Matt Besser's "Magical Sack of Dump" Tuesday at the Lakeshore
Our interview with UCB mastermind Matt Besser will be up shortly, as soon as we wrap up this wacky holiday weekend. (Wait, which holiday is it, again?) Anyway, tomorrow night, Tuesday, October 9 at the Lakeshore Theater (shows are at 7:30 and 9:30), catch the brilliant Matt Besser in his one-man show, "Magical Sack of Dump," which features some of the best bits from his shows of the past few years, including his “MySpace Tom” series (featuring comments from people who believe he's a "retarded gay nut"), prank phone calls from "May I Help You Dumbass," in which he spoke, very unhelpfully, with people who called his New York phone number, thinking they were calling a tech call center elsewhere, and the ever-popular “Q & A with the Pope.”
A clip of Besser's MySpace Tom:
And, a sampling of hate mail from people who didn't much care for Besser's MySpace Tom, including the phrase "Jesus made all of us, fucknut":
Besser and fellow UCB founder Matt Walsh in the Dirtiest Sketch in LA Contest:
After eating dinner alone, reading in a bookstore alone, and drinking at the diner alone, we hope this review is about something good enough to take our minds off of how pathetically alone we are. Tonight it's a... shit, a one man show? Nick Vatterott's "No Outlet"?
Great, he opened with a joke about wedding rings; this'll be a long night of dwelling on failed relationshi... wait, did he just switch scenes with a clever segue? Is this an entirely new character? Is Nick Vatterott keeping the audience engaged without trite, direct communication? Is he ridiculously high energy (as pictured)?
Oh deary me, this show is hilarious! Why, we were laughing so hard at the lazy man's guide to Riverdance (pro tip: only dance from the waist up) that we scarcely had time to dwell on our own lack of dancing skills and how that may be impacting our relationships! His interpretation of the letter Y being a promiscuous tramp (not unlike our last friend with benefits), is uproarious! He's switching characters more often than we switch significant others (and that is incredibly often!)! I hope SNL hears about this Nick Vatterott, because this breadth of characters is simply unmatched. What's this? The most hilarious pantomime of being locked out of a car, mugged, stripped, and forced to hula hoop we've ever seen? Dear sir, you are too much.
Indeed this show was adequately distracting from our sad little...wait, I recognize this scene! He's calling back that thing from earlier! Wait, the entire show was a cleverly prepared, subtly segued callback! Had we not been obsessing over the supposed reasons why that floozy didn't come to the show tonight (who seriously has a migraine
all day?), we probably would have caught even more of this mile-a-minute, beautifully crafted, perfectly executed show.
Alas, the lights are down and we must retire to our humble abodes...Oh, Nick Vatterott, don't thank the audience for coming, thank YOU for putting on a fantastic show. Oh, you sincerely are thankful and what to buy us drinks? You, sir, are a king among men. Anyone who has the opportunity to see your show (Thursdays at 9:00pm from September 27th through October 18th at the iO Theater, 3541 N Clark St., Chicago) would be a fool to pass it up.
David Angelo's "Your Ideas Suck" at the Apollo Studio Theater
Communication = Persuasion
So sayeth David Angelo in his one-man opus, "Your Ideas Suck." The show, opened by the always hilarious Jason Fever (complete with dodgeball to visualize his period jokes) promises from the beginning to be simultaneously pretentious, philosophical, pun-filled, and even pugilistic (we couldn't resist the alliteration). Somehow, it accomplishes all of the above.
With his unique multimedia stylings (garnering him the title of "3rd Most Innovative Comedian" at the Chicago Comedy Awards), David Angelo goes on a journey through time, space, and logic. The show ranges from a flashback to his youth, a 200 year dead Native American Chief, and a diatribe on toasters and Israel, stopping only for a solid 20 minutes of puns and the occasional board-breaking karate chop. Yeah, we weren't surprised that it sold out, either.
Unfortunately, David Angelo is another in this current exodus of Chicago comedians. Fortunately, his fellow soon-to-be-expatriates Kumail Nanjiani and Becky Garcia attended, along with other Chicago heavyweights such as Prescott Tolk and Dave Odd. Even more fortunately (is that a thing now?), you have one last chance to catch David's show before he escapes for NYC; next Saturday, Sept. 29th, 10:30pm at the Apollo Studio Theater. If you want to know how Israel is like a drunk girl at a bar, we highly recommend you attend.
The Bastion needed a drink Sunday night so we hit The Annoyance. We’re big fans of their stocked top shelf of single malt scotches AND shows so we bellied up and then we saw Brooke Bagnall’s Idiot: A Love Story in Pieces. Written by Bagnall and directed by Siren’s Megan Grano, Idiot is a twisted tail. The Reader highly recommended the show, though they said it lacked “polish.” Polish? We have no idea what they were talking about, unless it’s sausage and that means we’re pronouncing Polish wrong.
The show is in fact SUPER sharp as well as snappy, cutting, solid, and hilarious. Bagnall ferociously delivers her characters and braids their stories together to prove what we think her thesis is: Love, of any kind, for a spouse, parent, child, and yes, significant other makes you an idiot… but it’s nice when other idiots are around.
There are only 4 more weeks to see the show before it closes September 9th. Go see it. As an added bonus you can stick around after Idiot for the screening of Annoyance producer Mick Napier’s reality television debut in The Second City’s Next Comedy Legend. Mick has the honor of judging the comedians and will help in deciding which one of them will land a prime tour co. job… in Canada. Mazel tov.
Idiot: A love story in Pieces, Sun 9:30 PM, Annoyance Theatre, 4840 N. Broadway, 773-561-4665, $8.
Our interview with UCB mastermind Matt Besser will be up shortly, as soon as we wrap up this wacky holiday weekend. (Wait, which holiday is it, again?) Anyway, tomorrow night, Tuesday, October 9 at the Lakeshore Theater (shows are at 7:30 and 9:30), catch the brilliant Matt Besser in his one-man show, "Magical Sack of Dump," which features some of the best bits from his shows of the past few years, including his “MySpace Tom” series (featuring comments from people who believe he's a "retarded gay nut"), prank phone calls from "May I Help You Dumbass," in which he spoke, very unhelpfully, with people who called his New York phone number, thinking they were calling a tech call center elsewhere, and the ever-popular “Q & A with the Pope.” 
(Or: How to Spend Another Thursday Night Alone!)
Communication = Persuasion
The Bastion needed a drink Sunday night so we hit 
