Hump Night Interns

We have 6 more Hump Night shows before we take a break for the summer and I’d love to find a couple of interns to help out with the show. I’m looking for people to help by taking photos, posting to our social media and looking for ways to improve the overall experience for our audience. We only have 6 shows left, so it’s not a long commitment. If you’d like to also take the upcoming Game of the Scene class or summer Improv Boot Camp for free that can be arranged or just do it to help out with the show. We can use the help! Just fill in the form below and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can (answering the question is optional).

Please share this with your friends if you know of someone who might be interested.

Photos from July 17 Hump Night

Some photos from last week’s Hump Night. Tonight’s show will be the last Hump Night of the summer. We return in September. More details to come.

Last Hump Night of the Summer!

This is the last Hump Night of the summer. We won’t be back until September so be sure to come down and check us out. Thanks!

humpnightposterHump Night returns this week with another great lineup of standup, improv, music, and storytelling.
7:30 – The Improv Hour
The improv hour features teams of players coached by Kevin Mullaney

  • Pancakes Tonight! with Will Meinen, Oopey Mason, David Prouty, Danielle Bluford, Shana Weinstein and Alex Frenkel
  • Richard and the Kids with Richard Scruggs, Jude Tedmori, Kyle Reinhard, Alex Hanpeter, Bethanie John, Matt Pina
  • Delicately Seasoned with Grant Grieshaber, Sara Cardon, Caitlin Wilson, Alex Romero, Jeff Jackel, Phil Caron, Dan de Dios
8:30 – The Variety Hour
Standup, storytelling, music, sketch and occasionally some improv.

  • Stand Up by Collin Bullock
  • Storytelling by Don Hall
  • Solo Performance by Amrita Dhaliwal
  • Musical Guest Sad Banana
  • Solo Performance by Lindsay Williams
9:45 – Mullaney Chain
Kevin invites a great improvisor to play, who invites a third, who invites a fourth who invites one more. This week’s guests:

  • Colleen Doyle
  • Alison Gates

Please RSVP on Facebook!

Hump Night, July 17th

humpnightposterHump Night returns this week with another great lineup of standup, improv, music, and storytelling.
7:30 – The Improv Hour
The improv hour features teams of players coached by Kevin Mullaney

  • Pancakes Tonght! with Will Meinen, Oopey Mason, David Prouty, Danielle Bluford, Shana Weinstein and Alex Frenkel
  • Richard and the Kids with Richard Scruggs, Jude Tedmori, Kyle Reinhard, Alex Hanpeter, Bethanie John, Matt Pina
  • Delicately Seasoned with Grant Grieshaber, Sara Cardon, Caitlin Wilson, Alex Romero, Jeff Jackel, Phil Caron, Dan de Dios
8:30 – The Variety Hour
Standup, storytelling, music, sketch and occasionally some improv.

  • Stand Up by Marz Timms
  • Solo Performance by Claire Friedman
  • Storytelling by Angie McMahon
  • Storytelling by Shannon Cason
  • Music by Plucky Rosenthal
9:45 – Mullaney Chain
Kevin invites a great improvisor to play, who invites a third, who invites a fourth who invites one more.

  • Chris Witaske
  • Tim Stoltenberg
  • Beth Melewski
  • Tim Mason

Please RSVP on Facebook!

Photos from Hump Night, June 10, 2013

Here is some of what you missed from last week’s Hump Night. Make sure to be there tomorrow night to see Saurin Choksi and Honeybuns!


Most of these photos were taken by Oopey Mason.

Hump Night lineup for June 12th

humpnightposterHump Night returns this week with another great lineup of standup, improv, music, and storytelling.
7:30 – The Improv Hour
The improv hour features teams of players coached by Kevin Mullaney

  • Pancakes Tonght! with Will Meinen, Oopey Mason, David Prouty, Danielle Bluford, Shana Weinstein and Alex Frenkel
  • Richard and the Kids with Richard Scruggs, Jude Tedmori, Kyle Reinhard, Alex Hanpeter, Bethanie John, Matt Pina
  • Delicately Seasoned with Grant Grieshaber, Sara Cardon, Caitlin Wilson, Alex Romero, Jeff Jackel, Phil Caron
8:30 – The Variety Hour
Standup, storytelling, music, sketch and occasionally some improv.

  • Music by Andy Eninger
  • Standup by Mia McCullough
  • Standup by Jeff Hansen
  • Sketch by Sex Puppet
  • Music by Cover Stories
9:45 – Mullaney Chain
Kevin invites a great improvisor to play, who invites a third, who invites a fourth who invites one more. This weeks guests include:

  • Zach Zimmerman
  • Willie Myers
  • Blythe Roberson
  • Molly Todd

Please RSVP on Facebook!

