Barrel of Monkeys Productions

Chicago, United States

5

14 reviews

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Telephone:
+1 773-506-7140
Website:
www.barrelofmonkeys.org
Address:
4410 N Ravenswood Ave Ste LL3, Chicago, IL, 60640
Ravenswood
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
150 ftMontrose
170 ftMontrose Brown Line Station WB
200 ftBrown Line
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Today

Today –
Local time (Chicago) 1:09 PM Friday, June 27, 2025

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Description

Specialties

Barrel of Monkeys (BOM) is an ensemble of actor/​educators who create an alternative learning environment in which children share their personal voices and celebrate the power of their imaginations. BOM accomplishes this through creative writing workshops and in-​school performances of children’s stories. BOM also engages the broader community in support of the visions of children through public performances of their work.

BOM strives to build a community that champions the vision of every child. Our goal is to use creative drama and writing exercises, coupled with professional performance, to validate children’s ideas and help them to build self-​esteem. Studies show that increasing confidence in self-​expression and writing skills in 3rd-​6th grades lays a strong foundation for long-​term improvement of literacy skills and interest in the arts.

History

Established in 1997.

Barrel of Monkeys was founded in 1997 by Erica Halverson and Halena Kays. Halverson and Kays had both performed in Griffin’s Tale at Northwestern University. Griffin’s Tale is a theatre ensemble that creates a sketch comedy show from stories that have been mailed to them from North Shore elementary schools. After graduating from Northwestern, Halverson and Kays realized that there were underserved students in the Chicago Public School who would benefit from similar programming and consequently founded Barrel of Monkeys.

That’s Weird, Grandma:

In April of 2001, Barrel of Monkeys opened «That’s Weird, Grandma» at the Neo-​Futurarium in Andersonville, Chicago. A compilation of performances of favorite child-​authored stories, the show was an immediate critical hit.

Meet the Manager

Amanda F.

Manager

Executive Director

BOM Member Since: 2009

Favorite Food: Taco covered pizza

Superpower: Making a great quiche

Animal That Describes My Acting Style: Dinosaur that plants flowers and then dances on them.

Favorite Line From a Story Written For BOM: «Hope you’re not in a business meeting when the huge fart comes.» OR «We’re out of cake.»

Ghost, Kitty, Robot, or Muffin? Ghost Robot!

Vicinity

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14 reviews of Barrel of Monkeys Productions

