Monday, February 16, 2015
A quick scan of the room at Bric-a-Brac Records in Logan Square reveals a row of action figures from the movie "Alien" (including one with his chest burst open), an old "Simpsons" arcade gam…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 01:05PM[SHARE]Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Ahh, Lakeview. Home to nearly 100,000 Chicagoans, mostly apartment dwellers who live tightly like sardines (albeit the kind of sardines who do shots of Jeppson's Malort at 4 a.m. bars) but a…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 06:55AM[SHARE]Monday, February 2, 2015
During the standup boom of the late 1980s and early '90s, my parents constantly dragged my older brother and me to comedy clubs around the country. I was awfully young at the time, but many …
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 02:07PM[SHARE]During the standup boom of the late 1980s and early '90s, my parents constantly dragged my older brother and me to comedy clubs around the country. I was awfully young at the time, but many …
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 02:07PM[SHARE]Monday, January 19, 2015
Chicagoans love to complain about winter and it seems their response to sub-zero temps is to stay home. But if winter is making us miserable, it would seem the panacea is a night of good jok…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 11:38AM[SHARE]Monday, January 12, 2015
It's a packed house at the"5th Annual New Year's Hangover Stand-Up Marathon" at the ComedySportz in Lakeview. Apparently Chicagoans have resolved to see more comedy in 2015, and what a smart…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 03:33PM[SHARE]Monday, December 22, 2014
At the NYCH Art Gallery in Pilsen, Sam Norton is pointing me toward five interconnected artworks tacked to a wall and created in marker, pencil and color pencil. In one image, there is a par…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 03:56PM[SHARE]Monday, December 15, 2014
Saturday turns out to be as good a day as any for a Chicago wedding. By mid-afternoon, temperatures have reached 48 degrees which is perfect since I am running late and not in any mood to br…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 12:31PM[SHARE]Monday, November 24, 2014
At the "Blind Bet" stand-up show at The Pony Inn, David Drake is trying out new jokes: "I'm covered in hair," says Drake. "I've got this thing called the creep," he says pointing to the body…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 04:16PM[SHARE]Monday, November 17, 2014
Comedian Monte LaMonte tells a terrific story about his effusive worship of '80s metal band Judas Priest and its now openly gay singer Rob Halford. Monte says he grew up with a gay uncle and…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 03:26PM[SHARE]Monday, November 10, 2014
At Uncharted Books in Logan Square, I am crammed in so tightly that my back is touching the spines of dozens of used books. I feel a dusty copy of L. Ron Hubbard's "Dianetics" poking into my…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 02:55PM[SHARE]Monday, October 20, 2014
It is alumni week in Chicago. At least, that is what I'm calling it. About a half dozen veterans of the city's stand-up comedy scene are back in town and manning the mic at the same clubs wh…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 05:20PM[SHARE]Tuesday, October 14, 2014
As soon as Maria Bamford bows and exits the stage at the Athenaeum Theatre in Chicago Thursday night where she is headlining, the stand-up comic veteran will " to use surfer language " "ride…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 01:33PM[SHARE]Monday, October 6, 2014
"Will it plays in Peoria?" This famous line " which hearkens back to the Vaudevillian era " is meant to ask the question of whether or not an act or performer has mainstream appeal, the impl…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 03:30PM[SHARE]Monday, September 22, 2014
"Stop me if you've heard this one," says comedian Sean White at Timothy O'Toole's last Saturday night. "So my brother is dying on the floor of Starbucks …" Lest you think we audience membe…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 03:59PM[SHARE]Monday, September 15, 2014
Drew Michael is staring out at the crowd at Zanies and describing us as a "sea of drunk silhouettes." From from where he's standing I imagine it to be a more or less an apt reading of the ro…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 06:35PM[SHARE]Monday, September 8, 2014
"Comedy is more personal than food," Jerry Seinfeld once said when asked whether he believed he was one of the top five comics that ever lived. "Somebody either hits you funny or they don't.…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 03:54PM[SHARE]Monday, August 25, 2014
Jeff Arcuri is a joke machine tonight. As the host of "This Week's Show" every Thursday at Bar Celona in Wrigleyville, it's his job to amp up the crowd, and he's doing it well. "I want to ge…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 03:00PM[SHARE]Wednesday, August 20, 2014
I was on my way to see a comedy show last week when I learned of the death of Robin Williams. You can say many things about the standup of Williams. His style was manic, intelligent, at time…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 02:10PM[SHARE]Monday, August 11, 2014
"A diphthong is a bathing suit used for short distances," says Adam Burke to medium laughter. "That one was just to take the level of the room," he says. "It's like a comedic Rorschach test.…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 04:49PM[SHARE]Monday, May 19, 2014
"I'm going to ditch my wife and marry Ian Abramson," I hear some dude say while filing out of the Upstairs Gallery in Andersonville Saturday night, where wide grins are etched across everyon…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 01:15PM[SHARE]Monday, May 12, 2014
In the suburbs no one can hear you scream — with laughter. One thing I know for sure about the vast and expansive Chicago area is that the folks who inhabit it don't always want to mak…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 03:09PM[SHARE]Monday, May 5, 2014
On Facebook this week, I see that a boatload of Chicago comedians are heading out Friday night to Diamond Jo’s casino in Dubuque, Iowa, to compete in the “Comedy 10K,” a na…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 05:21PM[SHARE]Tuesday, April 29, 2014
“It’s fine if you’re quiet,” says Renee Gauthier to a sparse crowd at the Lincoln Lodge on Friday night, “I have a therapist.” The enemy to Chicago standu…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 03:07PM[SHARE]Tuesday, April 22, 2014
“You guys, we’re all going to cry tonight, clap louder than that,” says Danielle Puterbaugh at a special “Entertaining Julia” at the Town Hall Pub on Sunday. Sh…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 08:18PM[SHARE]Monday, March 31, 2014
"I recently found out that sexuality exists on a spectrum and that spectrum is liquor," says host Adam Guerino at the beginning of "Queer Comedy," a monthly night of LGBT-themed standup and …
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 06:01PM[SHARE]Wednesday, March 19, 2014
"When I was a boy, I laid in my twin-sized bed and wondered where my brother was." This brilliant joke was written by Mitch Hedberg, a comedian with an incomparable point of view who died ni…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 05:41PM[SHARE]Tuesday, March 11, 2014
"Is it hard to be a comedian?" asks Nick Gaza at "The Nasty Show" at the Laugh Factory last Saturday night. "No, it's hard not to be a comedian."
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 03:32PM[SHARE]Tuesday, March 4, 2014
"I remember when this neighborhood used to be rich white people," says comedian Adam Burke on opening night of the revamped "Lincoln Lodge" at Subterranean in Wicker Park. "Now it's all weal…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 11:49AM[SHARE]Monday, February 24, 2014
Ever get into a taxi and the cabbie is a talker? It can be a nightmare. You want to piddle around on your iPhone or talk with your friend or date, but the driver is spouting off nonsense abo…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 01:59PM[SHARE]Monday, February 17, 2014
In Africa, the term "Big Five" refers to a quintet of animals heavily sought after for viewing by tourists on a safari circuit. In the local stand-up scene, I notice a "big five" of topics t…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 03:36PM[SHARE] 
