Update: 11/17/08
Congratulations to The Improv Mafia from Illinois State University on becoming the National Champions on the 2008 College Improv Tournament! To win in the finals, they beat a very strong squad, Seriously Bent from Boston's Suffolk University. It was a close match as the judges scored it 3-2. To get to the finals, The Improv Mafia was victorious by the judges' score of 4-1 over Second Nature from University of Southern California. Seriously Bent got into the finals by being victorius over The Titanic Player's Matador Now from Northwestern University with a judges' score of 4-1. CIF Productions' Executive Director Jonathan Pitts said after the tournament, "This year's tournament and nationals were great! Because of the feedback we got from the coaches and players in last year's tournament, as well as our own obsverations, we made some changes in the format for this year, and the changes seemed to work very well. We were aiming to have a tournament that could find and reward the best all-around team. In our final four, we had two long-form teams, one short-form team, and one team that does everything, so clearly our format wasn't slanted toward one style over another. We also had a panel of judges that balanced each other out with long-form, short form and all-around expierence and expertise. Interestingly enough, the team that won was the team that identifies itself as a team that does everything. In fact, last weekend, they were performing improvised one-act plays on their campus." Congratulations to all 4 teams for a great final four, and to all 24 teams for a great tournament! Congratulations and thanks as well to CIT's great partners: Columbia College Chicago's Television Department, ComedySportz Chicago, Improv Asylum, RooftopComedy.com, and The Westside Eclectic. Here's to CIT 2009!!!
Update: 11/14/08
Get the Flash Player to see this player. Update: 11/4/08
CIT's 2008 Midwest Regional Champ The Improv Mafia from Illinois State University, receives an article about their victory in the Daily Vidette, to read it, please click: Daily Vidette. Update: 10/29/08
The field for the final four is now set with the National Semi-Finals and Finals happening on Saturday, November 15th @ ComedySports Chicago (929 W. Belmont Ave.) Semi-Finals #1 @ 11am: Seriously Bent from Suffolk University versus The Titanic Players' Matador Now from Northwestern University. Semi-Finals #2 @ 12:30pm: The Improv Mafia from Illinois State University versus Second Nature from University of Southern California. Finals @ 2pm: Teams TBA Update: 10/26/08
Congratulations to Second Nature from the University of Southern California as last night the won the West Coast Regionals title. The judges voted 3-0 in their favor. The regionals took place in front of full houses at the Westside Eclectic in Los Angeles, CA. Congratulations also to ComedySportz LA College Team and Laser Squad Bravo from Loyola Marymont University as they tied for 2nd place. CIF Productions Executive Director Jonathan Pitts said, "We had a great West Coast Regionals! All six teams brought it 100%! The Westside Eclectic was really good to work with and we are looking forward to future West Coast Regionals." Next up is the National Semi-Finals and Finals on Saturday, November 15. To see photos from the West Coast Regionals, please click: WC Regionals
Update: 10/23/08
CIT's 2008 East Coast Regional Champ, Seriously Bent from Suffolk University, received an article about their victory in the Suffolk Voice, to read it, please click: Suffolk Voice. Update: 10/20/08
Congratulations to The Improv Mafia from Illinois State University as last Saturday night they won the Midwest Regional title. 2nd place went to The Titanic Player's Matador Now from Northwestern University. The judges' votes were split 1-1-1. To decide who won the title, the tournament's officials looked at the over-all points score, and Improv Mafia won by a very tight score of 46-43. It was the closest match in the tournament's two year history. Both teams will compete in the National Semi-Finals, but there will only be a re-match if they both win and then meet in the National Finals The Midwest Regional finals also featured The Cosby Sweaters from DePaul University and The Titanic Players' The Founders from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. All four teams had won their prior rounds. CIF Productions' Executive Director Jonathan Pitts said, "We had a great Midwest Regionals. The final round was the best match we've had so far in our tournament's two year history! All four teams were great and they all played with so much energy, skills and talent. It was a joy to watch!" To see photos from the Midwest Regionals, please click: MW Regionals
Update: 10/14/08
