Chicago comedy fans! A dream comes true this New Year’s Eve. You can enjoy stand-up from some of the city’s best comedians in the comfort of your home. No frozen steering wheels. No wind-blasted hair. No parking hassles. Just a happy evening of laughter in your living room with the talent that makes Chicago a […]
Rebecca O’Neal and WCIU premiere Chicago’s One Night Stand-Up on New Year’s Eve Read More »
Not to dampen the season, but my earliest holiday memory is watching our neighbors’ Christmas through the window, marveling at all the aunts, uncles and cousins, and knowing that an entire half of our family would never be available to throng about the house holding wineglasses and reunions. So, you may reasonably ask, if that’s
It’s the first Chicago Podcast Festival! It’s comedy! Intriguing conversation! Diverse points of view! Intimate stories! Behind-the-scenes secrets! Celebrities! Friends! The Chicago Podcast Festival is November 17th to 19th. You’ll hear conversation and stories you won’t experience anywhere else with people you won’t meet anywhere else. You’ll connect with people who used to be strangers.
November is a season of championships and it’s not just the Cubs. Beginning Sunday, November 6, Chicago celebrates its Third Annual Open-Mic Festival. The competition takes place over five nights at twenty-one venues. It’s a unique opportunity for comedians and comedy fans. Festival producer David Gavri expects at least fifty comedians at each open mic,
How do you become the godfather of punk rock comedy? Ask the man himself, JT Habersaat, and you’ll find it’s got everything to do with punk rock values. Connecting with your audience comes before cash. Inclusiveness and honesty are key. Conformity is meaningless. Build your platform to the specifications of your own unique vision. Work
JT Habersaat’s Misanthrope is punk rock comedy at its best Read More »
Gaahhhhh! Arrgh! AHHHHHHH!!!!!! How do you deal with fear? How do you face phobia? Do you explode in nonsensical exclamations of terror? (Raising hand.) Anger? Tears? A lobotomy? (All tempting, too.) The Bosom Friends have a better way: laughter. The Bosom Friends are Brookes May, Kelly Ann Johnson and Rachel Pokay. They met in Second
The Bosom Friends face fear with funny in Lobotomy Myself and I Read More »
Want to score Chicago comedy gold and win prizes for your favorite Chicago comedian? You can do it right now whether you’re in Old Town, Tinley Park, Transylvania or Tulsa. You can do it at 9:00 a.m. or by the light of the moon. The new REQUESTS feature at Chicago’s Comedy Scene Radio makes it
You can REQUEST the next “Comedian of the Month” at Chicago’s Comedy Scene Radio Read More »
The Defiant Thomas Brothers are back for a new season from October 1 to November 19 at Stage 773. With that news, 2016 is looking brighter. The Defiant Thomas Brothers’ comedy is about life and reality and their scenes are always undiluted by agendas, messages, and caution. Musically masterful, improbably hummable songs also play a
There’s a new superhero in town and she does not want the power of invisibility. Her name is Keelyn Klein and she is the first superhero with narcolepsy. Her story unfolds in the web series Super, created by Chicago comedians Sarah Albritton and Catherine Povinelli, who goes by “Povs.” You can get a free sneak
Superhero with narcolepsy will soar in “Super” pilot debut at iO this Saturday night Read More »
I can’t wait to tell you about the “Just Dickin’ Around” (JDA) open mic and showcase. But first I want to announce my new address. It’s 3458 N. Halsted, also known as Hydrate Nightclub, which happens to be the home of JDA. JDA’s producers, Krista Atkinson, Marla Depew and Scott Duff have created a rare
Just Dickin’ Around will light up your Thursday night Read More »
Death threats stop some people. Hari Kondabolu isn’t one of them. He specializes in truth-telling comedy. I really should say comedic truth-telling because the funny is paramount. Either way, there’s zero tolerance for censorship or ceding ground to bullies. His comedy is on-point and his observations fearless. When he holds a difficult subject up to
Mainstream American Comic Hari Kondabolu appears at Chicago’s Hideout on July 30 Read More »
Tom Cotter had me at “hello.” What the heck, before “hello.” Did we even say hello? More on that in a minute. Fifteen minutes before our interview, I had chaos. Mice roamed a bombed-out bathroom. A contractor spent ten minutes yelling at me over the phone. Another ran in and out picking up equipment with
I vacationed with Tom Cotter and you can, too, at The Improv, July 22-24 Read More »
June! Exodus! When Tim Barnes came to Chicago from Los Angeles, he had a few thousand dollars, Del Close’s Truth in Comedy, big dreams and the question of whether he would be successful. Four years later, he is leaving us. It’s that season in Chicago when many of comedy’s best and brightest pack up their
A harrowing and tragic evening brought Kim Parker Russell to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence where she is now a regional organizing manager. There, Kim has accomplished something heroic. She has forged optimism from trauma. Not cheery, lightweight optimism, but optimism borne of sound strategy and the conviction that change is possible and
