There's a cool new Chicago-based creative comedy-related podcast online these days, called "Same Title Different Story." Creator Chris McAvoy explains the premise: "The idea is to give a group of writers the same title, ask them to write the story that belongs to the title, then record them reading their piece."

Chris has put out several episodes already, to an enthusiastic audience that seems to keep growing. "The reaction has been pretty good so far. We have a handful of 'subscribers' (people who subscribed for free through iTunes) and a larger number of people that listen to the podcasts directly on the website. The list of writers for the next few titles has gotten quite large as people hear about the project and want to participate.

"The process is pretty straightforward, but it's time consuming. I sent out two titles to a group of sixteen people in February, and arranged for recording at the Playground in March. I wrote the software that carries the pieces in March, now I'm editing the recorded pieces, about two a week, and putting them online. The release week was pretty encouraging, we had brief write ups on Gapers Block and Chicagoist, and I was on Talkin Funny plugging the show. All in all, it's been a lot of fun. Writers really like working on the project, it gives them some framework to work within, but is still open ended enough to not be stifling."

- Elizabeth McQuern

Also of interest to creative types - are you a Second City-related person who has a funny short film you'd like to put up on the big screen at the Austin Film Festival? Second City Entertainment is currently accepting submissions for the Second City Shorts program of the 14th Annual Austin Film Festival. Submissions are limited to less then fifteen minutes and entrants must have some current association with The Second City. The deadline is June 1st, 2007. For more information, download the submission form here.