Stage 773 Creative Director Brian Posen invites sketch comedy artists to submit an application to participate in the 15th Annual Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival. As part of this hallmark year for the annual festival, Posen and the Sketchfest Artistic Team will cultivate an exclusive line-up of headliners to represent Stage 773’s history of excellence in festival programming. These spotlighted groups will include award-winning “city-swap” ensembles from National and International comedy festivals, reunion performances by all-star Sketchfest groups whose members have proven outstanding in their field, and brand new shows created especially for “Sketchfest 15” by high-caliber leaders in Chicago’s comedy community. “I can't believe our child has grown so quickly!” says Posen. “The art form continues to explode and each year the bar is lifted higher with the quality of shows strengthening Chicago is the leader when it comes to sketch comedy. We continue to attract new and exciting groups from all around the globe.” Over the past 14 years, The Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival has garnered international attention, attracting over 1,000 artists and 10,000 patrons annually from around the world. The event celebrates the best in local, national and international sketch comedy, and will run January 7 through 17th, 2016. Applications for participation are open now and may be submitted through October 15 by visiting http://www.chicagosketchfest.com/. All selected performers receive an all-festival pass, access to artist only events, and exclusive discounts at sponsoring hotel, dining and bar partners.