Alex Prichodko With Logan Square Improv

Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studio in Chicago, Illinois, it’s time for Chicago Business Radio brought to you by Firm Space, your private sanctuary for productivity and growth. To learn more, go to Firmespace.com. Now here’s your host.

Max Kantor: [00:00:21] Hi everybody, and welcome to Chicago Business Radio. I’m your host, Max Kantor. And before we get started, just want to give a shout out to our sponsor Firmspace. Without Firmspace we couldn’t be sharing these important stories with you. So thank you so much to Firmspace. Today, I have a very fun guest. He is the co-founder of Logan Square Improv. His name is Alex Prichodko. Welcome to the show, Alex.

Alex Prochodko: [00:00:46] Hey, thanks for having me.

Max Kantor: [00:00:47] I want to make sure I totally forgot to ask you, Is that how you pronounce your last name? Did I nail it?

Alex Prochodko: [00:00:53] Yeah, I like that. No one’s ever sounded it out that segmented. But you, it helped you. That was right.

Max Kantor: [00:00:59] Excellent. Excellent. That’s always the goal. So welcome to the show. Excited to talk about Logan Square improv? Tell me, how did Logan Square improv get started?

Alex Prochodko: [00:01:09] Well, me and my buddy, Andrew Lemina were the co-founders of Logan Square, and we were just taking improv classes here in Chicago. We moved up here in twenty sixteen and just doing some independent shows around the city, and then we decided that we wanted to start our own show, which was the Thursday show, and that was started out of a bar in Lakeview called Finley Dones. And they just have a little event space. In the back of the bar is like a sports bar, cool place. And we ran that show for like six months there. And it was it was awesome. We learned a ton. And then so November of twenty eighteen, we decided to open up our own space.

Max Kantor: [00:01:52] Awesome. So did you move to Chicago with the purpose of being a improviser on comedian?

Alex Prochodko: [00:01:59] Yes, I was. I was doing improv and standup in Indianapolis, where I’m from since since after college. And then just as I grew more passionate about comedy and learned that Chicago is kind of the mecca for improv, I wanted to come here and take classes at Io Second City Annoyance CIC. And so, yeah, just made the move in twenty sixteen and kind of just drove right into it, definitely.

Max Kantor: [00:02:28] And so you come to Chicago, you start taking classes. Where did that entrepreneurial spirit come from for you? So instead of, you know, staying with maybe second city and working the way up there, you guys said, we’re going to do our own thing, our own show and eventually lead to our own, our own theater. Where did that come from?

Alex Prochodko: [00:02:47] That’s a good question. I think I think part of it came from where we were at in our improv careers, Andrew and I, which was still pretty new, just like a couple of years in. And so like I had Harold teams and we weren’t on a house team there, so we weren’t doing like regular shows at Io or Second City or we’re doing regular shows nowhere. So we were just kind of like us and our peers. We’re just kind of doing shows wherever we could alongside taking classes. So I think we just kind of realized that we could. If we found a space, we could put on a show and just learn the ins and outs of putting on a show and just went for it so that we could perform regularly and give performance opportunities to other people around around our time in the improv process.

Max Kantor: [00:03:40] Yeah, definitely. I love that. Were there any obstacles that you guys came across in starting your own improv theater?

Alex Prochodko: [00:03:48] Oh, yeah. I mean, thousands of obstacles, but nothing, nothing huge, that obviously has been insurmountable, but, you know, finding the right space. We we actually opened our first base in November 2018 and then moved to a new space in April of twenty nineteen. So we were only at that first place for six months. And just kind of the more that we learned about the physical space kind of realized it wasn’t going to work for the summer, like the AC unit couldn’t keep up and there were some electrical issues. So so we kind of like dove into it and because of that. Found out that we hadn’t checked all the boxes because we didn’t know any better. So yeah, it’s been a concept and we’re still just learning about our theater and about the administrative parts of running a theater too. So it’s a constant learning process for sure.

