Logan Square Improv

Logan Square Improv is turning 5 years old! To celebrate, we are embarking on our first fundraising campaign and capping it off with a jam-packed week of awesome shows from November 1st through November 5th. We hope to see you there!

Who We Are

LSI is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit improv theater located in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago. We focus on producing quality improv comedy shows and accessible educational programming for the Logan Square and Avondale communities. All our shows are a $5 admission, and our classes cost about 55%-65% of a typical longform improv theater class in Chicago. We are committed to keeping LSI programming accessible to all because of improvisation’s historical roots as social work. To make this possible, producers and performers alike donate their time and talents to provide our patrons with a one-of-a-kind comedy experience seven nights a week. (Photo credit: @bmccarthyphotovideo)

What We’ve Done

Logan Square Improv first opened its doors on November 1st, 2018, for our inaugural Thursday Show. The startup costs for the theater were provided out-of-pocket by the founders of LSI.

Since then, we’ve produced almost a thousand shows at the theater and taught hundreds of students in our class program. In 2019, LSI was named Best New Theater Company by The Chicago Reader and has been a finalist for Best Venue for Improv every year since. Additionally, we are so grateful to have received community support via local media throughout our five years, such as this piece written by Bailey Holtz.

Like all theaters, LSI was impacted by the pandemic. In March 2020, LSI temporarily shut down programming due to Covid. We worked hard to maintain our lease through lockdown and various city mandates to ensure we could open our doors back up as quickly and safely as possible for Logan Square and the Chicago improv community. After over 15 months of closure, LSI reopened in July 2021 to a sold-out house! Since then, we have surpassed our pre-Covid audience averages.

In our five years of operation, we have constantly tried to improve the theater so that it can best serve the community. In addition to ongoing programming changes and offerings, we have made several capital improvements to LSI’s physical space. Some of these updates are obvious, like the addition of our second bathroom, while others are almost invisible but vital, like repairing structural beams in the basement. All these updates have been done with no disruption to our programming, and though costly, we are proud to say that we prioritize keeping the theater safe, clean, and accessible to anyone who walks through our doors.

Of all that we’ve done since 2018, we are most proud to support mission-driven shows and community service programming in Logan Square. We have donated the theater’s space, time, and money to several fundraising efforts and partnered with community-based organizations for the following:

What We Will Do With the Money

We believe the financial barrier to accessing great improv shows and classes should be low. Regardless of how much money we raise here, we are committed to keeping our show ticket and class costs as affordable as possible so that anyone interested in improv can find a home at LSI. Your donation to this fundraiser will go a long way to help us do that while maintaining the operation and evolution of the theater.

On top of that, we have several projects/improvements on the horizon that we would like to fund.

Final Thoughts

Your money is hard-earned, and so many organizations are worthy of giving to. We ask that you consider donating to LSI for this 5-year anniversary campaign (side note: because we are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, your donation can be written off on your taxes!). It would also be immensely helpful if you could share this campaign on social media or personally to friends, family, and companies you think might be interested in giving!

If you cannot donate, we’d still love to see you at the theater for our 5-year celebration. Tickets are available at logansquareimprov.com.

Finally, if you have ever seen a show, taken a class, or performed at Logan Square Improv, thank you. This theater has grown more than we thought possible five years ago, and it’s only through countless people’s time, energy, and patronage that we are lucky enough to be looking five years ahead. We’ll see you in November!