Lake in the Hills performer aims to deliver laughs at Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival

Lake in the Hills resident Vicki Kunz has been participating in the annual Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival for more than a decade, performing most years and spending 10 years using her experience as a stage manager to handle the technical aspects.

"Having run tech, I have a lot of people that I know that have been at Sketchfest throughout the years," she said. "It's nice to see them. It's kind of like a little family reunion every Sketchfest."

Kunz is back this year, performing a solo show at 9 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 16, and in the two-person sketch group Party Cops at 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 9. The duo of Kunz and Kelly Bolton was born through Sketchfest, with the two deciding to collaborate after their solo shows were scheduled back to back.

The name of the group came from a camping trip they took together where they encountered people driving around in carts with music and neon lights and doing cooler checks to see if people had enough beer. The women dubbed them the party cops and made them characters that open and close each of their shows.

"We really love our party cops," Kunz said. "They've taken on a mind of their own. Their whole schtick is making sure that people are partying hard enough as opposed to saying you're partying too hard. They make sure you're staying hydrated, you're keeping the party going by eating enough food and not passing out and keeping things light. It's a very light show."

Kunz started doing improv while attending Monmouth College, and after graduation she continued training at Second City. She got into sketch comedy there, finding it easier than improv when working with people she didn't know as well. She first performed at Sketchfest with women she'd met taking those classes and said it's been incredible to see the growth of all-female comedy groups since the mid-2000s, when most groups had just one or two women.

"When you're in a group, you don't necessarily get the opportunity to play some of those wacky characters," she said. "You get put into the mom role or the sister. When you're working in an all-female group, you get the opportunity to try out these different types of characters. Having the ability to explore that a little more is great. It gives you a sense of growth and more confidence as well."

While Kunz said she enjoys performing with groups, having a solo show gives her the freedom to work without scheduling around another person and to make last-minute changes to the show.

"I tend to procrastinate and come up with my best stuff at the end," she said.

Performing solo also lets her have a loose style where she doesn't write out all of her lines and the show changes a bit every time.

"I usually develop a character or situation and roll with it," she said. "I use music a lot as kind of a second person on stage with me. I do a lot of nonverbal musical scenes. Those are more physical scenes. It's kind of a mix. It's all over the place."

Kunz finds inspiration for her sketches in music, people she sees on the train and even her family, though she never names them in her shows.

"A lot of times I see something and say, 'You know what, there might be something there. What can I do with this song or this prop or even this outfit?'" she said. "I don't force it. It's usually 'I like the idea of this. Can I flesh this out in a way that makes sense?' Sometimes since I do work on my own I don't know if it makes sense at all and I put it on stage and say well that worked or that didn't."

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Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival

Where: Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago, (773) 327-5252, stage773.com/sketchfest

When: Jan. 9-12 and 16-19

Tickets: $15-$16, day passes cost $37.50-$72.50 and a full festival pass is $275