Annoyance Theatre Hires Jayson Brooks as New Managing Director
The recently re-opened Annoyance Theatre announced that Jayson Brooks will be joining the company as their new Managing Director. They are excited to have someone with his artistic vision and talent become the newest part of their team.
Jayson Brooks is a multiple Jeff-nominated actor and musician who has worked with some of Chicago's best musicians in JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound and with electro-r&b duo, the K.i.D. He has entertained at several Chicago venues from sweaty dance parties at The Hideout, intimate multimedia spectacles at Door#3 and laid back cabaret nights at City Winery...to tearing up the stage at festivals like Lollapalooza, Ink & Iron, Firefly and Ravinia- at times sharing a stage with legends like Poi Dog Pondering, Lisa Loeb, Corey Glover, Lionel Ritchie and Robert Plant in addition to headlining sold out shows at Metro, Double Door, Lincoln Hall and House Of Blues. He's toured the US and Europe with his music and been appointed as governor of the Midwest chapter of The Recording Academy (Grammys), and as an international cultural ambassador to Chicago's sister city Milan where he and his band played a concert for their mayor and his guests in celebration of its bond with Chicago.
As a lifetime lover of live performance Jayson has been in the Annoyance orbit for over a decade, on and off-stage, even shooting the cover of his most popular album in the old Uptown space. After making his way around the Chicago comedy scene, performing on Second City's mainstage, and at iO, Jayson is excited to find a home at The Annoyance and to get to work as our Managing Director.
"I am so excited to join the Annoyance family. It's the start of a new chapter for both myself and the Annoyance Theater. I'm looking forward to what we are going to build and bring to our audiences. As the people of Chicago (and the country at large) work to reclaim some sense of normalcy, they're going to need to laugh and I am lucky to have a hand in facilitating that."
Since 1989, the Annoyance Theatre has served as a renowned performance space for original sketch, burlesque, stand-up, improv, and experimental programming in Chicago; an incubator for developing artists and comedians; and a training center for improvised comedy. Alumni of the Annoyance's training program and stages are prevalently featured in television and film. Inextricable from our mission is social justice, as evidenced by the Annoyance's support of the LGBT+ and BIPOC communities; our fundraising efforts for various charitable organizations; and the diversity of our performers and students.