In the summer of 2009, Jamie Winger, a fiction writer here at Roosevelt, started writing sketch comedy for Democracy Burlesque, a local theatre company. What started as an assignment for a playwriting course (one of our program's summer electives) turned into an exciting opportunity for Jamie when the instructor, Joe Fedorko (a founding member of DB), asked Jamie if they could use some of his writing for their July show--which didn't come as a surprise for anyone who has read any of Jamie's awesome alien poems!
Democracy Burlesque produces four variety shows a year that contain political satire sketches, music, and stand up comedy. DB works to create political awareness, and it also donates a substantial portion of its ticket sales to worthy causes in Chicago.
Since the summer, Jamie's material has appeared in eight different live DB shows, including comedy sketches performed at the Strawdog Theatre, the Mary Arrchie Theatre for the Abbie Hoffman Died for Our Sins Festival, and at Roosevelt University for the Adjunct Faculty Equity Festival. And in December, Democracy Burlesque produced its very first Holiday radio special with WCPT Chicago Progressive Talk. Jamie had the amazing opportunity to write a lot of material for the show and got to hang out in WCPT's studios for three days and be involved in the production first hand.
For more about Democracy Burlesque, its facebook page, its blog, and upcoming shows, visit www.democracyburlesque.com
