Blog Defunct

Kept live for archival purposes.

Goodbye Team Sub :(

Afternoon/evening, gentlefolk! I'm beginning to get ready to head out to the first of six Rent Parties, but first I wanted to chat real quick about my night at the Playground Theater last night. I got a chance to see a long set by Team Submarine, a super-duo of hilarity. Unfortunately for Chicago, and, more importantly, ME, they're skipping town, headed for NYC by the end of this month. They've been blowing it up all over for the last couple years here in town and elsewhere, and we are of COURSE very excited for them and all that. Meh. I am realllly getting sick of saying goodbye to all of my friends, however. Really. Sick. Of. It. But! That just means yet another couch to crash on in NYC, so whatevs. And, that also means getting to watch all of my talented friends on the televisions and in cinema, right!? That also means way better parties and stuff too, yes!? Hurry and get there, because my youth and energy is fading by the minute!

Okay, weird self-involved tangent. Aaaanyway. The show was hilarious front-to-back, nearly two hours of their original sketch and stand-up (which they performed individually as the "openers" for Team Submarine), and culminated in their famous and beloved "Pizza" sketch, with a decidedly extreme twist, which I have sort of captured in video format:

What is going on here? Well, I started this clip about halfway through the five minute bit. They had been putting ice down their pants constantly since the beginning of the bit (they wanted to challenge themselves as they had done the bit so many times that they now were virtually on auto-pilot, as they said). It was fan-freaking-tastic (and mostly a case of "you had to be there", I'm sure).

I ended up being annoyed with myself, however, because I was all ready to shoot a nice set of photos with my new point-and-shoot. Well, I didn't have the settings set up correctly, and the lights at Playground often tend to wash out images as it is. All of the faces in the set I took are instead white blobs, barely humanoid. :( Depressing. I'll get this right SOMEDAY.

doing the tango.

This week's streak just keeps going! Last night I finally got out to Gorilla Tango Theater for the first time in a year or more. The whole theater has been revamped; it's pretty sweet now, except their newly-found liquor license, of course. I ostensibly was out to support my friend Greg Guiliano's new sketch group Yeti Crocker. I thought I had recognized a few of the members from a comedy studies program Greg had attended through a collaboration with Second City and Columbia College, and I was right! I really enjoyed the work of the class when I saw them last spring; it's cool to see that some of the classmates stuck around together to do more work. As for the future of the group, Greg says, "We plan to produce more shows. We intend to stick with the name Yeti Crocker for our group and then see what show ideas evolve from there. We like Yetis. What can I say? In the future we want to have more musical oriented stuff, as [musical director and fellow musical improv classmate] Tara was added a bit late to the mix and get her some actual stage time.

"We're thinking about putting up a version at the Skybox or another theatre, but nothing solid has been put in stone yet. Everyone involved wants to see the show get more than two nights, so we're looking at what we can figure out."

Fun! I've been finding myself meeting people in the world of sketch and improv more and more lately, which is definitely welcomed, as I'd like to be more fully informed about what's going on in Chicago now and how it's affecting the state of comedy in general. Too lofty? Probably. I'm overtired.

Beeeecause, after Yeti Crocker, I stuck around for everyoneKILLS, which, as I said in this here blog yesterday, I've been meaning to see since the first installment, what? Eight months or more ago? I've been pals with Jeff Hansen, the producer, for years now, but don't get to see him that much these days. Thankfully, he's got this room up now so I know where to find him at least for a month or so at a time! The current incarnation of this show will last the rest of April, but will then likely be on hiatus for the summer. In talking to Jeff, I gathered that the show has been evolving with each new "season"; I can't really say how it's different now (as this was my first show, like I said). I can say that it was a fun stand-up showcase in an unconventional space, with a small but lively audience, and some new (to me), younger comics doing confident sets with fun bits. Rounding out the evening (and after the "variety" interlude of a hilarious essay read by a super cute indie rock writer), were my pals James Fritz and Brady Novak, who are never disappointing or dull, either on-stage or IRL. Kudos to Jeff for throwing such a fun times show!

