Most people still confuse improv with stand-up comedy. Even in an improv-saturated city like Chicago, often people assume I stand in front of a microphone and tell jokes.

Maybe it's because of the stand-up showcase cable show, 'An Evening at the Improv', that aired on A&E in the '80s. I used to love that show. The Improv was (is?) a stand-up comedy nightclub like Zanies and Laffs.

iO is an improv theater. This doesn't make it better or worse than, say, Zanies, just different.

iO has started putting up headshot-style pictures of some of its famous alumni (Tina Fey, Amy Poehler) in front of the theater. It makes sense as a marketing ploy ("Ooo... maybe we'll see the next Rachel Dratch!"). Unfortunately, a stand-up club like Zanies advertises their current headliners with similar headshots in front of their theater. This can cause some confusion.

More than once I've overheard people walking past iO, say "Oh look, Mike Meyers is playing here this weekend." Then again, the Chris Farely headshot should be a pretty big clue that that's not the case.