A tipster in LA alerted us to this: "When we got outside, there was a huge crowd of people at the front of iO. An SUV had smashed through the front window into the bar. What we gathered was that the driver fled but the passenger was still there. No one was hurt. Not one person, and this is a high-traffic pedestrian area. The bar was empty. Had it been a couple of hours later, there would have been a ton more people around."
Whoa! Glad no one was hurt. Also, let's hope this wasn't a targeted thing. Random acts of aggression against Chicago comedy? Watch yourself if you're hanging out in the area of Addison and Clark.
The Chicago Reader has chosen its "best of" for 2008, and the Reader's Choice comedy favorites include stand-ups Michael Palascak and Mike Stanley, improvisers Susan Messing and Katie Rich, Improv Groups TJ and Dave and the Hot Karl, sketch groups the Cupid Players and Hey You Millionaires, and venues the Annoyance Theater and ComedySportz.
Schadenfreude is retiring to the lake for the summer! And by that we mean they're doing original sketch shows at the Theater on the Lake (Fullerton Avenue and Lake Michigan), performing some of the best sketches of their ten-year history, and then retiring them! At that point, they'll be referred to as "classics." The shows started Wednesday and run through Sunday night, with all shows at 7:30 (except Sunday's, which will be at 6:30). Tickets are $17.50, call 312-742-7994 for reservations.
Chicago stand-up Cameron Esposito was recently a guest on the nationally popular Feast of Fools podcast. She will also be heading to 2009 Aspen Rooftop Comedy Festival.
Visitors Locker Room has redesigned their website and now it's super simple to listen to Chicago comedians Sean Flannery, CJ Sullivan, and guests shoot the breeze about sports and other amusements. VLR podcasts are now available on iTunes, and the new site also features their videos, which enlist the talents of friends like Brady Novak, Matt Braunger, TJ Miller, and others. At least one of the videos is -- how can we phrase this eloquently -- fucking brilliant. --Elizabeth McQuern .
This week’s Armando Diaz Experience was more muscular than ever thanks to the presence of human giant Joey Kovar, one of the cast members of MTV’s The Real World Hollywood. The reality show, now in its 20th spectacular year, features the iO West as the housemates’ workplace and theater owner Charna Halpern as their boss.
From a strictly aesthetic perspective, Kovar isn’t the type of person many would associate with the improv scene. Dressed in a sleeveless hoodie, his bulging biceps and chiseled chest make him look like He-Man. Meanwhile a star-studded cast, which included the slender Jet Eveleth, the portly Brian Jack, the waifish Pat O’Brien and the stocky Noah Gregoropoulos, waited in the wings to perform.
For those not familiar with the Armando, it is a format where a guest delivers a monologue, and the cast then uses the story to color their improvised scenes. After a few scenes, the monologist delivers another tale and the sequence repeats. For this show, Halpern and Kovar took the stage together, with Halpern interviewing Kovar about his experiences both on and off camera.
Kovar, who is a recovering alcoholic, described his battle with addiction candidly. He also discussed his experience on the show, giving the inside scoop on his housemates.
The Armando cast refused to hold back from touchy subjects, battling alcoholism head-on in a recurring scene about a play called The Smell of Honey. Even The Real World itself was lampooned when performer Alex Fendrich grabbed a video camera from the front row and followed performers in a scene.
The night ended on a sober note, with Kovar taking the stage to warn others about the dangers of alcohol and drug addiction. The Armando Diaz Experience is every Monday at iO at 8:30 pm in the upstairs Del Close Theater. Each week the all-star cast welcomes a new monologist to share personal stories that inspire improvised scenes. Tickets are $12.
