(EDIT: Our Big Poppa, the Apiary in New York, sees our Chicago boys TJ Miller and Prescott Tolk in their Bombast show at the UCB in NYC for himself, agrees with what we've been saying all along: HUGE talent. HUGE. Says the Apiary: "TJ has all the markings of a comedy megastar." Um, yeah!)

Schadenfreude's monthly Rent Party is tonight at 8 at the Gallery Cabaret. It will lack "The Ass That Goes Pow" (which graced last month's festivities) but will feature the champs from the Rhyme Spitters competition (freestyle hard core rap). One of the performers, we hear, was the champ of his Joliet prison league, so be sure to bring your Grandma.

Dave Odd gave some newbies a soft place to land on their fledgling attempts at stand-up last night at Pressure, as well as accomodating some more experienced performers. Saturday night at 8:30 he'll also host the Edge Comedy Showcase, also at Pressure.

Next Monday, August 21 at 10:30 p.m. Chemically Imbalanced Comedy will present a one night only presentation of their improv show "Bad Review" at the new Annoyance Theater at 4840 North Broadway. What do they do, exactly? According to creator and director Angie McMahon, "We take the worst review (of other shows) from the Chicago Reader and we improvise the show we feel the Reader would have rather seen." This, of course, results in good reviews for Bad Reviews. Confused yet? Don't feel bad. It is pretty meta.

Check out some pictures from the Elevated's 10th Anniversary Party.

Gawk at a new flickr set of SpitFire snaps.

Chicago comedian and performer Spencer Lord, who had been staging a one-man show called Correctional Fluids, now finds himself recovering from a scary, scary car accident on I-90 a few weeks back. The Bastion wishes him well.

What else? Hot dogs, besides being made of the unsavoriest parts from the reject barrel at the slaughterhouse, can cause genetic mutations. just thought you might like to know.