CIT 2007-2011 CHAMPIONS (& REGIONAL WINNERS) CIT 2010-2011 Dead Parrots Society Are The CIT 2010-2011 National Champions!!!
In just their second year in the CIT, Dead Parrots Society from Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA (about 300 miles north of Seattle), are the new College Improv Tournament's National Champions! The 5 person team, composed of 3 women and 2 men, won both their 3 team playoff match by a score of 11 to 1 to 0 and they won their 4 team title match by a score of 8 to 4 to 2 to 0. Upon hearing the news of their victory, all 5 members (4 seniors and 1 sophomore) began to cry tears of joy. After winning their first match, Dead Parrots Society could have played it safely, but instead in the title match they performed a different form than what they played in their playoff match. To top it off, this form was also a form of their own making. To do this in the title match was the artistic choice rather than the competitive choice and it paid off for them. The is the first time in CIT's 4 year history that a team outside the state of Illinois won the national title. 2nd place went to the physically energetic and playful Improv Mafia from Illinois State University. 3rd place went to the Cinderella story of this year's CIT, Droppin' $cience from Columbia College Chicago. 4th place went to the cerebral and confident 4 person team Seriously Bent from Suffolk University.
All 12 teams in the CIT Nationals had great sets as every team brought it hard and showed the best of what their team was about. The two Chicago based teams, Cosby Sweaters from DePaul University and Droppin' Science both got standing ovations in their playoff matches. That all the teams played so well made this the best CIT Nationals so far in its history. All the on-air talent, the co-anchors, the sideline reporters, the referee, and the musical director were all alumni of the CIT, as were some of the behind the scenes crew and staff.
The teams playing so well also made for some very difficult voting choices for the 12-14 judges who watched in person or the webcasts. Half the judges were in Chicago and the other half were all over the country watching online. After each match, the judges would either hand in or text in their votes to the CIT production assistants who would bring the votes to CIT Producer Jonathan Pitts who was onstage with the tally board. Besides having full houses for all 5 matches, this year's CIT Nationals were also webcast and were seen by over 4,000 people over the course of the day. The videos from all 5 webcasts have been posted on-line in their entirety on U-Stream. To watch any of those 5 match videos, please click: U-Stream
CIT 2010-2011 Final Results Nationals: 1st Place, Dead Parrots Society (Western Washington University); 2nd Place, Improv Mafia (Illinois State University); 3rd Place, Droppin' $cience (Columbia College Chicago); 4th Place, Seriously Bent (Suffolk University). Regional Winners: Bread Basket - Zoiks! (Emporia University); Chicago - Droppin' $cience (Columbia College Chicago); East Coast - Captain Soldier (New York University); Lower Midwest - Improv Mafia (Illinois State University); New England - Seriously Bent (Suffolk University); Northwest - Dead Parrots Society; South - Improv Athens (University of Georgia); Southwest - Spontaneous Combustion (Rice University); Upper Midwest - Unusual Suspects (University of Minnesota); West Coast - Barren Mind Improv (Arizona State University). Wild Cards - The Cosby Sweaters (DePaul University); Theatre Strike Force (University of Florida) CIT 2009-2010 To look at photos from CIT 2009, please click: Flickr
Congratulations to Daddy Mags, CIT 2009 Champions!
