“Dance brings so much joy on its own that it just seems obvious to me that it can also be a form of comedy.”
Within this observation (which may not feel obvious to many readers) lies the essence of Comedy Dance Chicago, one of the most unusual acts appearing at the 2025 Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival (TOSketchfest),Toronto’s longest-running comedy festival. The source of the comment is Comedy Dance Chicago producer, owner and performer Justin Kimball. Ahead of Toronto shows on March 14 and 15, Sesaya Arts Magazine sat down with him to discuss the troupe’s origins and their unique art form.
Kimball is a teaching artist with a background in musical theatre, improv, sketch comedy and dance. His dual passions for dance and making people laugh have guided him through ten years of joy and success with Comedy Dance Chicago. The show is an eclectic, electric assortment of movement-intensive sketches which are formed from a dynamic combination of physical humour, dance and music. And almost without fail, it connects deeply with audiences. “When we create something and find something that really works,” he notes, “it moves people.” And this in turn fuels the talented company, which also features Sarah Beck, Emily Moon, Mike Ford, Danni Krehbiel, and Michael Silver.
The origins of Comedy Dance Chicago
It all began in 2015 at Chicago’s Second City Music Conservatory, where two future Comedy Dance Chicago company members performed a sketch as T-Rexes. In a Jurassic parody of Dirty Dancing’s Time of Our Lives, they put their hands inside their shirts and tried to do the Dirty Dancing lift with comically tiny T-Rex hands. It didn’t go quite as expected . . . but within their silly dance, they saw the larger built-in opportunity for comedy.
Comedy Dance Chicago was born soon after. They began to create combinations of traditional sketch comedy and everything else that struck their fancy, including dance, clowns, and physical action. The company’s first group piece Tiny Dancer was mounted with homemade hand puppets in pink tutus. And just six months later, after hours of experimenting and creating new pieces, they performed their first full-length show at the 2016 Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival.
A unique comedy value proposition
As the company has evolved, an essential feature of Comedy Dance Chicago has been its inspiration from everyday life: the simple, funny things that happen around us, and the absurdities that can be found or made from physical movement. The end result can vary greatly, notes Kimball: in the comedy dance format, “you can say whatever you want… you can do whatever you want… you can go any way”—unlike a traditional sketch, where “you usually find a concrete idea.”
Comedy Dance Chicago sketches vary widely in subject, tone and style. Pretty much everything is fair game: the French Revolution, a dance or musical parody, the 5-second rule, or the experience of sleeping with your partner in bed or sitting in the middle seat of a plane. But the one constant in every sketch or audience interaction is that it starts in dance, ends in dance, or comes to dance partway through. For Kimball, it’s important to make the public wonder – to surprise them with a unique and happy experience. “An explosion of dancing” is guaranteed to deliver this.
Another distinctive and lovely feature of a Comedy Dance Chicago show is the troupe’s interaction with the audience, which is hilarious – but also fundamentally respectful and communal. “It’s not about making fun of the public, but rather about celebrating together what they like: dancing, laughing, sharing, freeing yourself… So we do it together!,” Kimball explains. In his view, the shows succeed because they tap into our perpetual quest for joy and escapism. “I think people love to release that energy… It’s why you go out with your friends. You want to be happy and have fun!” Comedy Dance Chicago seeks to help audiences toast life, take chances, and seize happiness . . . rather than be self-conscious or embarrassed in public.
So for Comedy Dance Chicago, it’s absolutely essential within the show to create moments of clear connection and communication. “I think half the time our problem is we don’t communicate very well with each other: people don’t understand each other,” Kimball reflects. But “when you go, laugh, dance with someone, or see their show, you are contributing” something important. And ultimately, “I think listening and laughing is just the best way to connect with someone. It is enjoyed at the same level, and that’s such a connection within people”.
Audience therapy through troupe sweat
If laughter is the best medicine, Comedy Dance Chicago is writing a very specific prescription: to show people that despite having a life, a profession, and problems aplenty, “once you’re in the show, the door closes” and you can live a unique experience where you are only happy, and nothing else is valid. In this moment, the simple goal is to be present. And the only thing that matters is laughing, dancing, being silly, and sharing in a communal experience. Kimball smiles, “It’s a great relief to be in the theatre: like release therapy!”
But while the troupe’s desired effect on audiences sounds dead-simple, the process of getting there is anything but. For starters, notes Kimball, dance and comedy are uniquely hard to write together. At a macro level, literally months’ worth of ideas must be sifted, selected and simplified to fit into a single one-hour show. Within that flow, taking each comedy or dance idea, and making it work on the stage as a fun, movement-based mini-narrative (or anti-narrative) is another story. “That’s a really hard thing to do, but I think we have done it successfully over the years,” he notes, emphasizing that the troupe is game to try anything, and is always learning and moving forward.
The bottom line
Comedy Dance Chicago has entertained sold-out crowds across North America in different arts venues, theatres, festivals, special events and even schools. If you are a fan of dance, or a fan of comedy, or both – or even of neither – don’t miss their return to Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival (Tosketchfest). You are guaranteed to delight in, and laugh deeply, at something unique that you’ve literally never seen before.
Comedy Dance Chicago perform Friday 14th at 10 pm and Saturday 15th at 6 pm at The Theatre Centre. You can find the Friday tickets here and the Saturday tickets here.
© Alejandra Jimenez, Sesaya Arts Magazine 2025
