Chicago sweethearts Joselyn Hughes and Brooke Van Poppelen are going to be staging their brand-spankin' new sketch show, "Grow a Pair", this Thursday and Friday at the Lincoln Lodge (4008 N. Lincoln). The show is directed by Second City alum and Chicago ex-pat Deb Downing.

Joselyn and Brooke sum up the show thusly: "People like pretty, quiet ladies. We are loud, drunk, and obnoxious and decided we weren't fooling anybody by pretending we were petite flowers. Macho is a show that lets us express our machismo through ridiculous characters that are all powerful, animated, and opinionated. And definitely not quiet."

Asked about their collaborative efforts, both with this sketch and in their stand-up work, they said: "We spend a lot of time together; being that we are lady stand-ups and perform often. We decided to stop competing and decided to team up and wage war against the world together. We practically have collaborated ourselves into a life partnership. Our next project will probably involve adopting an Asian baby and opening a used book store/coffee shop. It's weird for sure."

Brooke, Joselyn, and Deb Downing will all be headed to the DC Comedy Fest in August to perform stand-up. After that, they are planning to take "Grow a Pair" back to NYC with them after polishing it "back home" this week.

--Kristy Mangel