Peter
Gwinn
Comedian • Writer • Performer
Easy (Netflix)
Easy (Netflix)
What's Going On?
Current Shows
Improvised Shakespeare Chicago
Fridays & Saturdays at 8pm
iO Theater, 1501 N Kingsbury St, Chicago
I'm in the cast:
August 24, 30, 31
September 21, 27, 28
News
The Home Comedy Theater is now teaching classes!
homecomedytheater.com
Writing
Peter has over 20 years of experience writing for TV, radio, the stage, books, and corporate clients
The manual of ensemble improv games​
A collection of games and exercises to help your ensemble bond and work together better. By the end they'll almost be reading each other's minds!
TV and Radio
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2 Emmy Awards
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8 Emmy Award Nominations
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3 Writers Guild Awards
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6 WGA Awards Nominations
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2 Peabody Awards
Stage
Peter has written multiple sketch comedy shows performed at the UCB Theater, The Second City, and the iO Theater.
Improvisation
Peter has performed and taught improv comedy all over the place for years. He has also coached amazing teams like People of Earth at iO Chicago and The Shoves at UCB New York (which included Bobby Moynihan and Zach Woods)
He founded the musical improv group Baby Wants Candy, which has been performing for over 20 years, selling out runs at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and being named a NY Times Critics' Pick! Here's the review!
ABOUT
ME
Peter Gwinn is a comedian, writer and performer currently based in Chicago.
As a member of the original writing staff of The Colbert Report, he won two Emmy Awards, two Peabody Awards, and three Writers Guild Awards.
He currently writes for the NPR comedy news quiz Wait Wait Don't Tell Me.
Peter also enjoys creating and solving puzzles. He won the Midwest Division at the 2019 American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. He's a regular contributor to AVCX Trivia, and helped write the 2022 MIT Mystery Hunt with Team Palindrome.
Easy Season 2, episode 6
"Prodigal Daughter"
The Colbert Report
"Stephen's Laws of Love"
The Colbert Report
"Alpha Squad 7: Tek Jansen"
Some links to fun things I've done
Musicals & Plays
Oh! Those Midsummer Nights!
by Peter Gwinn, Bobby Mort & Jody Shelton
The largest complaint scholars have had with Shakespeare over the years is that his plays don’t contain enough surfing.
Oh! Those Midsummer Nights! fixes that by transporting the story of A Midsummer Night’s Dream from an Athenian forest to the sunny island setting of a 1960’s beach movie. Join the beach party as the kids enjoy great weather, good times, music and romance-- IF they can overcome petty jealousies, fear of commitment, and of course, a magic elixir that makes them fall in love with the wrong person…
The Story of a Story (The Untold Story)
by Peter Gwinn & Jody Shelton
Jeff Award Nominated for Best New Work!
The Story of a Story (The Untold Story) is a madcap yet heartfelt musical comedy about what it means to be “original.”
An aspiring novelist and his graphic designer friend are transported to a magical world populated entirely by clichés. It’s a world where anything can happen—well, so long as it’s already happened 1000 times before in other stories.
Soon they are caught up in a war between the land’s evil ruler, who wants to invade the Earth and stamp out originality, and a band of rebel cliches hoping to become fully-realized characters.
Twist Your Dickens
by Peter Gwinn & Bobby Mort
This twisted take on Charles Dickens’ classic skewers Scrooge, Tiny Tim and pop culture’s most beloved holiday specials to keep you laughing through the past, present and well into the future.
Scrooge's tale of redemption is interwoven with improv comedy and modern surprises to create a "Highly Recommended"* "Breath of fresh air for the holidays!"**
Twist Your Dickens has played to packed houses in cities across America from Portland Center Stage to the Kennedy Center in Washington DC and has become an annual favorite!
*Chicago Sun-Times **Third Coast Review
Listen, Kid...
by Peter Gwinn & Stephanie McCullough
Schoolhouse Rock taught kids grammar and science, Free to Be... You and Me taught kids that girls can play baseball and boys can cry.
Now there's Listen Kid... for a new era, teaching important lessons like "the world is unfair" and "your parents need some alone time to have sex."
Not actually for kids!
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An Official Selection of the New York Musical Theatre Festival UCBT Musical Comedy Series!
Moulin Scrooge!
by Peter Gwinn & Stephanie McCullough
Paris 1899! And also London 1843!
In this double parody, bohemian artist Bob Cratchitt pursues love with dancer Satine as they struggle under the thumb of the miserly owner of the club Moulin Scrooge. Will they prevail? Will Tiny Kim become a dancer, with that crutch? And will visits from three ghosts make Scrooge a better person before everyone dies of consumption?