Congratulations to Seriously Bent from Suffolk University as last Saturday night, they captured the East Coast Regionals title. They played against University of Florida's Theatre Strike Force in front of a full house at Boston's Improv Asylum! The judges voted 3-0 in favor of Seriously Bent. Seriously Bent, the East Coast champs, moves into the National Semi-Finals on 11/15/08 in Chicago at Comedysportz and they will play in the 11am slot versus a team from the midwest (TBA). Congratulations also to Theatre Strike Force for coming in 2nd place. Both teams had great shows and they both won their first rounds in order to make it to the finals. CIF Productions' Executive Director Jonathan Pitts said, "This was a great regional, as all 8 teams did really good work! Thanks to Improv Asylum for being a great co-presenter! Thanks to Improv Asylum's Norm Laviolette, Improv Boston's Will Luera, Boston Globe's Nick Zanio, and Maura Tighe Casting's Melissa Paradice for being such fine judges. Thanks also to Julia Gustafson for being a fun and energetic emcee/referee. This is the first year for doing the East Coast Regionals in Boston, and we all plan to do it all again here in Boston next fall!" To see photos from the East Coast Regionals, please click: EC Regionals
Update: 10/7/08
The match schedules for all 3 Regionals (East Coast, Midwest, and East Coast) are now available. Please click: Regional Matches. Update: 8/31/08
If you have a college improv team and you would like to participate in the 2008 College Comedy Championship, it's easy to send in a submission. There are no submission fees and no registrations fee. It's free for your team to participate! To submit if your team competed in last year's tournament: Please send an email to CIT's Assistant Producer Chris Edwards and notify him that your team wants to participate in this year's tournament. He will send you an email stating which Region Final has been chosen for you. To submit if you are a new team to the tournament: Please post a 10 minute video of your team performing live. The tape can be posted on I-Films, Myspace, Youtube, or on your team's website. The performance must have been shot with one camera and have no edits. Please email CIT's Assistant Producer Chris Edwards with your contact information, team name, college affiliation, and a link to your online video. When your entry is received, you will get an email confirmation notice. All teams participating in the tournament agree to compete in the nearest Regional Final at their own expense. The Regional Finals winning teams also agree to travel at their own expense to participate in the National Semi-Finals & Finals held in Chicago on November 15, 2008. Tournament Schedule East Coast Regionals @ Improv Asylum in Boston, MA
Midwest Regionals @ Northwestern University in Evanston, IL
West Coast Regionals @ Westside Eclectic in Los Angeles, CA.
National Semi-Finals & Finals @ ComedySportz in Chicago, IL
Tournament News *We've changed the event's name from the College Comedy Championship to the College Improv Tournament. *We're bigger this year! We have 32 teams, 3 Regional Finals, the National Semi-Finals and the National Finals. *To nationally produce this year's tournament, we have presenting partnerships with ComedySportz Chicago (Chicago), Improv Asylum (Boston), and Westside Eclectic (Los Angeles). *All 3 Regional Finals will be video-taped. The matches will then be posted on-line with our media partner RooftopComedy.com. *The National Semi-Finals & Finals will be filmed as 3 hour-long tv shows. They will be shot on location at ComedySportz Chicago in HD with 5 cameras. The 3 shows will be shot live to tape. We are proud to partner again with Columbia College Chicago's Television Department. These shows will be telecast on Chicago public TV. Tournament Play Regional Finals:
National Semi-Finals:
National Finals:
Format:
The Short Form is any game chosen by the team, but it can't go longer than 5 minutes. If it does, the emcee will stop the game. The emcee will give a notice when there is 30 seconds left. If the emcee calls time on the Short-Form, there is no penalty from the judges. The Mid-Form can be a Montage, Collage, Mono-Scene, or almost any format of the team's choosing, but it can't be a Harold. The Mid-Form can go under 10 minutes but it can't go over 10 minutes. At 10 minutes, the emcee will stop the Mid-Form. Under 10 minutes, the team can call their own ending. The emcee will give a notice when there is 1 minmute left. If the emcee calls time on the Mid-form, there is no penalty from the judges. The Musical/Rap Form can be any music/rap game or scene the team chooses to do. The team also chooses which style or styles they choose to sing or rap in. The Music/Rap Scene can't go past 5 minutes and if it does the emcee will stop the scene. The emcee will give a notice when there is 30 seconds left. If the emcee calls time on the Music/Rap Form, there is no penalty from the judges. Team Size:
Judging:
Tie-Breaker:
The Champs:
Update: 2/8/08
Today, OSTN-TV aired the first of seven hour-long episodes from the 2007 College Comedy Championships. These 7 episodes are being telecast to OSTN-TV's cable network of over 250 colleges in the USA. They will also be telecast to Canada and Great Britain. OSTN-TV's webmasters are currently working to post the 7 episodes on their web-site.
