PICK-UPS AND HICCUPS, Boom Chicago, at Live Bait Theater. In the five years since its inception, Boom Chicago has jump-started the careers of many of Chicago’s most gifted improvisers, who can now be seen onstage at Second City and ImprovOlympic, among other venues. The Amsterdam-based Boom Chicago is also one of the best-paying gigs around, and it enables performers to travel overseas and sharpen their skills in front of packed houses: Boom Chicago is an unqualified success in Amsterdam, where it has virtually no competition. But the playing field is much more level here, where theatergoers can choose from among half a dozen improv shows on any given night. Chicago audiences are as fickle as they are savvy–it’s tough for a troupe to compete without a clever hook. And Pick-ups and Hiccups, the troupe’s first stateside production, isn’t particularly flashy. Billed as “an improvised love affair,” this two-person show relies mainly on Boom Chicago’s established formula: a half-and-half mix of scripted and improvised scenes.
