New improv show features another Farley
September 6th, 2016
A New York-based comedy troupe performing in Old Town has a familiar name in the cast. Tom Farley is a nephew of Chris Farley, the energetic comedian who worked at Second City before going on to Saturday Night Live fame. He died in 1997 after a drug overdose.
Tom is performing in Batsu! It’s a Japanese-game-show-meets-Second-City kind of show. Antics involve body sushi and electric-shock collars. Shows are Thursday and Friday nights at Kamehachi restaurant. Read the Sun-Times review here.
Chris Farley had three brothers, one of whom is Tom’s dad, Tom Farley Jr. Father and son worked for a time running the Chris Farley Foundation, a non-profit that used improv to encourage teens to say no to drugs and alcohol. A common improv phrase is “Yes, and…”
Tom Farley, 22, grew up in Connecticut and moved to Wisconsin when he was 12. There he took up acting. “I like working on a team,” he says. That’s what improv is all about.
Making people laugh is the real joy, though. He plans on doing stand-up in Chicago soon.
