Last Chance to Monkey Around at "Impress These Apes"

By Olivia Leigh in Arts & Entertainment on Sep 20, 2007 7:56PM

After eight long weeks, we’ll all get the chance to see who will be taking home the big prize (a staggering $250!) in the final performance of this season of the talent/variety show, Impress These Apes.

Each week of the show is dedicated to a different talent challenge, ranging from puppet skits to songwriting; from creating a music video to coming up with a sideshow character. Judged weekly by a panel of three Apes — the blood-thirsty, codgery Captain Apehab; martini-sipping, genitalia-obsessed Hollywood Ape; and confetti-flinging, Charles Nelson Reilly-esque Barry Shirley — contestants have moved up and down the leader board wantonly, with one-time leaders Jenny Staben and Amanda Roundtree now residing at the bottom of the heap. Kristen Studdard (aka, “The Stud”) leads the pack, largely owing to her recent dance-heavy performances, while our favorite contestant, Brady Novak, and former Chicagoista, Margaret Hicks, round out the middle.

This week’s competition is simply to impress the apes, using whatever talent, skill, or comedy routine the performers have up their sleeves. Although we’re a bit frightened of what might occur on the stage, having already seen sex re-enactments and a fake-fur covered man-beast, if one contestant can pull off anything even half as hilarious as Season 1 winner and tonight's guest judge Jamie Buell’s final performance, at least we can guarantee we’ll be impressed. We've been told other contestants from last year will be on hand as well, so we're just about ready to go bananas. Ah, we couldn't resist.

Catch the finale of Impress These Apes at I.O., 3541 N. Clark St., at 8 p.m. Admission is $12.