iO Theater Teen & Youth Improv Classes

iO Theater Teen & Youth Improv Classes are part of the iO Theater’s world-renowned training program for long form improv. The program is connected to the theater’s signature style of long form improvisation called The Harold and its year-long improv program that consists of five levels and a performance series. The training center that houses these classes also offers additional classes and workshops including sketch writing, pilot writing, stand-up, advanced improv, cartooning, and seasonal intensive programs.

• Schedule: Kitchen and bar at the venue open at 6pm Wednesday through Sunday, with shows typically starting at 7:30 and 9pm on weeknights and 8pm and 10pm on Friday and Saturday.

The iO Theater has existed since 1981 and is known as the home of longform improv. Its founders are Charna Halpern, Del Close, and David Sheperd, and its current owners are Larry Weiner and Scott Gendell. The theater changed its name to The iO Theater in 2001, moved its Chicago theater to a new location in 2014, closed in 2020 due to financial constraints related to the Covid-19 pandemic, and reopened on November 3, 2022 under new ownership and management. The theater’s training center states that it strives to be an inclusive artistic community for all and that there is no prerequisite for improv as long as a student has the desire to learn. The founders believed that simple theater games could be elevated to a new expressive art form, and the theater states that it is committed to the artistic vision and goals set forth by the founders and to elevating improv as an avant-garde art form. Businesses and schools use the tenets of long form improv developed at iO in settings such as medicine, law, entertainment, teaching, caregiving, science, and government.

Last updated April 18, 2026.