Susan Messing (born December 26, 1963) is an American

improvisational theatre Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted: created spontaneously by the performers. In its purest form, the dialogue, ...

performer, teacher and author associated with the

Annoyance Theater The Annoyance Theatre, or Annoyance Productions, is a theatre and associated ensemble based in Chicago, Illinois, that deals mainly in absurd and outrageous humor. Many people who have performed with the ensemble have gone on to become success ...

and

iO Theater iO, or iO Chicago, (formerly known as "ImprovOlympic") is an improv theater and training center in central Chicago, with a former branch in Los Angeles, called iO West and in Raleigh, North Carolina called iO South. The theater taught and hosted p ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Career

A New Jersey native, Susan Messing graduated from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Chart ...

with a degree in theater. Following graduation, she began performing improvisation at

, where she appeared on the Harold team Blue Velveeta. In 1998, she was hired as a performer on The Second City mainstage. Messing is an ensemble member of

where she performed in "Co-ed Prison Sluts," "The Miss Vagina Pageant," "The Real Live Brady Bunch" as well as directing ''What Every Girl Should Know... An Ode to Judy Blume'' (based on the work of Judy Blume). She has performed on NBC's ''

Late Friday ''Friday Night Videos'' (later becoming ''Friday Night'' and then ''Late Friday'') is an American music video show that was broadcast on NBC from July 29, 1983 to May 24, 2002. It was the network's attempt to capitalize on the emerging popularit ...

'' and Comedy Central's ''

Premium Blend ''Premium Blend'' was a stand-up comedy series created and directed by Paul Miller that aired on the American cable television channel Comedy Central from 1997 to 2005. In 2005 the show was changed, and now known as "Live at Gotham". The show ...

'' along with her puppet Jolly after showcasing at the HBO/US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen. She also voiced the character "Eos" in the 2001 video game ''Red Faction''.

The Annoyance Theater

Susan is a founding member of The

(1989) where she has created roles in over thirty original productions including Co-Ed Prison Sluts (the longest-running musical in Chicago), ''That Darn Anti-Christ'', ''The Real Live Brady Bunch'' and the famed Judy Blume adaptation, ''What Every Girl Should Know''. Other shows include ''The Miss Vagina Pageant'' and ''Your Butt'', among others. She is regarded as one of Chicago's finest improvisers—male or female by Tribune reporter Kevin Pang. Messing was cited as “Best Improviser” in the Chicago Reader's 2008 Best Of Chicago issue, and is currently running a show at The Annoyance Theater called ''Messing with a Friend''. The evening includes guests improvisers from the

, Second City, and The

. In a favorable review, Ryan Hubbard of the Chicago Reader wrote that her skill improvising with others, "…is a testament to her congeniality, experience, and broad intelligence." She can also be seen improvising in the shows ''Molly'' alongside Second City director Norm Holly at iO every Tuesday night and ''The Boys'' alongside Rachael Mason at The Second City on every Friday night.

Teaching

Susan teaches and performs at the

and the

. She also teaches

improvisational comedy Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted: created spontaneously by the performers. In its purest form, the dialogue, a ...

for

DePaul University DePaul University is a private university, private, Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th-centu ...

, The

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

and Loyola University. As a writer, her essays have been published in

The Second City The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise and is the oldest ongoing improvisational theater troupe to be continually based in Chicago, with training programs and live theatres in Toronto and Los Angeles. The Second City Theatre o ...

Almanac of Improvisation and in

Charna Halpern Charna Halpern (born June 1, 1952) is an American comedian who is co-founder of the ImprovOlympic, now known as iO. Upon iO's founding, in 1983, with partner Del Close, she began teaching Harold to many students in the Chicago theater communi ...

's book, ''Art By Committee'' and endorsed Jon Jon Lannen's book ''The Giraffe That Taught Me How To Laugh''. Susan married former ''Saturday Night Live'' and ''Sesame Street'' writer Michael Clayton McCarthy on September 30, 2012. McCarthy passed away on April 8, 2020.

References

External links

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Radio Interview with Susan Messing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Messing, Susan Actresses from Chicago 20th-century American Jews Living people 1963 births Northwestern University School of Communication alumni DePaul University people Loyola University Chicago faculty University of Chicago staff American women academics 21st-century American Jews 20th-century American women 21st-century American women