June 18th The Comedians You Should Know Show, featuring Hannibal Buress, Marty DeRosa, Carrie Callahan, Junior Stopka, Sean Flannery, Nick Vatterott, and James Fritz:
C.J. Toledano at the Lincoln Lodge ruminating on the CTA, Scooby Doo, and AMC Theaters:
Silly Funny Goof Gang - Mentos!:
Scotty Got an Office Job Episode 2:
This Day in History - Adolf Hitler (from Merchandise):
Talkin' Funny - Season 5 - Episode 12 (guest-hosts Paul and Bryan host Talkin Seriously and interview guest Shannon Rose):
Ben Lerman - Leave Imus Alone!:
From 2006, a Run Lola Run homage to the eighth anniversary of The Elevated stand-up showcase, featuring Cayne Collier, Eric Acosta, Nate Craig, Robert Buscemi, Pat Brice, Sharon Hazel, Brady Novak, Josh Cheney, Deb Downing, Pete Grosz, Kumail Nanjiani, Brian McGannon, Mike Olson, and Shawn Cole:
Visitors Locker Room - Illegal Use of Hands (written and co-directed by Ryan Ridley, directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts, featuring Matt Braunger, Brady Novak, TJ Miller, Kyle Kinane, Eric Acosta, Jenny Flack, Danny Jelinek, Mark Teich, Eric Price):
Grandma June's Sewing Circle, currently playing the Apollo Theater:
Legendary stand-up comedian George Carlin passed away last night at the age of 71. Carlin, who had a history of heart problems, checked into a hospital in Santa Monica reporting chest pain Sunday afternoon. The reported cause of death was heart failure.
Carlin was slated to receive the Mark Twain Prize For American Humor in November. He was chosen to host the very first episode of Saturday Night Live in 1975. He wrote three best-selling books, and recorded twenty comedy albums, the first of which was released in 1967.
He was one of the best known comedians of the 1960's, making more than 80 major television appearances (back when, you know, there were only a few channels, and being on television really meant something). In 1970, uneasy with his initial success, Carlin abandoned his square image, growing out his hair and beard, and doing sex, drugs, and rock and roll stand-up in jeans, finding a younger, hipper audience in the process.
By the mid-70's Carlin was a bona fide irreverent cultural renegade, focusing his acerbic wit on politics, religion, and other sacred cows.
1977 saw his first HBO comedy special, “George Carlin at USC," with many more to follow, and he made countless feature film and television appearances over the five decades of his career, including in his own sitcom "The George Carlin Show," (1993 to 1995), and his recurring role as Mr. Conductor on the PBS series "Shining Time Station."
In 1991 Carlin told the LA Times "There are three ingredients in my comedy - those three things which wax and wane in importance are English language and wordplay; secondly, mundane, everyday observational comedy -- dogs, cats and all that stuff; and thirdly, sociopolitical attitude comedy."
Coverage in the New York TimesCNN, LA Times.
1978's groundbreaking "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television," bit, which challenged (and eventually changed) existing obscenity laws:
Bastion pal and Chicago comedy vet Matt Braunger confirms that he has joined the cast of MADtv. Braunger was recently featured on Comedy Central's Live at Gotham and, as Robert Buscemi told us in a special report from the road, he won Best of Fest at the recent Rooftop Aspen Comedy Festival.
Yes, I did get hired as a cast member. I just found out two days ago right before I was about to go onstage at the Great American Comedy Festival in Nebraska. Would have jumped for joy, but am on crutches from hurting my knee (nothing serious). I auditioned several times, first for the casting people, then for the producers, then finally for the people at the network. They had me bring in several characters, then read scenes with other actors in the later auditions. I start in August, but will go in a week or two early to hang out with the writers and give them any input they want.
I am utterly blown away to be on the show. My buddy Eric Price (of Wisconsin and sometimes Chicago) got hired as well, so I'm over the moon in general.
My developmental comedy period was in Chicago, so I feel hugely indebted to that city and the people in it.
Braunger will be recording a CD at the Fake Gallery in Los Angeles on July 11th.
Chicago comic Hannibal Burress will be opening for Tracy Morgan tomorrow at the Vic, and was recently featured on Chicago Public Radio. He also informs us that "June 27-July 13 I'm touring as a part of the F Yeah tour. It's a tour with comedians bands and artists fyeahtour.com. The Chicago date is July 3rd at Stan Mansion with Matt and Kim,Monotonix, Team Robespierre, Mannequin Men & Crystal Antlers."
A new Chicago comedy blogger is using her share of bandwidth to illuminate readers about the wonders of our comedy scene. Who is she? She's our very own (and iO's very own) Rachael Mason! Rachael was tapped to be the official comedy examiner for all of Chicago, a job we're confident she is ready for.
In other iO news, iO's Mike Balzer, longtime Bastion supporter and pal (known to his pals as "Baz") is liveblogging his latest adventures in heart surgery on his iO blog. Better than bugging the nurse for more morphine and getting lost in soap operas, right? Get better soon, Baz!