Wrapping up this fucking book already (sorry, rambley today), and finally mentioning the guys up in the photo up there... After everyoneKILLS wrapped, I was looking out for a way to get back up North and East. Brady mentioned checking in with Lola Balatro at Goodbar, who were rocking a set out at that moment (and who is comprised of performers Paul Thomas and Jeff Madden, and musician/filmmaker Cork Kangas). I accepted the offer and we got outta there. At Goodbar, it was a raucous, strange (and strangely hilarious) mix of Corn Hole, Flippy Cup, birthday girls in tiaras, and our tongue-and-cheek comedian friends singing about having "two black friends" (which the two African American men at the bar party found to be most amusing), and panda-naming committees (and which was immediately added to my MySpace profile), with their eyeliner and fake tattoos completing the look of the earnest-angsty independent rock and roll musician poet.

WHEW. Super wordy today. THAT'S IT I PROMISE. And IF I had taken pictures, I probably would have just had a super cool photo essay up on the Bastion today instead of this, but I still don't have my new camera. :( I should by the end of the month, though!!

*yawn*

Was feeling pretty perky this morn after not-so-late shenanigans at ChUC last night. I've been yawning pretty much continuously for about a half hour now, though, so it seems the inevitable afternoon crash has begun.

It was totally worth it, of course, as last night was a very special showcase -- Jared Logan Unlimited. Approximately a 45 minute headliner set by the same-named, the first of its kind produced under the ChUC auspices. I got to chat with Jared a bit over the Interweb this morn, as we sat at our respective day jobs. He seemed very stoked about the way it all went down, saying, "I wish I could do that much time every night of my life...I want to get 45-60 mins of club-ready material I'm proud of and tour. I know I'd like to do that...it was a blast." AGREED!!! His openers, Chad Briggs and Adam Burke, both good pals of mine and both hysterical comedians, brought the energy and laughs. Host (and relative Chicago newbie) Carrie Callahan emceed the whole show, keeping everyone happy and excited.

It was definitely a great, special night. As for me, personally, it was a downright proud night -- Jared was the very first stand-up comic I ever saw perform, here in Chicago, in May 2005. He was hosting the (now defunct) Bad Dog Sunday night open mic. I immediately, without regard, fell in love with Chicago Comedy that very night. To be in attendance for this event was truly uplifting.

And now of course Jared is moving to NYC in a week or so. :( That's okay; we will him to the city. They deserve to have him there, I suppose! And soon the nation will be able to have their first taste, too: Jared will be appearing on the new season of Live at Gotham, which begins in June.

Photo caption: Because we're still dark, I'm using some "stock footage" out of my Flickr account from April '06. Haha! I hope he doesn't kill me.

some things.

HELLO WORLD. I'm alive! Promise! Okay, so I've been a fairly useless comedy writer/blogger for about.... oh, many months now. Perhaps more. Perhaps I've been under some strange self-delusion that I was EVER useful. Oh, but how that will change! Or will it? I have no idea. No more promises outta this camp, and that IS a promise!

Good Things! (quickly, as now I'm on the verge of being late for Jared Logan's long set at ChUC tonight):

This past Friday I went to the Interview Show at the Hideout, which was fun and new and interesting. Also, I got to listen to Rhymefest wax philosophic about politics and society in general; it was fucking cool. Then I got to see Kate James and Justin Kaufmann do a hilarious bit w/ 'Fest. Then I forgot my wallet but didn't realize it until I biked all the way to Avondale on four Labatt Blue tallboys and no dinner. Dammit! It was there, though. WHEW. I'm almost 30 BTW.