MATCHES 2008 National Finals & Semi-Finals
Semi-Finals #A @ 11am
Semi-Finals #B @ 12:30pm
Finals @ 2pm
NATIONAL CHAMPIONS:
Judges for the National Finals and Semi-Finals were The Playground's Executive Director Matt Barbera, ComedySportz teacher/performer Katherine Gotsick, pH Productions Artistic Director Jason Geis, CIF Artistic Associate & The Second City Training Center Conservatory teacher Nick Johne, and Director of the IO Training Center Rachael Mason. Regionals: WEST COAST Regionals
Round One @ 2pm:
Round One Winner:
Round Two @ 4pm:
Round Two Winner:
Wild Card Team:
Finals @ 6pm
WEST COAST CHAMPIONS
The West Coast Regional judges included Second City Training Center Los Angeles's Artistic Director Josh Funk, Mission Improvable's Aaron Krebs and Sean Monahan. The emcee is CIT '07 alumni Dan Foster. MIDWEST Regionals
Round One @ 12pm:
Round One Winner:
Round Two @ 2pm:
Round Two Winner:
Round Three @ 4pm:
Round Three Winner:
Round Four @ 6pm
Round Four Winner:
Finals @ 8pm
MIDWEST CHAMPIONS:
Wild Card Team:
The Midwest Regional judges included The Playgorund's Executive Director Matt Barbera, ComedySportz' Katherine Gotsick and DePaul University Theatre School's improv teacher Nick Johne. The emcee was CIT '07 alum Chris Edwards. EAST COAST Regionals
Round One @ 2pm
Round One Winner:
Round Two @ 4pm:
Round Two Winner:
Finals @ Midnight:
EAST COAST CHAMPIONS:
The East Coast Regional judges included Improv Asylum's Norm Laviolette, Improv Boston's Will Luera, Melissa Paradice from Tara Casting and The Boston Globe's comedy writer Nick Zanio. The emcee was CIT '07 alumni Julia Gustafson. TEAMS 2008
45Kings from Loyola University Chicago
PRESS 2008 Daily Vidette - Article, 11/6/08 ISU Improv Mafia To Compete Nationally
The ISU Improv Mafia squad won the Midwest Regional competition and will move on to compete in the National College Improv Tournament on Nov. 15 in Chicago. ISU will compete with teams representing Northwestern University, Suffolk University and the University of Southern California at the event, which is hosted by the Chicago Improv Festival. "All four groups participating are very established," Chris Bogue, senior Improv Mafia member, said. "The group from USC has done work with cast members from Reno 911." The competition consists of three parts- a short form, a mid form and a musical form. Every week the team works on new forms so their style is geared toward upcoming competitions. "The set-up of the competition allows us to basically do a condensed version of our weekly shows," Bogue said. "We try to bring a good variety of our improv team to the competitions," Keith Habersberger, Improv Mafia team captain, said. Seven of the 16 team members competed in the regional competition. "All of the members of the team have different styles and strengths, so we try to get a good mixture to make it more interesting." ISU was the only team at the regional without a coach. According to Bogue, the team reads a lot of books written by people who began the improvisation movement and mentored famous comedians such as John Belushi, Mike Myers and Bill Murray. "We're going out there without a coach but all of the Chicago improvisers write books and essays on improv. We read them to try to better understand what they want and what good improv is," Bogue said. The theme for this year's competition is a sports broadcast. Each school has been given 60 seats to fill, and their respective audiences will be dressed in the school's colors. "Each team has two anchors broadcasting the action," Habersberger said. "Each team will go back and forth doing their style and then be judged." The winner of the tournament will get to perform at the Aspen Comedy Festival in Aspen, Co., the largest comedy festival in the world. It will be broadcast on Comedy Central and will include famous comedians such as Dave