The cast of the new comedy “Factory,” on Spike TV, will be the special guests at a screening of their new show, and there will be an improv set afterward. Why should you be excited? Because the series stars iO alumni Jay Leggett, Mitch Rouse, David Pasquesi and Michael Coleman. All of this will be happening Thursday, June 26 at 09:30 in the Del Close Theater. Tickets are $5 or free for iO students. If we ever meet David Pasquesi, we would like to tell him that he is the reason that the Bastion exists (long story), but we would probably be too tongue-tied to talk to him.
Hey all you twenty- and thirty-somethings, remember Full House, Perfect Strangers, Mr. Belvedere, and all that? Well, if the answer is yes, or no, then you should make it to see Guy Friends at iO.
You can't go wrong with an 80's sitcom themed show and solid characters to boot. I was sold as soon as I saw the pre-recorded theme song and video they play before the show starts. In addition, the performers were so talented I wondered if this really was an improv show at points.
The regular cast you'll see every week is Nick Ehart, Wes Haney, Jamie Hoggson, and John Langen, it's directed by Connor O'Malley. Every week they'll bring in two guests. The show I saw featured special guests Sam Wiener and Connor O'Malley. They played two characters named Giuseppe from Barcelona and the 80's hilarity began. Guy Friends will be at iO. Fridays until July 19th at midnight for $5.
The DC Comedy Fest has announced the Chicago lineup (although there may be more announcements to come).
Go here and click on "Chicago Comedy" to see for yourself. So far, at least, the list includes headliner TJ Miller, Brady Novak, Debra Downing, Hannibal Buress, Hey You Millionaires (fresh from a well-received performance at NY Sketchfest), Misled, Pat O’Brien, Robert Buscemi, and Chicagoans who are now based in New York including Brooke Van Poppelen, Joselyn Hughes, Team Submarine, and Colbert Report writer Peter Grosz.
Non-Chicagoan (there's probably a funny one among them, right?) include the incomparable Reggie Watts, longtime Bastion favorite Todd Barry, and Daily Show co-creator and all-around awesome chick Lizz Winstead.
Wonder Woman discovered a dead body! But she didn't fly it away in her invisible jet.
Sean Flannery is sharing his ridiculous job interview stories with ABC. "I interviewed with the wrong department at a huge insurance company because I didn't remember the name of my HR recruiter," says Sean Flannery, who's now a software developer for a Chicago advertising firm.
New York's Improv Everywhere would like to be a television show, but perhaps the spirit of their public happenings is not "mean enough" for today's viewing audiences.
Chicago comedian Hannibal is next up at bat on Comedy Central's Live at Gotham:
Sarah Haskins' latest "Target Women" video, which she was shooting this week while we interviewed her:
(This post represents the tail end of the Bastion's Chicago Improv Festival coverage. What a week!)
It's been ten years since the celebrated JTS Brown last performed, which is coincidentally the amount of time needed to produce a barrel of the group's namesake whiskey. The group headlined the CIF Mainstage last Saturday night, with Children of a Lesser God opening as a tasty aperitif.
The women of Children (pictured at right) took a suggestion of "Zimbabwe", and from there crafted a show that was sharp, silly, borderline incestuous, international, and most importantly, funny. Although the 330+ seat Lakeshore Theater is a far cry from the more intimate Del Close Theater at iO, the performers quickly took charge of their space. From a family who sat in on an adult party hotline to a pair of Canadian prop comics whose only gag seemed to involve using chairs as over-sized phones to a group of Peace Corps workers and their Zimbabwean counterparts, the performers brought life to one of the most dysfunctional collections of characters you'll find on an improv stage. The Bastion has already popped an enormous improv boner for these ladies in the past, and will continue to do so as the ladies perform every Sunday night at iO (3541 N. Clark).
JTS Brown has taken on somewhat of a legendary status among improv circles. (Believe it or not, they're under the radar of the public consciousness so much that there we can't find any stock photos of them or links to plug into this article.) The form is still taught in the iO curriculum and stories still circulate of how the group rehearsed three times a week for ten months before they ever even performed at iO. The group boasts an impressive roster of alumni and many of them gathered on Saturday for a night of truly exciting improv.
