Last Saturday night worlds collided when the Apiary and the Bastion sat together in the audience at the Playground Theater and watched Sasha and the Noob (with assistance from Tony Sam, Jared Logan, and Erica Reid) prod laughs and Aquafina from the mouths of three good-spirited contestants at Don't Spit the Water. Lauren Bishop also provided some bee-colored, Italian-flavored comedy in the form of knock-knock jokes. A bee doing jokes for the Apiary? Coincidence? Hmm... (A ton of photos from the show here.)

Sasha and the Noob entertained with their awkward, indeterminately Eastern European charm, and were kind enough to host a small horde of Apiary and Bastion-related folks, and the show was hilarious.

Our Big Poppa was in town for one night only, so we were sure to treat him to some of Chicago's best (or at least, most geographically convenient). We started with dinner at Clarke's, moving on to a drink at the L and L, followed by a delightful Don't Spit the Water, and then piled into several cabs (along with Tony Sam and Jared Logan) to Bill Cruz's birthday party at Seven Ten (where we bumped into dozens of Chicago stand-ups, including Pat Brice, David Angelo, Allison Leber, and Bradley Fojas, as well as Jordan Vogt-Roberts and Mike D.), and wrapped up with more fraternizing right nearby at CJ Sullivan's notorious garden apartment.

There was quaffing of cheap beer, snacking on suspiciously decorated birthday cupcakes, in-depth discussions of comedy bloggery, a comparison and contrast of life and creativity between Chicago and New York, speculation on future comedy projects, and much more.

Thanks, Sasha and the Noob! Happy Birthday, Billy! And see ya later, Apiary. Big smooches all around.

(Take a peek at a selection from the YouTube archive of Talkin' Funny, in which Sasha and the Noob fill the airwaves with Chicago comedy chat, crunchy foods, charisma and...slide whistles.)

Posted by The Bastion at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Another ridiculous weekend is behind us here at the Bastion. What was supposed to be a weekend full of a rock and roll outdoor music festival turned into a water-soaked, grey, end-of-summer melancholy of days, all ending in incredulous hilarity.

Saturday had us early on deciding not to go down to Touch and Go for lack of a festival buddy. Instead, we called up TJ Miller to see if we could hitch a ride in the Ford Focus and catch his feature set at the Improv out in Schaumburg. Friend of the Bastion Lauren Bishop was on emcee duties (we hear she is the only female to be hired by the club thus far), and SNLer Darrell Hammond was headlining. This would be the second day of a double-show stint; the first show billed as the "dinner show" at 7 p.m. and the second beginning at 9:45 p.m., with about an hour downtime in between. The Bastion ran into Mike Holmes and had a few beers with him during Darrell's second set, where we got down to some serious discussion on the state of comedy in Chicago and the future of current collaborations.

Lauren, Darrell, and TJ 'chillaxing'.

It was a real treat for us to see our friends in front of 300+ audience members in the biggest comedy club in the country, and to be able to meet with Darrell between performances and chat a few minutes with him about the shows. Lauren told us that she, TJ, and Darrell had some really amazing conversations backstage about the business, and we're jealous we couldn't be a fly on the wall for that one.

Speaking of the business of comedy, some things were overheard in the Focus regarding the future of TJ's ever-escalating career. Certain senior partners of a certain huge entertainment talent agency have been in talks with TJ about flying out to meet with him -- flying OUT to meet with HIM. He's being a bit nonchalant about it, but still called up his friend Zegan to go over all the particulars and get his professional advice. Apparently, huge entertainment talent agency got a tip from someone who caught TJ and Prescott Tolk's Bombast show at UCBT this summer, then told aforementioned senior partners to look at TJ; in turn they requested a tape, he obliged, and they were calling the next day. Hot stuff! The Bastion wants a copy of that seller.

The night wasn't done yet, however...

Continue reading ""WEREWLF," Newly Released Inmates, Poorly Stenciled Garden Apts., and Other Topics Not Mentioned in Following Story about Another Weekend of Misadventures" »

Posted by The Bastion at 02:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)