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Another successful weekend of comedy was had by the Bastion this past one. It began in the intimate Rogue Theater in Andersonville Friday night, with the third installment of Rogue 8, a “superhero comedy” that debuted this past July, with a second installment in September. The 11 p.m. sold out house was a lively one and the 11-person ensemble moved fluidly in action and dialogue. Nary a beat was dropped in the 45 minute performance, and several hearty laughs were shared. Playwright Dan Telfer told us, “The show originally cast out of auditions, with one part written with a Rogue company member in mind (Amanda Lanier as Tilt). Then I became closer with company member Dan Foss and created the role of Unfairy for him in Issue 2. In Issue 3 I looked outside the Rogue Company and cast my personal friends Caitlin Savage and Fuzzy Gerdes as the Maladroitress and the Ninja respectively. Then Nate White, the artistic director, told me he wanted some of the spotlight and I wrote him the part of the Amalgam in Issue 3.
“It's the best selling show Rogue has had, to my knowledge. It's a new space, so hopefully the company will find enough resources outside my show to keep the space afloat.” The show runs every Friday and Saturday at 11 p.m. until March 10.
Saturday afternoon we popped by the Music Box to take in one of the several Chicago screenings of the third annual Animation Show, which featured shorts by Don Hertzfeldt, Run Wrake, Shane Acker, Bill Plympton, and Joanna Quinn, among others. We ran into Chicago Underground Comedy's Tony Sam, who commented after Hertzfeldt’s film: “I need to reevaluate my life. Excuse me, I have some writing to do.” We couldn’t have said it better. We were incredibly glad we happened upon this show at nearly the last minute.
The grueling winter weather couldn’t keep us down, however, and shortly after we visited the Playground Theater for the weekly game show, “Don’t Spit the Water!” Sasha handled the Noob’s absence and substituted more-than-usual banter and sexual innuendo with Big Dummy to fill the void. If that last sentence left you clueless, you’re obviously missing out on one of comedy’s most fun nights in the city – grab a bottle of wine (or six-pack of beer, or flask of tequila, or whatever be your poison) and head over to the show next week. As a special bonus, we hear the monthly Demon Who Never Appeared has been rescheduled for the midnight slot directly after DSTW, as it was cancelled from its usual slot last weekend due to the aforementioned Chicago winter, a brutal mistress as of late.
Photo of game show winner Breanne with the DSTW cast courtesy of Don't Spit the Water.
- Kristy Mangel
The Bastion spent some time in a Northside office last night assisting (i.e. eating snacks near) a film crew shooting a short comedy film for Robert Buscemi's upcoming DVD. Comedy concert footage was shot for the DVD at Buscemi's smash hit Subterranean show a few months back, and five short comedy films will be interspersed with that footage to create what we expect to be a hugely entertaining comedy product.
Blerds video mastermind Jordan Vogt-Roberts brought some big shiny lights and a camera, and Buscemi's charming wife Sarah Hadley was also on hand to assist with ketchup and whipped cream smearing duties.
Don't Spit the Water performer Jenni ("Mildred Funderbunk") Lamb was there to absorb mock insults and perform a few befuddled pratfalls. Quite a stretch from her well-received play Memento Polonia, which she wrote and starred in. There was some confusion over of the true meaning of "Whopper" (chocolate covered malted milk balls or Burger King beef on a bun?) but one thing is for sure: funny was made.
This past Friday, the first Alter(ed) Egos showcases were held at Kitty Moon, and saw an English butler, a Southern "gentleman", a wrestler, a preacher clown, and a plumber share the stage. Scenester Krystle Gemnich wrote all about it in her fanblog.
Yesterday was Football Sunday, wherein the Bastion watched the Buffalo Bills DECIMATE the New York Jets with comic Chris Burns, and then popped over for more football chaos with two-thirds of the Visitors Locker Room at their IRL headquarters, Seven Ten Lounge. It was here that we were informed of an impending changing of the guards, with one of the boys heading off to brighter and warmer climes in the coming months. There is also a Web site in the works for this daily Internet radio show; they aren't leaving the Fearless family but are creating their own Web presence.