The suggestion for the show was "practice" and Peter Grosz (now a writer for "The Colbert Report") began the group's signature shape-shifting opening monologue. A bitter third-grade drama teacher was created as each team member took a turn embodying the character. He ranted that perhaps the best way to get to Carnegie Hall wasn't to "practice, practice, practice" but instead to network. He lectured to the young cast of "A Christmas Carol" about the politics of theatre and about the possibility of winding up working in dinner theatre. As the monologue progressed each player would take a place somewhere in the theatre and mirror the mannerisms of whoever was delivering the monologue. When the last player took to the stage the monologue crescendoed, and the entire group joined in, segueing into the first scene.
JTS Brown differed from most improv as there was no "back line" and instead the players waited in the wings. There were no traditional sweep edits, and instead scenes transformed-usually into new ones, but often times they organically lent themselves to earlier situations. Cast members weren't limited to playing characters, there was also a great deal of playing environment and other embellishments. A recurring joke sprung from a moment when two players had to demonstrate various acts of lovemaking on top of a third cast member playing a sofa. Players could also assume the role that another improvisor was playing, interrogate a character to gather information that could progress a scene, or "telescope", which would focus in on a particular object in the scene. Early in the show local favorite TJ Jagodowski telescoped in on a love letter that had been lost in the senseless (but hilarious) murder of a mailman. That letter would later play an integral part of the show as it inspired further action, including the comical failed suicide attempts of its intended recipient.
The group was incredibly playful and deft at picking up on patterns. Seemingly simple games such as John Lutz's "1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12" singsong were heightened eventually leading to a sophisticated series of World War II themed play. History was hilariously turned upside-down multiple times, specifically in a spontaneous roaring twenties dance party that took place in the 1930s while a Misshapes-esque DJ worked the turntables. The opening monologue also had a great influence over the piece, as the audience not only got to see part of the production of "A Christmas Carol" (with a brilliant transition where the three ghosts that visited scrooge became the "Big Three" of World War II), but they also got to see what dinner theatre would be like as performed by that same cast of third graders. The show came full circle as Grosz came out to end with the drama teacher's monologue. JTS Brown was an amazing show from start to finish, thanks to the players who were terrific across the board. Let's hope they don't make us wait another ten years to see them again!
This busy reporter took some time out this weekend to go see what all of this improv hubbub was about. Usually, I don’t see anything if Will Smith isn't in it but I went to two shows at The Chicago Improv Festival last weekend.
Friday night I saw Chicago comedy vet and Colbert Report writer Peter Grosz, Saturday Night Live's John Lutz, and Rob Janas (pictured at right) perform together at iO. Here is a summary of highlights: excellent improv in a packed theater, the lights/power went out, the show went on even though the power was intermittent, these guys were so pro they made it seem planned. I also talked to them after the show.
Lutz and Janas both agreed to say this to me: “Chicago is the best place for improv, even when the power goes out.”
After talking to those two I thought I should meet Peter so my friend Kate James from Schadenfreude (name drop!) offered to introduce me and I jumped at the chance.
I told Grosz what Lutz and Janas said to me and Grosz responded with this, “I thought Jutz was a professional writer.” I should’ve given Grosz my card so he could see this professional writing. But I think he was kidding.
Saturday Night I saw Rob Belushi and Jon Barinholtz (pictured at right) at Donny’s Skybox. These guys have great chemistry and energy and packed the place out. No power problems at Second City.
I didn’t have an in with these guys, and they’re not on TV so I didn’t stick around to talk. Just kidding, I did and they thought I was just a regular audience member so I told them I would give them a bad write up then they came running behind me trying to get an interview and I told them it was too late. None of that really happened. I did go to the show and enjoy it though, and I didn’t stick around because I had to go, to the bathroom, just for number one.
There you have it folks, news from the front lines at Chicago Improv Festival. Sweat, darkness, and laughter. Mostly, I’ll remember the laughter. No, wait, I’ll probably remember talking to people that have been on TV.
A friend of ours recently directed our attention to some funny online videos featuring the wit and familiar face of a Chicago comedian, Sarah Haskins, who has recently relocated to L.A. Then we saw that she'd written something funny in the Tribune. Then another friend noticed a little love letter to her on Salon, and people across the blogosphere are saying "put Sarah Haskins on the Daily Show!" People on the CIN board saw her videos and reminisced about enjoying seeing her do improv and sketch, one of them going so far as to say "Haskins is the smartest person I ever met. She should be on the Daily Show, this is only further proof." We thought we'd take the opportunity to track Sarah down and chat with her a bit.