Max Kantor: [00:04:47] Yeah, definitely. How how did you go about making sure that your theater could stand out in a unique way in the Chicago comedy space? Because, like you mentioned, Chicago’s kind of the mecca of improv of sketch. So you have so many different teams, theaters, comedians, what’d you guys do to stand out and make yourself unique?

Alex Prochodko: [00:05:08] Uh, yeah, good question. One of the things that we did was open in Logan Square. So all of those theaters that you just mentioned are on the east side of the river, you know, like Lakeview or Lincoln Park. And so we noticed that when we were taking classes and everything and we had a bunch of friends who lived in Logan Square Wicker Park Avenue area. So that was just that was one thing that we noticed when we were deciding like where to open for theater. And then also, I think something that sets us apart from the beginning was that we don’t have house teams. So a lot of improv theaters kind of have the model where you go through classes and then you can audition for house teams, which have regular shows at the theater. And we early on just decided that we didn’t want to run that kind of process and like be be responsible for auditions and selecting people. So we do have a class program, but as far as all the shows that happen at LSI, they are independent teams or sometimes house teams from other theater, other theaters of just people that we know and we like. And so we have like just our rotating cast of performers is just anybody that we know who does improv in the Chicago area. So that’s one thing that I think is unique about us, and I really like how we operate that way.

Max Kantor: [00:06:37] Yeah, definitely. It sounds like it’s a great way for new improvisers people getting involved to kind of find their network and start making friends. You guys give them the opportunity to do that.

Alex Prochodko: [00:06:49] Oh, absolutely. Yeah, there’s I mean, there’s so many people, so many performers who roll through our theater on any given weekend. It’s as running a lot of the shows. It’s just fun to see everybody come through and and also have new performers in the theater. And then, yeah, our class program brings a lot of new people that we get to meet from the Logan Square area, which is awesome. And we also have a couple we have a like an open show. So if you’re an improviser, you can come and just sign up and play on that show. It’s it Sundays at seven. And so that’s awesome and met a bunch of cool people at that show, too.

Max Kantor: [00:07:29] Definitely. Speaking of your classes, are your classes geared towards people who are brand new to improv and never done it, or more experienced improvisers who have taken other classes elsewhere?

Alex Prochodko: [00:07:42] Yeah, we have had several people who have other improv experience take our classes, but I would say the majority of the people who start taking classes at LSI are fairly new to the improv, to improv in general. And so, yeah, it’s designed so that you have to you don’t need to have any experience. And then, yeah, we it’s three levels, and then we also give two shows to each class per level. So like if you’re in level one, you have no improv experience at all. By week seven, we have you doing one of our shows, the Thursday show that I that I mentioned before.

Max Kantor: [00:08:25] Yeah, and that’s awesome, because not only are you giving people a chance to be educated improv, but you’re giving them a chance to actually get in front of a live audience and perform, which is is super important to comedy and to improv and to sketch and to all of that.

Alex Prochodko: [00:08:41] Absolutely. Yeah, we we believe that that’s it’s really important and we believe it’s important and that people are capable of. And that’s been proven like all of our level one class shows. Literally every single one has been just a joy to watch. And there’s been no like, Oh, they’re not ready to do a show like we we like. Andrew Lemmer are my co-founder. He’s the level one teacher, and he gets these classes ready to do like really fun improv shows. So it’s just a cool testament that that everybody has it in them to be a good improviser, which is something that we really believe.

Max Kantor: [00:09:20] What would you say is the most rewarding part of owning your own theater for you?

Alex Prochodko: [00:09:31] I would say. Just, well, we love running improv shows and seeing people have. Positive experiences watching and performing on shows so like that happens every every weekend, and that’s like a constant thing that we remind ourselves like, Hey, this is really cool this this show was awesome. The audience loved it. The performers had a great time onstage, like, what more can you ask for? So that that is definitely something that is like always around and that joy is always in in the room, and we try to try our best to be welcoming to anybody who walks in in in our theater too. So like meeting new people from the from the community who are just coming to watch a show and some people who have never seen improv but just saw the sign and just kind of like shepherding them and like introducing them to improv. That’s awesome, too. And then also, like I said before, just watching the people who are taking our class programs go from nothing, no improv experience to doing like an objectively good improv show. That’s that’s something that’s hard to beat, for sure. Definitely. As a teacher.