Sunday was the third (?) installment of the Comic Vault Comedy Show. This is a SUPER fun new show. Four comedians, longer sets, BYOB, lots of whooping and hollering, small intimate space. PLUS the shop is owned by the best bartender in Lincoln Square. Definitely check it next month if you can get in!

After that, Angel and I (we the original rollers) went to Schubas for the open mic -- I hadn't been since last month's Comic Vault show, and I have a feeling that will be the new routine -- I'll partake excessively once a month at the Schubas open mic, following the Comic Vault show. Because otherwise I will never have a decent Monday morning again -- did I mention I'm almost 30?

Speaking of, another good thing: I am planning to take the first week of June off to celebrate my birthday, spending the first half of the week in Western New York seeing my family, and spending the last half of the week in NYC seeing shows and visiting folks out there. More details when the tix are bought!

Bad Things! (there had to be at least a couple!)

Someone hacked the Bastion this afternoon! WTF!!! Didn't that go out of style in the early 1990s? I think it's back up now, albeit without yesterday's or today's posts.

My camera is broken, and I'm waiting for the $$$ to get a new one. In the meantime, Chicago comedy has gone dark, it seems. No one is shooting ANYTHING. It's depressing. I hope to at least get a new shooter in the next couple weeks to alleviate some of that. There is too much stuff going on right now; I want to capture some of it.

And on that note, a mention about tomorrow's plans: Gorilla Tango for Yeti Crocker, followed by everyoneKILLS, which I've been promising to attend for approximately 8 months (or more).

OKAY I HAVE TO GO. Hopefully tomorrow I can do Part Two to this, wherein I mention all of my famous friends and their latest endeavors and whatnot.

I'll Remember April

I am currently enjoying the latest episode of RBR, something I haven't done in months, if not years. I wanted to go ahead and mention a couple comedy-related things:

I went to the Timothy O'Tooles Comedy House show a couple weeks ago. It was Bradley's last Comedy House show before leaving for L.A. booooo. Here are the pics; I had a fun time. I'd like to say I will check out this show regularly, but I won't. Because I am way too lazy to stay downtown on Thurs after being there all week for work. But it was a great show, and I think those kids are doing something special here.

I liked Brido's rant about Vanity Fair. I only just read the actual article a few days ago; the only thing I thought about it was, "Oh, good, Annie Leibovitz is still shooting."

Of course I didn't get around to mentioning yet how SpitFire destroyed the mountains of Vermont, and, prior to that, cavorted about NYC, did shows at Comix, chilled at Rififi, and rolled through Brooklyn in a giant SUV. More about that, with pics, later!

My Lion Sleeps Tonight

Greetings, comedy blogosphere and beyond! I have been in absentia as of late. For this, I do apologize! I am going to try and be better about posting bits and baubles in the near future, I assure you. First, I'd like to say HAY to a few new comedy-blog-friends I've been reading as of late:

Hi to DC Comedy! I like what you kids are doing out there, and you throw a great festival, fo sho!

Hi to Dead Frog! Nice piece and shout out on our boy's Time Out blog!

Hi to Glumbert! Not a "comedy site", per se, but I appreciate your vid links and watch many of them, which is something, coming from someone who notoriously doesn't watch Internet shorts.

Hi to Comic Vs. Audience! You have a swell-sounding scene out there in Philly.

Hi to Shecky! Always doing it and doing it well! Nice piece and shout out to our Time Out boy, again! Steve is part of the blogerati upper echelon!

Hi to Comic's Comic! One of our favorite new reads. And we keep seeing our pals written about here and there, and find ourselves slipping into uber-jealousy at your cool life covering comedy in NYC. P.S. -- Hilarious story about Showalter v. Miller. Oh, comedy celebs!

And of course, big love and inappropriate touches to Whip It Out, the Apiary, and the newly resurrected Coming.

This post was going to be longer, but my hippie neighbor just came and knocked on the door so I ended up chilling with him for the last 45 min. or so, and now I've lost my steam. Maybe more later, or in a few days!