One time a man knocked pamphlets out of my mom’s hands and called her a Communist. In the late ‘60s, “communist” was a pretty bad thing to call a person. Why the epithet? My mom was campaigning on Washington, D.C.’s National Mall for gun reform. It’s one of my earliest memories. It happened just after […]
Talking with Jeanne Darst about comedy, gun sense and truth Read More »
In the dim early hours of June 17, 1992, Asher Montandon was the target of a robbery on a Los Angeles street. The robber had a gun. He ended Asher’s life in a moment of violent chaos which would reverberate through time to this day. Asher was 24 years-old and living with his brother Maccabee.
Dwayne Kennedy is both a local Chicago comedian and a national celebrity. He’s an influential voice when it comes to social and political issues, but he also enjoys silliness. In 2016, he released his first album, although he’s been a successful stand-up for thirty years. He has things to say that might be uncomfortable to
Talking with Dwayne Kennedy about life, comedy and his new album Read More »
Every so often you listen to an album and then and there you’re committed for life. It’s happened for me a handful of times. Earliest on, it was The Jackson Five’s Third Album. Then came Carole King’s Tapestry, Earth Wind and Fire’s All ‘N All, Heart’s Dreamboat Annie, Black Sabbath’s Paranoid, Nirvana’s Unplugged, Hole’s Live
Talking with Lola Balatro about its secrets and the Night of Unrelenting Splendor Read More »
Thank the comedy gods for the timely Chicago appearance of Adam Quesnell. Never have we so badly needed to laugh at despair, to mock it and declare it vanquishable. If you agree, and these days who doesn’t, you’ll want to see Adam when he headlines Black Box Comedy at the WIP Theater this weekend. The
A conversation with Adam Quesnell: Despair is the funniest demon Read More »
Upside-down in his crumpled Mustang convertible in the dead of a rain-slicked night, Dobie Maxwell had one question. “What’s funny about this?” How do you develop the kishkes to ask that question when you’re possibly about to die? You can find out next week when Eckhartz Press releases Dobie’s long-anticipated memoirs, Monkey in the Middle.
A Q&A with Dobie Maxwell: Bank robberies and car wrecks are no match for comedy Read More »
AJ is not Anthony James or Andrew John. There’s nothing ordinary or predictable about AJ Lubecker. “It stands for Austin Jack,” he explains. “Whenever I tell people that, they’re like oh my god, that’s the coolest. But I go by AJ. My parents called me AJ before I could talk. That’s always been my name
I talked with AJ Lubecker about Funked Up Friday and now I want to party! Read More »
“I like you guys. I’m going to tell you something a little personal,” Mike Cronin says towards the end of his album, Hot for Too Long. The statement got a huge, extended laugh. Mike’s set was already personal, a lot personal, and in the best way: in a no-fear, we’re friends, I can tell you
Getting personal with Mike Cronin Read More »
“Some of you may not know me, but you will not fucking forget me!” When Bridget Everett took the stage like a nuclear explosion in a shoebox at the “Funny or Die Oddball Comedy Festival” in Tinley Park this summer, those were her words, words which would end up some of the truest I’ve ever
Talking with Bridget Everett, who changed my life Read More »
An adventure in comedy is about to kick off and you’ll have thirteen chances to be a part of it starting Thursday night. That’s when the Second Annual Chicago Open-Mic Festival begins. Over the next three nights, the Festival will sponsor twelve open mics at venues throughout Chicagoland. Comedians are challenged to bring their best
You know Ray Chao. You may know him from growing up in Morton Grove or from high school at Niles West or from the Game of Thrones trailer that preceded Jurassic World in theaters nationwide last summer. He currently appears in commercials for Ford Motor Co., HP and in a Doritos commercial he created, hopefully
From courtroom to comedy: the unique career of Chicago Comedy Film Festival’s Ray Chao Read More »
When the organizers of EPIC Fest called it EPIC Fest, they weren’t kidding. They say it stands for Edison Park Infectious Comedy Fest, but no doubt it’s also for the epic line-up of comedians who’ll settle into Edison Park from Tuesday, October 13 through Sunday, October 18. You’ll recognize them from The Late Show with David
EPIC Fest’s Kelsie Huff, Marty DeRosa and Tim Barnes share adventures in comedy Read More »
I am talking with the Defiant Thomas Brothers and they are all of those things. They are Thomases, being Seth Thomas and Paul Thomas. They are brothers in comedy, creativity and fame, if not genetics. They are also defying my terrier-like attempts to get them to spill the secrets of their magic. There has to be a
I’m glad no one talks about the “sexy dad bod” anymore and I don’t want to resurrect it, but can we talk about what really counts? How about the “sexy dad mind” and the Chicago comedian who exemplifies it: Jim Gaffigan. “Wait!,” your inner voice protests, “Jim Gaffigan who talks about Hot Pockets, bacon and
Hot topics! A Q&A with Jim Gaffigan Read More »