You are probably aware that you're a Girl Crush on Salon's Broadsheet, where they call for your immediate hiring on the Daily Show because they dig your comedy videos mocking yogurt ads and other stupid stuff directed at women. They say "Who is Sarah Haskins? Good question. Google doesn't turn up much ... even though she has become the toast of the feminist blogosphere after just two outings."
So who is Sarah Haskins? Harvard grad, and Chicago comedy alum (we saw you perform at Comedy Sportz years ago, before we actually moved to Chicago ourselves, and we remember you being very quick and funny)...can you fill in some blanks for us?
I thought it was funny they asked "Who's Sarah Haskins?" What? You never saw a midnight show at iO in ’02?
They got it pretty right: Harvard- Second City-LA. The part that is described as "Second City" however, lasted six years, with most of those years doing non-Second City work, and was fundamental to my learning about comedy and getting better at it.
Freshman year of college I saw a show at Second City called "The Psychopath Not Taken." I loved it –I was doing improv at the time at school with a great group called IGP - and Psychopath expanded my sense of what comedy could do. It was funny, smart, and important.
I'm from Chicago, so I did my research and realized that was the place to go to learn and start a career.
In Chicago I worked with a number of groups in sketch and improv, like many people do, and each show taught me a lot: Chairs, Whirled News Tonight, American Dream Striking Out. I had very talented, motivated peers.
I directed later on and really liked it. I am a structure person - I find shaping a show very appealing. The Late Night Late Show is one of the absolute highlights. We had an incredible cast, a very collaborative process (I like the Sesame Street words: cooperation, ensemble, support) and everyone committed an insane amount of time to the show. We had a lot of good comedy fights over things like "WHERE SHOULD THE SHARK SIT? WHERE?"
I also directed The Enthusiasticals, Hey You Millionaires and BoxCo.
Then I toured with Second City for about two and a half years with Mighty Mighty Blue Co......and here.
IMDB says you're a comedy writer in Los Angeles - what are you up to out there, and how did you find opportunities?
I'm on IMDB? My next door neighbor from growing up worked for Current for a few years and let me know about the job at infoMania when it opened up. So, I applied. I've been in LA about eight months.
What's the story behind the videos? Are you writing them? Who are your collaborators? What do you hope they will do for you? Are there more in the works?
The videos on the internet are part of a larger show called infoMania that airs on a channel called Current. Most people have only heard of Current because Al Gore started it. Current is a young network geared at a young, media literate, socially aware demographic.
infoMania is actually a half hour show, produced by the network that airs every Thursday night. It’s a half hour of comedy and commentary on the ridiculous amount of media in our lives. Current is on Comcast in Chicago. Channel 107. Watch it and be part of our extremely elite (small) audience.
I write the videos by myself but with input from other writers and producers at the show - especially Brett Erlich, Mark Ganek and our EP Jeff Plunkett. Dylan Osborn, a very talented editor, helped create the entire concept.
There will be a new video on Thursday. It's on politics. That tends to enrage people this year, so we'll see if the internet is as friendly as it has been. And hopefully, I will end up doing lots of different kinds of segments for infoMania.
What are your ultimate goals with your comedy career?
Ultimate goals? Nobel Prize for Literature. Failing that, I would like a long career where I do a lot of different things. I look at the careers of people like Mike Nichols, Tina Fey, and Steve Martin - they've all done great work in a number of roles and mediums. I hope to make a few good things. If I’m lucky, they will also have something to say – an ambition that was certainly instilled in me by the Chicago scene. And books. Anyway, I think that’s hard to do. And might mainly happen by accident.
What kind of shoot were you on today?
I was shooting the Target Women that will come out Thursday night. We have a pretty tight turnaround.
What did you learn and enjoy most about directing BoxCo, Hey You Millionaires, and so on?
I probably learned a pretty basic lesson: being a good director means listening to what your cast wants to do, helping them clarify that, and ensuring that their ideas are presented in the best possible light. Sketch directing and improv directing is, at least for me, a democratic process. Everyone contributes and hopefully the best ideas win.
I had a lot of fun playing with their ideas.
Do you consider yourself a feminist, and if so, what does that mean to you, and what role do you think it plays in your comedy?
Yes, I’m a feminist. It is an extension of my lifelong war against pantyhose.