I could use a little help

Hey there,

Five months ago, I started a variety show called Hump Night. If you follow me, you’ve probably heard about it. You may have come to see it once or twice. Maybe you have even performed at Hump Night. Well, if you like Hump Night, if you have been getting something out of it, I could use a little help.

The deal I have with Strawdog is pretty good. They don’t charge me upfront for the space. Instead, they have a bar in the back of the room. They have a certain minimum that they’d like the bar to make and if they don’t reach that, then I have to make up the difference. Many times, that hasn’t been a problem. Between the donations and the bar, I haven’t had to pay a lot each week. And in the beginning, the students who were performing were essentially subsidizing the rest of the night. I was using part of the money from their tuition to pay for the space.

However, some nights it has cost a lot to run the show. Sometimes we don’t sell much at the bar and we don’t take enough in donations and I end up spending more to keep Hump Night going, then I earn for coaching the teams that perform there.

So there are a few things I could do.

  • I could search for another venue, one that would be less expensive. There are not a lot of venues out there that are as nice as Strawdog and less expensive though. Plus I do really like the location.
  • I could try to charge for the show. But I really prefer the donation model for this show.
  • I could do better at promoting the show. This is true and I’m working on it. It’s a challenge to get people there and I’m constantly trying to figure out the most time-effective ways to get the word out.
  • I could close the show. This is an option. I currently have extended the show through July, and if I can’t figure out a way to support the show, this is the likely outcome.

So what can you do? Maybe you perform at Hump Night, maybe you have come to see some shows. If you get something out of the show and you want to see it continue past July, there are some things you can do.

  • When you come see the show, have a beer or two. Every dollar you spend at the bar is as good as throwing a dollar into the bucket.
  • If you don’t drink, please put a few dollars in the bucket.
  • If you perform, try to recruit one or two people to come each week.

The thing is with the number of people participating in Hump Night in some fashion it shouldn’t be hard to make enough to keep it going. And I don’t mind pitching in a few bucks myself.

I think though, if I’m asking for money so directly, I’m going to take a leap here myself. It’s a small one, but I’m going to change how the donations work. I think people aren’t really sure what happens to the donations and so they are a little reluctant to give. So every show, I’m going to give half the donations to the performers in the Variety Hour. It probably won’t be a huge amount, but I have a hunch that if I give away half, the audience will be more apt to throw some money in the bucket. And this new policy starts tonight.

See you at Hump Night!

-Kevin

Hump Night: May 29th, 2013

humpnightposterHump Night returns this week with another great lineup of standup, improv, music, and storytelling.
7:30 – The Improv Hour

The improv hour features teams of players coached by Kevin Mullaney

  • Team TBA: Will Meinen, Oopey Mason, David Prouty, Danielle Bluford, Shana Weinstein (and more to come)
  • Richard and the Kids: Richard Scruggs, Jude Tedmori, Kyle Reinhard, Alex Hanpeter, Bethanie John, Matt Pina, Matt Visconage
  • Delicately Seasoned: Lisa Akroush Grant Grieshaber, Sara Cardon, Caitlin Wilson, Matthew Fenton, Alex Romero, Jeff Jackel, Phil Caron
8:30 – The Variety Hour
Standup, storytelling, music, sketch and occasionally some improv.
  • Sketch by Katherine and Joe
  • Standup by Kris Simmons
  • Standup by Alexandra Tsarpalas
  • A story by Greg Collozo
  • A special appearance by Lady Love
9:45 – Mullaney Chain

Kevin invites a great improvisor to play, who invites a third, who invites a fourth who invites one more. This week’s guests:

  • Kevin Reome
  • Chris Day
  • Jacqueline Stone
  • Abby McEnany

PAY WHAT YOU WANT – Donations appreciated.

Hump Night, May 8th

Hump Night returns this coming Wednesday at Strawdog Theater, 3829 N Broadway in Chicago:

humpnightposterHump Night is back again this week with another stellar lineup of standup, improv, music, and storytelling.
7:30 – The Improv Hour
  • Richard and the Kids: Richard Scruggs, Jude Tedmori, Kyle Reinhard, Alex Hanpeter, Bethanie John, Matt Pina, Matt Visconage
  • The Kids Table: Lisa Akroush Grant Grieshaber, Sara Cardon, Caitlin Wilson, Matthew Fenton, Alex Romero, Jeff Jackel, Phil Caron
8:30 – The Variety Hour
9:45 – Mullaney Chain
with guest improvisors:

  • Claudia Michelle Wallace
  • John Sabine
  • Andrew Knox
  • TBA

RSVP on Facebook.

Hump Night Photos, April 24, 2013