It's moving weekend in Chicago.

During my 8:00 Whirled News show the audience suggestion for the second act was "moving day." Padraic gave a monolouge about how he still needs people to help him move tomorrow. No one in the cast (or audience) seemed willing to volunteer.

During my 10:30 Diplomat Motel show, the audience volunteer for the Dream (where we do a short improv piece about the things that happened to an audience member that day) explained that they'd spent the day moving.

Eckart, pictured here backstage with boxes of Swanel, also moved today. Before moving in with his girlfriend this weekend, Eckart has lived in the same large apartment for what I would guess is just shy of a decade. During that time he's had a large rotating cast of improvisers as his roommates. Dozens of improvisers have lived there over the years, including some incredibly highly regarded ones (at least in improv circles) like T.J. Jagadowski, Bob Dassie and Jack McBrayer (Kenneth from '30 Rock'). Hell, I even lived there for about three months myself once.

A few performers will still be living there, continuing the tradition, but it seems like the end of an era now that Eckart no longer holds the lease on Chicago improv's "Chelsea Hotel."

Eckart: Someone was saying I should put a row of headshots going up the front stairs, of everyone who'd lived there. Like the headshots along the ramp when you walk into iO.
Me: I don't really have headshots but I would have gotten you a picture.
Eckart: I ended up not doing it. Pretty low on the priority list. But who knows, I still know the people who live there. Maybe it'll happen eventually.