M.I.'s Westside Comedy Theater

M.I.'s Westside Comedy Theater
Genre	Sketch comedy/Improvisation
Date of premiere	2009
Location	Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Official website

M.I.'s Westside Comedy Theater (Formerly Westside Eclectic ) is a comedy club, theater, bar, and comedy training center located in Santa Monica, California.

In the year 1998, six improvisers from the improv group Mission IMPROVable at UMASS Amherst moved to Chicago, Illinois and began honing their craft in the Great Comedy Mecca itself.

By the year 2000, the group began touring their short form comedy show and in 2001 they performed at NACA (National Association for Campus Activities) and hit it big! They began performing shows at colleges all across the country. Soon there after, the group grew hiring more improvisers so that they could cover more land in their van nicknamed "Vanarky".

In 2002 the first handful of M.I. guys came out to Los Angeles, California to develop a sketch pilot for MTV and were eventually (and rightfully so) beat out by Human Giant. However, they continued to be permanent fixtures on many of LA’s most popular comedy stages.

The theater though was founded in 2009 and opened its doors on April 1 that same year by former members of Mission IMPROVable, including Lloyd Ahlquist, co-creator of the YouTube series Epic Rap Battles of History. At the time of the theater's founding, Ahlquist served as general manager and artistic director. Co-founder Sean Casey took over for Ahlquist in 2011.

Many comedians have performed at the theater, including; Cole Stratton, Alonzo Bodden, David Alan Grier, Tig Notaro, Kevin Pollak, Neal Brennan, Demetri Martin, Aziz Ansari, Bill Burr, Zach Galifianakis, Russell Peters, & Dave Chappelle.

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