Max Kantor: [00:10:44] Oh, for sure. And now I know with the pandemic of COVID, I know I oh, closed, you know, other improv theaters totally online. How did you guys and Logan Square improv cope with COVID 19?

Alex Prochodko: [00:11:02] Yeah. I mean, it was tough, just like for everybody. We we were very fortunate one in that we are not a huge theater and we don’t really want to be a huge theater. We’re always going to be like a one room theater. So our expenses were not close to some of those bigger theaters. But we did still have to pay our rent and everything. And one thing that really, I would say saved us is we have this patron program. If you’ve heard of like a membership program for creative endeavors typically, and we had that before the pandemic and our program basically is it’s like a five dollar membership per month and you can see as many shows at the theater as you want. And we had built that up and we had we have a good amount of patrons, I think, like one hundred and sixty or something like that. And so that like. We were really, really lucky in that, and we’re grateful that most of the people who are on that membership kept their membership throughout the pandemic, even though, you know, we obviously weren’t doing live shows. So that really helped us having that little bit of income come in helped us to be able to stay afloat just as as like a corporation. And so that we could we could reopen and keep our same space.

Max Kantor: [00:12:19] Yeah, for sure. And it sounds to me the fact that they kept renewing their membership is amazing. It just shows the type of environment that you guys are creating. Having it be a safe, welcoming space for people to perform, people who love performing and watching the performance, the fact that your crowd kind of stayed with you the whole pandemic, that’s a true testament to the theater you created.

Alex Prochodko: [00:12:43] Yeah, yeah. We were really, really, really blown away with how many people like stuck with us and everyone. Everyone was having a tough time during that pandemic. And so the fact that you have people financially still made that commitment, it was really, really a special thing.

Max Kantor: [00:13:00] And now that we’re on the other side, I mean, hopefully fingers crossed of the whole pandemic wave. I know. What do you need more of? How can our listeners help you in your theater?

Alex Prochodko: [00:13:12] Well, I would say I would say just anyone can just come by and see a show. The Thursday show is a free show. That’s that’s the show that we started way back when and Finley Duns, and that still is every Thursday at eight 30 p.m. And it’s always free. And so that is like to me, it’s a very accessible show. I feel like you don’t need to know anything about improv to have a good time. And we, yeah, we really are. One hundredth Thursday show is actually this week tomorrow. So that’s just funny timing. But I would say, like, just come to a show and talk to us. And you know, if if you think it’s a cool spot, just coming to more shows and then sign it for a class, if if it’s something that you’re interested in, but like really any level, like whether someone’s come and see seeing one show or they’re there every week and they’re like twenty dollar patrons like we just love having people we like to see. People have a good time watching improv and performing improv. That’s really what we’re about.

Max Kantor: [00:14:15] Yeah, definitely. And I can tell you seem very passionate about that, and it’s awesome hearing you talk about it. And so if our listeners are interested in donating to the Patreon or seeing shows taking classes, what’s the best way they can reach you?

Alex Prochodko: [00:14:31] Yeah, yeah. So our our email for most of those contacts are as LS I at Logan Square Improv and we also have a contact form on our website. Logan Square. Improbable.com So either those two ways, either Andrew or I will see that right away or you can you can also connect with us on Facebook or Instagram. Yeah, it’s we have a pretty small operation, so if you contact us through one of those one of those avenues, then we’ll see it right away.

Max Kantor: [00:15:03] That’s awesome. Well, Alex, thank you so much again for being on the show. I’m glad we got to talk to you about your story and also about Logan Square improv.

Alex Prochodko: [00:15:12] Yeah, thanks for having me. I really appreciate it.

Max Kantor: [00:15:13] Of, of course, and thanks to you for listening to another episode of Chicago Business Radio. I’m your host, Max Cantor, and we’ll see you next time.

Intro: [00:15:23] This episode is Chicago Business Radio has been brought to you by firm SpaceX, your private sanctuary for productivity and growth. To learn more, go to Firme Space.com.