To me it means that as women we are individuals before we are gendered people and that we’re not defined by our gender except in the ways we chose to appropriate that definition.
We’re in a weird generation, right? Our Moms were forced to grapple with that definition more immediately, and I think it’s changed as we’ve grown up. The core issue "how do I fight bias against me because of my gender" is still there but has gotten more complicated and wrapped into all kinds of identity issues about how you present yourself as a woman and I pretty much think it's your choice and fuck pantyhose. So, hence my answer above.
I think all comedians bring their experience and perspective to comment on the world and I am a woman, so that gets involved.
Who are your favorite comedians, besides the ones you mentioned? Are there any you saw when you were young that made a strong impression on you? Who today makes you laugh out loud?
The Office(s). Eddie Izzard. All British people. Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart. Mike Nichols and Elaine May’s sketches. Amy Poehler. Paul Rudd. The movie “Noises Off.”
Young? Sesame Street. I still love the Muppets. And the Muppet movies. And the way Muppets walk. I would read Erma Bombeck at my Grandma’s during the summers and thought it was so funny. Calvin and Hobbes. “The Love Guru” is going to ruin this answer, but I loved Mike Myers.
Last thing I saw that made me laugh really hard was Hot Fuzz. And McSweeneys Joke Book of Book Jokes. It’s hysterical. Fun for nerds!
Do you have friends in California who are also from the Chicago comedy scene?
Yes! There’s a lot of people out here. Jeremy Sosenko, who was involved with the Late Night Late Show, American Dream and The Dollar Store is writing out here. Many recent Second City alumni: Molly Erdman, Matt Craig, Rebecca Allen, Brian Gallivan are all pretty recent arrivals.
Do you think you would enjoy writing for the Daily Show?
I love the Daily Show. infoMania was started by Madeline Smithberg one of the creators of the Daily Show. I am proud of our show.
DC Comedy Festival's Comedy Screenplay Challenge, Comedy Short Competition
Hey! The DC Comedy Fest loves Chicago comedy, so much that they're devoting one entire showcase to Chicago talent in the upcoming fest (August 7-9).
Now the folks behind the DC Fest are making noise about their comedy short competition, and their comedy screenplay/teleplay competition. They're looking for creative, clever, undiscovered comedy writers and filmmakers (that means you can't have any management or any sort of production deal).
Details on how to submit your comedy screenplay/teleplay or your comedy short film (under eight minutes) can be found here.
Finalists in the screenplay competition will get a reading in front of industry folks including Nick Weidenfeld (head of development, Adult Swim), Paul Getto (creative executive, Rogue Pictures), Jonathan Baruch, of Rain Management Group L.A., and actress Daphne Zuniga (Spaceballs' Princess Vespa!).
Winners of the comedy short competition will receive $250 and have their short aired on the festival website, on an industry video portal, and before shows at the festival.
All entries must be received by July 3, 2008, so get hoppin'.
It’s fairly easy to overlook Detroit as a comedy Mecca. New York and Los Angeles get most of the attention, and what little is left is solely doled out to Chicago. Although it’s true that our Motown brothers might not have access to the same number of stand-up venues and improv schools (there is a Second City nestled in the mitten-shaped state), they can still bring the funny. This Saturday, Chicago got a taste of this brand of humor thanks to the legendary ensemble 313’s performance at the Chicago Improv Festival.
The show opened with a set by Gillett & Sutton, composed of Adina Gillett and Chicago performer Mark Sutton. The duo were followed up by the fast-paced antics of New York ensemble Johnny Lunchpail. The four-man group played fast and furious, creating bizarre scenarios in rapid fire. Most notable was the group’s physicality. Every member at some point courageously put themselves in some awkward position, most often to help create a rich environment for the other characters to exist in.
Rounding out the night was 313. The group, which formed out West, claims Detroit as its home because the majority of its members received their training at Second City Detroit. The star-studded cast includes such famous members as Keegan-Michael Key from MADtv and Larry Joe Campbell from According to Jim. The ensemble took the stage at the sold out Lakeshore Theater and launched into a fairly fast-paced montage of scenes, most of which lasted no more than a minute. As the set continued, the pacing slowed down, allowing the group to concentrate more on longer scenes, including a hilarious bit about a Senator from Milwaukee, who literally had a direct phone line to God. The group’s masterfulness showed itself predominantly through their ability to cap a scene at just the right time with just the right line. And although it wasn’t the most grounded or realistic scenework, the audience didn’t seem to mind since 313 delivered on its promise to make people laugh.
