While sitting in the Bastion offices, idly daydreaming whilst staring out of the floor-to-ceiling windows in our 99th floor penthouse, marveling at all the tiny ant people and thinking, "wow... blogging really DOES pay off, silly ant people," we forgot to actually, you know, post about stuff we've seen. First though: Hey Chicago comedy! Quit being so damned good and so damned prevalent! We simply can't keep up this lifestyle of being amused every night and (not) writing about it everyday! This is getting a little out of control, okay?

TWO Fridays ago the Bastion checked out the new monthly stand-up room at Town Hall Pub, hosted by Seth Thomas. We had a rollicking good time in this unconventional space; it might possibly become the most diverse room on the Northside, both in terms of comedic styles and ethnicities of performers and audience alike. As a special bonus: a hip-hop dance party broke out after the show finished and the Bastion got to shake its booty just a little.

After cutting loose on the dancefloor for a bit, we were able to make it over to the weekly Friday midnight show Scribble at the Playground Theater, hosted by the quickly rising duo Adventure Club. We've been fans of Daryl Amandes' stand-up for quite some time, and had heard tell of his free style talents, but hadn't witnessed them. Then we started reading about Adventure Club. And reading about them. And reading about them some more. Finally, we hung our heads in rightly deserved shame and finally got over to their show -- and were blown away at the combination of Amandes and Justin Jackson as a rap sketch duo. Believe the hype, we promise.

F.O.B. 80s Clown gave us a heads up about a weekly show at Goodbar that is mainly an improv showcase but that might be expanding to stand-up and possibly even some multimedia -- 80s used video for the first time at his show this past Wednesday and he told us it went over well.

We weren't able to make that show in person, however, due to already being slated to see comedian Landon Kirksey's band Devin and the Straights perform at the Beat Kitchen, with guests Scattered Maize. We were surprised to find that Scattered Maize had us laughing while keeping our feet moving -- we are looking forward to seeing a lot more of them. Devin's been a favorite around here for sometime, and seeing Landon Kirksey wail on a microphone and harmonicas is an incredible treat. We were told the show was being recorded for a live CD so we're hot to get some preview mp3s of that.

We wrapped up comedy last week with the Lincoln Lodge's special Superbowl Spectacular show Thursday night, with stand-up from the members of the Visitors' Locker Room, a audience-participation game that brought to life one of the in-studio segments the Internet radio show produces, and a taped interview of the "Lovie Smith" and "Tony Dungy". We're not the biggest sports nerds here in the Bastion offices, but we never miss a show of VLR (3 p.m. CST on fearlessradio.com), and the Superbowl Spectacular is regularly an annual highlight. Thursday nights are typically a lower-key night at the Lodge, but even in these current below-zero temps in Chicago, the turnout was good and the performances top notch.

All photos by Krystle Gemnich. From top to bottom: Karen Williams, Adventure Club, 80s Clown, Devin and the Straights, the Visitors' Locker Room.

- Kristy Mangel