Friday Free-For-All
--Well clearly, sometimes even we don't get the joke. Jena Friedman was actually kidding when she MySpaced about raising $7800. Darn our gullible little hearts. So what about that family in Bolivia that was going to eat for a year? Well, there's always Save the Children. Tell 'em The Bastion sent you.
-- Last night the Bastion caught Bootlegger's Ball in the Del Close Theater at i.O. and enjoyed the spirited improvised commentary from the (fake, of course) filmmakers (AKA improv team Quincy) behind the 1989 Patrick Swayze masterpiece Roadhouse. Patrick Swayze's mullet may have actually been exhuding more charisma than he was, and Kelly Lynch, well, let's just say she's lucky she's tall, blonde, and pretty, because the words "blank" and "vapid" are the only ones legally allowed to describe her performance. Abominable acting and ridiculously overchoreographed fight scenes aside, one thing we can heartily recommend is the macaroni and cheese wedges at the Salt & Pepper Diner next door. Those things rock. Oh, yeah, back to the show. According to their MySpace, next week Quincy plans to take on Full House. We don't know if that means the tv show or the movie, but either way it should be good for a chuckle.
--Doug Stanhope will be performing at the Lakeshore Theater this weekend. Stanhope has a reputation for being irreverent and rather glib. Exactly how mischievous is Stanhope? He's published a book called Fun With Pedophiles: the Best of Baiting, all about internet pranksterism at its very darkest. Sort of like "To Catch a Predator," but even more mean spirited toward the creeps.
--Hey, did you know that the Chicago Improv Festival is soon to delight audiences in venues across the city from April 23-29 with local and returning big name performers? Well, it's true. And when we say big names, we mean Amy Poehler, Seth Meyers, Tim Kazurinsky, Ike Barinholtz (and tons of other MadTV cast members), and other Upright Citizens Brigaders, including Matt Besser, Ian Roberts, and Matt Walsh. It's going to rock, and you should be there.
--Mosey on down to the Stage Left Theater at 3408 N. Sheffield this weekend for a pH Productions show described as "highly-interactive late night improv comedy." Take your pick of the 11 PM "pHamily" show or the 12:30 AM "pHrenzy pHucked" show, which is the R-rated version of their Friday night show.
--Feel like watching hapless contestants try to hold in a mouthful of water while comedians dance and sing and otherwise humiliate themselves in the name of comedy? Of course you do! Head on down to the Playground Theater Saturday at 10:30 for Don't Spit the Water! Special guest host will be - drumroll, please - Game Show Host, who you know and love from Blewt!'s Impress These Apes shows. But please don't stare at the bandage around his head, he's still a little self-conscious about his unwanted lobotomy. Also enjoy the comedy stylings of longtime show favorites Super Teen, Mildred Funderbunk, and the always lovely Pretty Olga.