Although there was a noticeable absence of giant, city-destroying monsters at Thursday’s installment of the Chicago Improv Festival, there was no shortage of monstrous laughs, thanks in part to the amazingly smart duo, TJ Miller (of Cloverfield and Carpoolers fame) and Thomas Middleditch, who headlined the night.
Opening for the twosome was SCRAM. Composed of Chicago improv veteran Joe Bill and Minneapolis powerhouse Jill Bernard, SCRAM put on a stunning and emotional set. The duo began by setting up two separate scenes, independently of one another, at the same time. After establishing the essentials of their own scenes, the two switched, assuming other characters in the worlds established previously. It’s one of those formats better understood once seen. And seeing it in action was pure beauty. Bill and Bernard’s scenework is incredibly grounded, giving rise to extraordinarily emotional scenes, tinged with true situational comedy.
Up next on the roster was iO’s veteran Harold team The Reckoning. The group started their set with a bang—literally—with Jet Eveleth, a true starlet on the Chicago improv scene, playing a lady who had just been killed by a falling air conditioner. This set the stage for several ongoing themes, including murder, abuse and air conditioning, that the players wove throughout, creating a psychotic dreamscape of madcap comedy.
Rounding out the night were the Ritalin-deprived antics of Miller & Middleditch. These two former Chicago regulars completely blew the audience away with their ability to walk the thin line of believable absurdity. The first scene began with Miller playing a caddy who reveals to Middleditch a secret outpost that the caddies call home. A few scenes later the duo played testosterone-fueled frat boys who ceased their fighting thanks to a shared passion for underwear. But the highlight was when Middleditch grabbed a microphone and conducted a poetry slam, with Miller assuming the role of an angst-ridden, 17-year-old poet.
Miller and Middleditch are pure energy on stage, sometimes assuming several characters each in the same scene. Miller’s experience as a stand-up brings an impeccable sense of timing to their scenes, with comedic tension rising and falling at exactly the right moments. In fact, the two share such a chemistry, they’d probably make a great offstage couple.
Stay tuned for additional coverage of CIF. Photo from the CIF website.
Writer and friend of the Bastion Anne Ford has written a terrific profile of Chicago improv legend TJ Jagodowski for the Reader this week. In it, we discover that Jagodowski endures the puzzling symptoms of a mysterious neurological ailment, including "dizziness, the loss of coordination, the confusion, the constant sense of rocking back and forth," and anxiety when attempting to perform any scripted material. Fortunately for Chicago improv fans, his condition has no effect on his ability to create spontaneous improvisation, and thus his creativity and career with that art form continue to flourish. Oh, and he bought a condo with his Sonic commercial money. Not bad!
Report from the Road: Rooftop Aspen Comedy Festival
Robert Buscemi has returned from the Rooftop Aspen Comedy Festival and files this report, exclusively for the Bastion.
So a quick breakdown on the inaugural Rooftop Aspen Comedy Festival, which I performed at this past weekend.
First off, CHICAGO'S MATT BRAUNGER WON "BEST OF THE FEST"! He beat everybody. Amazing. His set was just blazing. He told that damned owl story that I've died at for years now, and people were just crying laughing. He beat people with credits you wouldn't believe -- half-hour Comedy Central specials, Letterman appearances, touring headliners, you name it. And apparently Nate Trenholm, also a Chicago guy, gave Braunger a full undercarriage man-goose as Braunger strode onto stage from the wings. Trenholm killed too. The three of us were lucky to be on a really strong showcase at 8:30 Saturday in front of a huge, awesome, sharp crowd.
The whole festival was just fantastic. It was just extremely well put on, everybody at Rooftop was sharp and a blast, and there was just a great communal feeling among all the comics. There was also some heavy industry, and there was a great afternoon panel on the future of online comedy.
Among my new favorite comedians ...
Robert Hawkins, who just smashed. He's now on a very small list of bread-and-butter, old-school uber-comics I'm keeping -- a list that includes Jimmy Pardo and Todd Glass. Hawkins is amazing. I mean it.
Andi Smith -- A young woman who's one of the biggest smartasses I've ever met. She's a corrosively hysterical hipster. VERY sharp material. I traded for her CD too, and the CD rocks hard.
