In 2014, Stage 773 launched the Scribble Bibble program which brought together a collaborative effort by Actors, Writers, and one Director (a pod). The program created 6 pods which rotated on performances producing a new show every 5 - 6 weeks. Jonald Directed the pod named the "Assortment of Fake Mustaches" which later renamed themselves as "CHiPS!"
Each new show was an opportunity to experiment within the confines of a stage space. This group of Writers & Performers produced the following shows:
Oct, 2014 = Space. Featuring an assortment of sketch comedy scenes, each scene played with various ways to use stage space.
Nov, 2014 = One Act Play. The Assortment of Fake Mustaches presented a metatheatrical play about the Magic Eye image series. "Metatheatre" is a term in which the play makes commentary to itself. "Magic Eye" is a term in which people in the 90's used to sound cool about art.
Jan, 2015 (Sketchfest 2015) = News! Each featured sketch comedy scene dealt with the theme of "news" - how we get it ; where it comes from ; what it's about ; and why exactly we need it.
Feb, 2015 = What is Time? Scenes experimenting with time & pace on stage, as well as, themed around time.
Mar, 2015 = The Writers Direct. In this month's show, the Writers of CHiPS! were brought in to Direct their own scenes and get a feel for this position within the creation of the show.
May, 2015 = "I'm so proud of you." Each scene written was set to the limitation of only being a 2-person scene and starting with the line "I'm so proud of you." The show also challenged the Director & Actors to staying on stage the whole time. In other words, transitions did not clear the stage nor have any people out of the scene.
July, 2015 = BLACKFISH: The Musical. The Writers & Music Director collaborated together to produce a full-length musical based off of the 2013 documentary about Sea World.
Sept, 2015 = Scenes of the absurd. Illogical points of views, overly embellished emotions to fictional levels, and where Where WHERE IS THE MEANING?!?! Scenes written in tone to the Theatre of the Absurd, as the CHiPS! crew were influenced by political & social issues while channeling the playwrights of Beckett, Ionesco, Albee, etc. etc.
Oct, 2015 = Thursday Night Live! The CHiPS! crew underwent the Saturday Night Live process and produced the show within only 1 week. The show included a guest host from outside the cast, Weekday Update, a musical guest, and yes, cue cards for Actors to read off of.
Jan, 2016 (Sketchfest 2016) = The Best of CHiPS! As the cast / crew have been together for a little bit over a year, what better way to bid adieu than to compile it's best scenes into one show at the largest sketch comedy festival in the world.
The group of Actors and Writers have performed at the Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival in 2015 & 2016.