Attell. "It's a really big honor to win," Bogue said. "All the groups are amazing. Whoever gets this coveted spot really worked hard for it." This is the Improv Mafia's 11th year at Illinois State. They have a free one-hour show every Tuesday at 8 p.m. in CVA 145. The team also has an improvised full-length play at the ISU Free Stage Festival on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday of this week. "We're always working towards something," Bogue said. Illinois State University - Press Release, 10/27/08 ISU's Improv Mafia Advances to National College Improvisation Tournament
All the regional competitions are over, the scores have been tallied and Illinois State University's Improv Mafia has reached the national College Improv Tournament, hosted by Chicago Improv Festival and set for Nov. 15 in Chicago. Now in its 11th year at Illinois State, Improv Mafia recently won the Midwest regionals, beating 11 other colleges and university in the tournament of the College Improv Tournament hosted by Chicago Improv Festival. Finishing second in the regionals was host school Northwestern University's The Titanic Player's Matador Now. Among other competitors were The Cosby Sweaters from DePaul University and The Titanic Players' The Founders from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In the national semifinals, to be held at ComedySportz Chicago, 929 W. Belmont Ave., Improv Mafia will face Seriously Bent from Suffolk University, winner of the East Coast regional. The other semifinal will pit West Coast regional winner Second Nature from University of Southern California against the team Improv Mafia beat, The Titanic Players' Matador Now from Northwestern University. Illinois State competitors at the tournament were Keith Habersberger of Bolingbrook, Michael Norris of Oak Lawn, Chris Bogue of Burbank, Ricky Haschemeyer of Quincy, Nick Klahs of Vernon Hills, Justin Triezenberg of Naperville and Annie Rix of Wheaton. The Suffolk Voice - Article, 10/21/08 Seriously Bent Named Best Improv Troupe In The East
Call them the Beasts of the East. Seriously Bent, Suffolk's improv comedy troupe, beat out seven other groups for the title of East Coast Regional Champions at the second annual National College Improv Championships on Saturday, October 11. They were crowned champions at midnight after winning in the initial round that afternoon. The Improv Competition was held at Boston's famed Improv Asylum. Seriously Bent defeated eight teams to seize the championship, some of which were from local colleges and universities. Improv teams from BU, Northeastern, and Emerson also competed. In the finals, the team finished off "Theatre Strike Force" from the University of Florida by a unanimous decision. The judges that day included Will Leura (Artistic Director of Improv Boston), Norm Laviolette (Artistic Director of Improv Asylum), and Nick Zanio (Boston Globe's comedy writer). Seriously Bent and Suffolk alumnus, Julia Gustafson ('08), hosted the event. Last year, the group made it to the quarterfinals of the nationals after receiving and accepting an invite to participate. Currently, they are working on fund raising for their trip to the National Semi-Finals and Finals in Chicago, IL on Saturday, Nov. 15. PARTNERS, CO-PRESENTERS, SPONSORS, & GRANTORS 2008 The 2nd annual College Improv Tournament is proud to work with such wonderful partners, co-presenters, and sponsors, as well as grateful to have recieved grants from such fine organizations. All of their participation and support helps make programs like the College Improv Tournament possible. Partners
Columbia College Chicago's Television Department *********
Co-Presentors
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Sponsors
Grantors City Arts Grants The Field Foundation Illinois Arts Council The Second City Foundation |
Productions