Susan Messing

Susan Messing (born December 26, 1963) is an American improvisational theatre performer, teacher and author associated with the Annoyance Theater and iO Theater in Chicago.

Career

A New Jersey native, Susan Messing graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in theater. Following graduation, she began performing improvisation at iO Theater, where she appeared on the Harold team Blue Velveeta. In 1998, she was hired as a performer on The Second City mainstage.

The Annoyance Theater

Susan is a founding member of The Annoyance Theater (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.

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 iO Theater, Second City, and The Annoyance Theater. 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."