In the closest finals match so far in the CIT's 3 year history, The Titanic Player's Daddy Mags from Northwestern University won the title by half a point as they scored 100 points and just barely beat Seriously Bent from Suffolk University, who had scored 99.5 points. The 3rd place team was the surprising wild card team Faux Posse from Wheaton College, who scored 89.5 points. All three national play-offs matches and the national championship title round were performed in front of sold-out standing room only crowds. CIT had a major expansion in its third year, with 7 regionals and 72 teams that participated. Because the shows were taped for on-line viewing, there was no more need for commercial breaks, thus in match play every team was given a 25 minute slot to perform whichever style they wanted without interruption. The judging system went from voting on teams #1-4 to a scoring system that evaluated the teams based on 8 different improv skills. The CIT 2009 Nationals in 2 Minutes 41 Seconds! College Improv Tournament 2009 from Jon Cole on Vimeo. The Chicago Regional was won by The Titanic Players' Daddy Mags from Northwestern University. The East Coast Regional was held in Boston and was won by Seriously Bent from Suffolk University. The Midwest Regional was held in Chicago and was won by The Sunshine Scouts from Oberlin College. The Northwest Regional was held in Seattle and was won by Improvolution from Cornish College of the Arts. The South Regional was held in Atlanta and was won by Theatre Strike Force from Florida State University. The Southwest Regional was held in Austin and was won by Scatter! of the University of Houston. The West Coast Regional was held in Los Angeles and was won by Second Nature from the University of Southern California. The two wild card teams added in were Dangerbox from New York University and Faux Posse from Wheaton College. All of the Nationals' matches were webcast live on-line for free. The total viewing audience for the 4 matches was over 3,600 people. Over 2,500 people watched the finals on-line. The webcast also featured a chat-room for the viewers to talk to each other and twitter access to twitter for viewer updates. In the webcast, Jeff Griggs and Brett Lyons were the co-anchors, Sally Anderson, Wendy Mateo and Marz Timms were the sideline reporters and Jeremy Schaefer was the on-stage emcee. The CIT Nationals were shot by videographer Micah Philbrook. The CIT 2009 Midwest Regional Finals In 2 1/2 Minutes!! Get the Flash Player to see this player. Video by Jon Cole. CIT 2009 Final Results Nationals: 1st Place, Titanic Players (Northwestern University); 2nd Place, Seriously Bent (Suffolk University); 3rd Place, Faux Posse (Wheaton College). Regional Winners: Chicago - Titanic Players (Northwestern University); East Coast - Seriously Bent (Suffolk University); Midwest - The Sunshine Scouts (Oberlin College); Northwest - Improvolution (Cornish College of the Arts); South - Theatre Strike Force (University of Florida); Southwest - Scatter! (University of Houston); West Coast - Second Nature (University of Southern California). Wild Cards - Dangerbox (New York University) & Faux Posse (Wheaton College). CIT 2008-2009 To see videos from the CIT 2008 Nationals & Regionals, click: Videos
Congratulations to The Improv Mafia, CIT 2008 Champions!
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 score of 4-1. In CIT's second year, the tournament expanded to 3 regionals (East Coast/Boston; Midwest/Chicago; West Coast/Los Angeles) and 24 teams. The rules changed to strike more of a balance between long-form and short form. Every match had three rounds as each team had played one game, a musical scene, and a 10 minute Montage. Seriously Bent won the East Coast, The Improv Mafia won the Midwest, Second Nature won the West Coast and The Titanic Players' Matador Now was the wild card team. The Semi-Finals and Finals was shot live-to-tape using 4 HD cameras by Columbia College Chicago's TV Dept on location at ComedySportz Chicago. The co-anchors were Joe Bill and Mark Sutton and the sideline reporters were Chris Edwards and Jeremy Schaefer. In the audience, the teams' family and friends showed their support by wearing the team's school colors. CIT 2008's Nationals Opening Video Get the Flash Player to see this player. CIT 2008 Final Results Nationals: 1st Place, Improv Mafia (Illinois State University); 2nd Place, Seriously Bent (Suffolk University); 3rd Place [tied], Second Nature (University of Southern California) & Titanic Players (Northwestern University). Regionals: Chicago - Improv Mafia (Illinois State University); East Coast - Seriously Bent (Suffolk University); West Coast - Second Nature (University of Southern California); Wild Card - Titanic Players (Northwestern University). CIT 2007-2008 To see photos from the CIT 2007 tournament, click: 2007 Photos Congratulations to Old Tom Jar, CIT 2007 Champions!
Old Tom Jar, The Titanic Players Resident Team from Northwestern University, won the 1st annual College Improv Tournament national title, the CIT trophy cup, $1,500 from OSTN-TV, and a performance slot in the 2008 Chicago Improv Festival. The three-person team are all seniors and theatre majors at Northwestern University. The champion team members are Dan Foster, Britt Lower, and Katherine Palardy. They have been playing together for the last four years under the guidance of their director/coach Mike Abdelsayed. Palardy said shortly after winning, "This was one of the greatest weekends of my life!" 16 teams competed on a November weekend in Chicago. The 2nd place team was Awkward Silence from Indiana University. The two other final four teams were The Improv Mafia from Illinois State University and Seriously Bent from Suffolk University. For each match, every team had two 10 minute halves to play whatever form or style they preferred. The first round took place at Loyola University on Friday night. The Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals, and Finals took place Saturday and Sunday at Columbia College Chicago's TV Dept's studio with a 5 camera live-to-tape shoot. For the tv shoot, Mark Sutton and Joe Bill were the co-anchors, Marla Caceres and Amber Ruffin were the sideline reporters, and Jeremy Schaefer was the weatherman. CCC 2007's Opening Video Get the Flash Player to see this player. CIT 2007 Final Results Nationals: 1st Place, Titanic Players (Northwestern University); 2nd Place, Awkward Silence (Indiana University); 3rd Place [tied], Improv Mafia (Illinois State University) & Seriously Bent (Suffolk University). |
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