Monday, January 14, 2019
Can the anthropomorphic heroes of Nickelodeon's staggeringly successful "PAW Patrol" rescue the American theater by turning a legion of device-addicted toddlers into future theater patrons? …
SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 07:00PMSunday, December 30, 2018
“I ain’t saying [stuff that’s] bad onstage now,” comedian, actor and Chicago native DeRay Davis said early on in his 20-minute opening set Saturday night at the 4,250-seat Arie Crown…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 11:30AMFriday, December 21, 2018
Amy Schumer is five months pregnant and wants to make sure everyone in the audience knows it. At the top of her show at the Chicago Theatre Thursday night — the second of two sold out nigh…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 09:05AMThursday, December 13, 2018
There’s never a bad time for a good laugh and the right comedian can help you close out 2018 in happy tears. Great stand-up comedy is a nightly occurrence across Chicago, and this New Year…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 08:00AMSaturday, October 20, 2018
With many comedians embracing increasingly restrictive cell phone policies in recent years, it was a bit refreshing Friday night at The Vic to see French-Moroccan superstar Gad Elmaleh settl…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 12:15PMSunday, September 30, 2018
The paranoia of comedians is growing. Taking your phone out of commission and emptying your pockets to step through a metal detector is becoming the new norm for attending a big-name comedy …
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 01:30PMWednesday, September 5, 2018
Ever gotten your hair cut by a barber who you wished would just stop talking and focus on your hair? Comedian — and professional barber since age 13 — T. Murph is the opposite of that gu…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 01:30PMRussell Peters: This Canadian comic has been working for decades and has a book (“Call Me Russell”), a TV show (“The Indian Detective”) and several specials under his belt, including…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 01:15PMFriday, August 3, 2018
If a comedy club were to exist in the technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda — the fictional homeland of Marvel’s “Black Panther” — the lineup of comedians put together…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 12:30PMWednesday, August 1, 2018
“Are you filming me?” comedian-podcaster (or podcaster-comedian, depending on who you ask) Marc Maron asked an audience member with a mix of annoyance and genuine curiosity early in his …
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 03:50PMSunday, July 15, 2018
In a neon green hoodie, jeans and white tennis shoes, comedian Michael Che, a stand-up comic best known for his “Weekend Update” co-hosting gig on “Saturday Night Live,” took the sta…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 12:05PMFriday, June 29, 2018
Walking through a metal detector and watching purses and backpacks get thoroughly searched — not that half-hearted open/shut that you often see at music festivals and sports venues but a r…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 11:35AMWednesday, June 20, 2018
“Are you kidding? Nobody will give me a platform. It’s hilarious,” Kathy Griffin says, in a way that makes it clear that it’s both hilarious and decidedly not hilarious at the same t…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 08:00AMTuesday, May 29, 2018
With public trust in the media taking a hit amid constant accusations of “fake news,” many news outlets find themselves on the defensive on a daily basis. But there is one publication th…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 01:20PMTuesday, April 17, 2018
“If y’all ready for ‘A Dope Comedy Show,’ let me hear you say, ‘Hell yeah!’” The voice booms over the sound system as comedian Dave Helem — a Chicago native now living in Los…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 08:00AMTuesday, April 10, 2018
One of the many questions answered on the Zanies website FAQ page is whether any of the locations host an open-mic night. Though there is some information about a showcase at the Rosemont lo…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 11:00AMSunday, April 8, 2018
Five songs into musical comedy legend “Weird Al” Yankovic’s second sold-out night at the Vic for his “Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour,” I scanned the crowd and…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 02:05PMWednesday, March 21, 2018
“I wanna leave y’all with a good joke, but it’s hard for me to choose,” says comedian Calvin Evans as he closes out a 45-minute set Tuesday night at Zanies. “Because all of my joke…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 01:00PMSaturday, March 3, 2018
“Problem is … I got a problem with everything.” So says comedian and Arlington Heights native Sebastian Maniscalco early on in his wide-ranging (but primarily problem-focused) set Frid…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 12:00PMSunday, February 18, 2018
It’s 11 o’clock on a Saturday night inside the Wintrust Arena — the stadium and event center that opened in the fall next to McCormick Place and is the home court for the DePaul Blue D…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 12:30PMTuesday, February 13, 2018
Walking out the side door of the Empty Bottle onto Western Avenue at 12:30 in the morning, I looked past a group of smokers huddled around a sign decidedly not at the corner instructing them…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 12:30PMWednesday, January 31, 2018
Watching John Mulaney do stand-up is like watching a pitch meeting for a multicamera, multicharacter sketch show, where an overworked but energetic and eager young writer is running through …
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 11:00AMWednesday, January 17, 2018
“God bless, this is Dick Gregory.” Those were the first words that legendary comedian Dick Gregory — who 58 years ago changed comedy history as a black stand-up comic performing for a …
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 12:50PMSaturday, January 13, 2018
Once he takes the stage, comedian Felipe Esparza — who released the hourlong stand-up special “Translate This” on HBO last year but is perhaps still best known for winning “Last Comi…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 11:40AMThursday, December 28, 2017
Both in his act and in his life, Chicago-based comedian Felonious Munk embodies the Chicago ethos of hard work, determination and self-aware levity. And in 2017 he brought them all together …
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 11:15AMSaturday, December 9, 2017
“I’m gonna tell you a story tonight,” says comedian-storyteller-filmmaker Mike Birbiglia as he takes the stage at the Chicago Theater on Friday night. “But first I’m gonna tell you…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 10:10AMSunday, November 12, 2017
Joel Kim Booster doesn’t want to get political. As a person who gladly and openly identifies as “dumb,” the Plainfield-raised comedian feels like in these starkly divided times we’re…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 11:00AMTuesday, November 7, 2017
It may have been chilly in Chicago on Monday night, but inside Thalia Hall, Pilsen’s hipster-centric performance space that has been picking up more and more big-name comedy shows over the…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 12:15PMSunday, October 15, 2017
In December 2015, comedian and Chicago-area native Cameron Esposito recorded her first comedy special (“Marriage Material”) at Chicago’s Thalia Hall just two days before marrying fello…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 01:05PMSaturday, October 14, 2017
Waiting for the opening applause to die down after he’s taken the stage for the first of two shows on Friday night at the Chicago Theatre, comedian Jim Gaffigan — currently making the ro…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 11:50AMMonday, October 9, 2017
“The human head is least scary when attached.”Demetri Martin is a person. He is a person who tells jokes, which makes him a comedian. As evidence of these two claims he has recorded stan…
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 11:45AM 