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Place rating: 5
Chicago, IL
Note: their show is at 5153 N Ashland at the NeoFuturist theatre. Not at the address listed here! Not realizing this made us a few minutes late to their show. But it was so worth it! Truly hilarious, weird, cute humor. It’s very goofy. If you need sexual, racial or other type content to find something funny, this isn’t the show for you, but their enactments of the little kids’ ridiculous stories were much more entertaining than I expected. $ 12 was worth it. We would go back!
Place rating: 5
Chicago, IL
Bravo! These individuals are so energetic and highly entertaining. My 5th grader loved it. I did too. Went to the Neo-​Futurarium in Andersonville. Funny … with impeccable stagecraft. Rated an easy ‘G’! Take your kids!
Place rating: 5
Chicago, IL
I HAVE to give this company 5 stars! My husband wanted to go out but we were on a budget. I didn’t want to go to the movies, I wanted to see something live. I found this place online, the price was unbelievable. I bought the tickets and I was a bit skeptical of the show because of the price. I read their webpage and I loved the whole mission of the company.
We came in and started to read the program which included the short stories from the children they help. I am not a parent and it is hard for me to find some of the things that kids do/​write cute or entertaining. So, some of the stories were not that great. I did give myself the talk, «Milly, these are young kids, try to picture what they are thinking.»
The show started and from beginning to end I was cracking up so much! This is why I am not an actor, these actors did such an amazing job with the stories. They didn’t deviate from the story but they were able to materialize what the kids were truly imagining.
I would certainly come here again!
Please support this wonderful group of actors — they are not for profit and provide a great service to our community.
Place rating: 5
Chicago, IL
Absolutely, positively one of the funniest and most imaginative shows you’ll see in Chicago. Forget the Second City, come see Barrel of Monkeys.
Place rating: 5
Chicago, IL
Great fun for my 6 year old and for me. Where else can we experience front row music, improve, acting, poetry and community? What a seriously awesome way to celebrate the day! Make the trip up here — you’ll be so glad you did!
Place rating: 5
Chicago, IL
BoM deserves more 5 star reviews — so here’s #10. I am amazed at the creativity and enthusiasm generated by the students and performers. They really could save the world if they keep doing what they do. Don’t tell the Neos, but I actually enjoy BoM better than Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind.
Place rating: 5
Western Springs, IL
Adults will love it. Kids will love it.
You will love it.
The actors (also teachers) go into schools in the Chicago Public School system, and run a 6-​week creative writing workshop. It is from these stories that the improv-​trained actors created the skits that make up the entirety of this show.
You can go to the Second City if you want, and have a really good time. But this show is better than anything that I have seen at the old landmark in recent years.
And, based upon audience votes, the show changes every single week, with new sketches being added and others being dropped. So, go often!
Written by kids, performed by brilliant, enthusiastic actors. I laughed until my stomach hurt. My kids had tears streaming down their faces they were laughing so hard. And we sang the songs all the way home.
Very simply, the best show in town.
Place rating: 5
Chicago, IL
In a word, hilarious. I was literally wiping away tears from my eyes the entire night it was so so funny. Perfect way to start the week. This show is a must see in Chicago.
Place rating: 5
Naperville, IL
Awesome, hilarious, «That’s weird, Grandma» is good for kids and adults. 100 stars.
Place rating: 5
Chicago, IL
I wish I could give Barrel of Monkeys 100 stars! They are seriously a fabulous company!
Picture this… professional actors and educators teaching Chicago Public School students in creative writing, telling children that their voice and opinion should be heard, and encouraging more imagination than Disney!
The kids write the stories and then Barrel of Monkeys adapts the stories into short plays. They perform them for the students in the schools and then for the public almost every Monday night.
The stories are amazing and incredibly smart. And the adaptations are so respectful to authors. They are not dumbed down, but made into beautifully artistic pieces of theater.
As you can probably tell I’m a big fan!
So you are likely not still in elementary school, but you can see them perform at the Neo-​Futurist Theater at Foster and Ashland, Mondays at 8pm. And it’s only $ 10 for adults and $ 5 for children.
Bring your kids, bring your friends, bring yourself!
Pure Magic.
Place rating: 5
Chicago, IL
Where else can you see plays about grannies who lean like cholos (performed as a rap), a Whopper Jr. who attempts to save the life of John F. Kennedy (classic tragedy), and a bunny who ninja-​fights bears (very Matrix-​y) all in one night AND support creative writing programs in Chicago public schools at the same time? Barrel of Monkeys!
This is the real have fun, do good deal — BofM runs creative writing programs in Chicago schools and turns the kids’ stories, poems, and plays into performance pieces. The show, called That’s Weird, Grandma, is held at the Neo Futurarium Monday nights at 8 and is a total steal at $ 10.
I was first tuned in to That’s Weird, Grandma after seeing one of the Barrel of Monkeys actors in The Neofuturist’s Daredevils’ Hamlet (Brennan Buhl, who, mark my words, will be famous). I managed to snag tickets through Free Night of Theater. My expectations were low — I tend to find Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind shows uneven — some are fantastic and some are meh. I sort of saw That’s Weird, Grandma as the little brother of TMLMTBGB. The first few skits seemed to confirm my bias, but after that, I was blown away. I’ve seen several shows recently (including one at Steppenwolf) and That’s Weird, Grandma has been far and away the best. I laughed so hard I cried. Literally. And the best part? You get to vote for your favorite and least favorite plays, so the duds are quickly jettisoned from the show.
Go see this. See it next Monday. Bring your friends. Buy a t-​shirt. Do it for the kids. Won’t somebody please think of the children!!!
Place rating: 5
Sacramento, CA
This show is not just for kids. It’s fine for kids and written by kids, but it’s great if you have no kids and want something very enjoyable to do for an hour on a Monday night. When I have out of town visitors, I say, please, PLEASE stay until Tuesday so you can see this show. I also go with local friends and you can go often because the show always is changing with new bits.
Here’s the deal, kids are very funny, I have some here at the house, they do funny things, but when you couple that with these talented actor/​performer/​dancer/​singer/​comdian/​musician types and see what they do to stuff that was written, it is really just the most reliably hilarious show in Chicago.
Add on to this that it is local theater, a bargain, supporting education and arts, on a night when other theaters are dark, you can get an easy table at nearby Andersonville restaurants, street parking, and seriously, be home by 9:45 — why not?! Come on now, just go see them.
Place rating: 5
Chicago, IL
I have to agree with the above review. A friend of mine invited me and some more friends to go see «That’s Weird, Grandma» THREE years ago after he’d read about it online. We weren’t sure what to expect, and since I’ve been disappointed with most sketch and improv groups over the years, I was scared. However, this is probably one of the best sketch comedy shows I’ve seen. It was HILLARIOUS, and it’s SO cheap! You’ve GOTTA GO! During the academic year I could never go, because it only happens Monday nights. However, I’m unemployed now, and tonight they’re performing as part of the Chicago Park District’s Theater on the Lake event series. I’m going! =)
Place rating: 5
Chicago, IL
Barrel of Monkeys is by far my favorite Chicago theater company. They generally perform out of the Neo-​Futurarium, home of Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind, but I feel that their main production, That’s Weird, Grandma, is much more worth seeing…
Since this is the first review, I’ll go into a bit more detail than I otherwise would… The BoM members go to local schools with low arts funding and teach writing workshops, so by the end of the workshop each child has a journal full of things they’ve written. That’s Weird, Grandma, takes these stories, poems, or journal entries and performs them, turning what may have started as a simple story about Superman into a hilarious song or sketch. (That one was my all time favorite, titled I Am Superman, and I’m Tired of Saving People.)
I know it’s meant for kids, but plenty of adults go to see this as well, and every Monday night (at eight!) I’m free, I’m there!