Erin Foley -- A super-sharp comic with super-fresh material that I first met and heard about through Nate Craig a few months ago. Erin's on Last Comic Standing this season. She did fantastic.
Tig Nataro -- Oh my God. She just murdered me. I squealed like a pig. Super-understated, super-confident, super-fly. She spent like two minutes up top lurching around the huge stage with the mike stand looking for a good place to clear it away so it wouldn't get in her way of her set, making a big stink that her comedy is just "that big." She wound up leaving the stage entirely to stuff it off behind a stage-left curtain. The masses howled. She wore the ugliest sweater ever made like it was a royal ermine. I just can't tell you. She's the breeze.
I could go on. The talent was impressive as hell across the board. So yeah, it was the best ever. I was thrilled and honored and the shows just went on and on and there were parties long into the night.
Oh, and I played in my first poker tournament. I was DEAD-FIRST to lose all my chips, out of 35 entrants. That's a fact.
Chicago Underground Comedy Highlights, May 28, 2008, featuring Mort Burke, Dan Polydoris, Sean Flannery, Dan Telfer, Andrew Dewitt, and Prescott Tolk.
"Schooled Again," an official selection of the Chicago Pilot Festival:
Talkin' Funny - Season 5 - Episode 9 - Special guest hosts Ned Littlefeather and Big Chuck Bearfoot bring you the Old West Show and interview Magic Justin:
Negative Infinity, Super Zeroes and Altered Egos Preview:
BoomChicago, Highly Dubious News for 04 June, 2008:
"Assisted Living" trailer, a contender in the Chicago Comedy TV Pilot Competition, featuring Dustin White:
A tipster in LA alerted us to this: "When we got outside, there was a huge crowd of people at the front of iO. An SUV had smashed through the front window into the bar. What we gathered was that the driver fled but the passenger was still there. No one was hurt. Not one person, and this is a high-traffic pedestrian area. The bar was empty. Had it been a couple of hours later, there would have been a ton more people around."
The Chicago Reader has chosen its "best of" for 2008, and the Reader's Choice 
Chicago stand-up 
the talents of friends like Brady Novak, Matt Braunger, TJ Miller, and others. At least one of the videos is -- how can we phrase this eloquently -- 
This week’s 
Legendary stand-up comedian George Carlin passed away last night at the age of 71. Carlin, who had a history of heart problems, checked into a hospital in Santa Monica reporting chest pain Sunday afternoon. The reported cause of death was heart failure.
By the mid-70's Carlin was a bona fide irreverent cultural renegade, focusing his acerbic wit on politics, religion, and other sacred cows. 
A new Chicago comedy blogger is using her share of bandwidth to illuminate readers about the wonders of our comedy scene. Who is she? She's our very own (and iO's very own) 
Hey all you twenty- and thirty-somethings, remember Full House, Perfect Strangers, Mr. Belvedere, and all that? Well, if the answer is yes, or no, then you should make it to see 
The women of Children (pictured at right) took a suggestion of "Zimbabwe", and from there crafted a show that was sharp, silly, borderline incestuous, international, and most importantly, funny. Although the 330+ seat Lakeshore Theater is a far cry from the more intimate Del Close Theater at iO, the performers quickly took charge of their space. From a family who sat in on an adult party hotline to a pair of Canadian prop comics whose only gag seemed to involve using chairs as over-sized phones to a group of Peace Corps workers and their Zimbabwean counterparts, the performers brought life to one of the most dysfunctional collections of characters you'll find on an improv stage. The Bastion has already popped an enormous improv boner for these ladies in the 
This busy reporter took some time out this weekend to go see what all of this improv hubbub was about. Usually, I don’t see anything if Will Smith isn't in it but I went to two shows at The 
Saturday Night I saw 
A 
It’s fairly easy to overlook Detroit as a comedy Mecca. New York and Los Angeles get most of the attention, and what little is left is solely doled out to Chicago. Although it’s true that our Motown brothers might not have access to the same number of stand-up venues and improv schools (there is a 
Although there was a noticeable absence of giant, city-destroying monsters at Thursday’s installment of the 
Writer and friend of the Bastion 
Two great Chicago comics, 
So a quick breakdown on the inaugural Rooftop Aspen Comedy Festival, which I performed at this past weekend.