TJ Miller with the girls of Star and Garter Burlesque.

We're not sure if that's the working title of this new comedy/burlesque show, but we like it. And we LOVED the show. Thursday, August 31, was the first installment for the coupling of Star and Garter Burlesque and a handful of the top independent stand-up comics in Chicago, to a room of more than 200 people at Fizz Bar on Lincoln Ave. We could feel the kinetic energy in the air as showgoers began lining up on the staircase to the upstairs of the venue, and a few minutes later, the Bastion politely removed itself from conversation at the bar with Ricky Carmona and Pat Brice and got in line with miss Emily Gordon, an aspiring burlesque dancer who currently takes a class with world-famous burlesque dancer and mother hen of the troupe, Michelle L'Amour. (Emily can also sometimes be seen driving the Bastion to the grocery store in a thunderstorm, but that's another story.)

The excitement was not unwarranted. There were a sizeable amount of people in the standing-room only section at the back of the long but fairly wide room; when the troupe came on for their first group number, the place went absolutely bonkers. It was certainly interesting to see how comedy was received in conjunction with beautiful women dancing provocatively on stage to amazing music; from what the Bastion could tell from its place in the back, the crowd was very receptive to the comedic interludes, and outside of a few technical glitches (sound that didn't carry all the way to the back of the room was mostly the only complaint), the production went off without a hitch. We are definitely looking forward to the next one September 7, and we hear tell that it will remain a weekly event for at least three weeks, with an evaluation after that period to determine whether to continue a weekly run or to become a staple monthly revue. The Bastion would like to give kudos to Jared Logan, Kumail, Pat Brice (a last minute substitute for Nick Vatterott, who was booked at Zanies and didn't know if he could get over to the venue in time for his slot), Robert Buscemi, host TJ Miller, and the girls of Star and Garter for a great evening.

Photo by Krystle Gemnich.