Afterward, we thought we'd check in with the Your Sunday Best showcase at Bad Dog Tavern, where we ran into the little-seen (as of recent) Mike D. of Red Bar Radio and filmmaker Jordan Vogt-Roberts of Blerds.com, among many, many other projects. We also got to chat briefly with TJ Miller, who had just returned from showcasing in NYC for the people of the Aspen comedy festival; we hear from a few different sources that he's a sure bet for Colorado.
A couple things of note for the week: tomorrow, Tuesday, December 12, is the first Chicago Underground Comedy show in their new home, the Beat Kitchen. Thursday is the "Honeys and Funnies" Star and Garter Burlesque show, which is being filmed for a documentary; if you haven't seen these girls shake it yet, get over to Fizz for a little holiday heat. And, that same night (and also Friday night) the Lincoln Lodge is hosting the SpitFire girls, for an all-female drag-em-out and stand-em-up comedy show. Special guests will be the dancers of Hipnotic and Second City's Deb Downing-Grosz. Chicago has finally come out of deep freeze, so get out there this week and see some live-action entertainment.
- Kristy Mangel
Due to editorial confusion, this week's installment of Monday Mutterings is posted on a Wednesday, and is called something else entirely. Thanks for holding the tomatoes.
The weekend began with VIP passes to the Completely Jam Packed Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter show at the Metro. We caught them on this stop in Chicago on their very first straight stand-up tour; we were thankful for the passes which afforded us a spot in the slightly-more-comfortable balcony area set aside for press and other very important people. We here at Bastion have been to a lot of rock concerts at the Metro, but can't remember a time when the place was THAT full. Anyone else go to the show? What are your thoughts?
Saturday afternoon Allison Leber, Becky Garcia, and Fay Canale, a.k.a. 3/8ths of SpitFire, joined the folks at Soothe Your Senses to entertain at breast cancer benefit Pink Fling. It was a beautiful afternoon to laugh for a good cause, which is kind of lucky, considering this IS Chicago and it could have been 10 below. Everyone had a great time eating Peruvian food and wearing fuzzy pink boas.
After a very successful, hilarious special Saturday stand-up showcase at the Bird's Nest (featuring Chuck Roth, Victor Marinier, Mike Bobbitt from Detroit, and Mike Stanley, with host Bradley Fojas), we headed over to Wrigleyville to catch up with our prodigal son, TJ Miller, who was fin-al-ly back in Chicago after some time in NYC and on the road with the Second City Touring Company. We got to meet the new Grill. Yes, we mean Grill, not Girl. We heard about it on Wednesday's Red Bar episode, but didn't fully believe it until we saw it for ourselves.
Saturday night was also Dave Odd's Birthday Bash at Pressure Cafe, and Sunday night we overheard that David Letterman's booker's girlfriend was in attendance at the show, headlined by Dave himself. Hmm!
Out with the crew was none other than Mr. Thomas Middleditch, who got word of a party over on Sheffield Ave. Little did we know that we would be entering the private Lakeview Baseball Club, for an intimate gathering of people we didn't know and free draft beers which we helped ourselves to from behind the bar. It was pretty surreal, but made total sense, given the ridiculous nature of the people we had met up with, heh. Making our acquaintance with the host and proprietor of the establishment, we found out he is a sketch comedy writer in addition to running Chicago's only private rooftop club. Of course.
Sunday night was the very special benefit show in support of "Ming Mong" at Wise Fool's Pub in Lincoln Park. Ming Mong being the fictional child of sketch group Mogo Doesn't Socialize, and the benefit being to raise funds to cover their booth at Wizard World Texas this November. The group walked away with some gas and beer money for their comic book convention, and stand-up comedians Brendan McGowan, Bradley Fojas, and Lauren Bishop ensured everyone had a great time.
Bringing you all the deets from the past week/weekend from our new home away from home, Gio's on Damen Ave. Why? Because the Bastion is OFFLINE at home, but still dedicated to keeping you up to speed on the latest and greatest in Chicago comedy. We'll be doing this round-up of misadventures Memento-style, starting with Friday, Saturday, and Sunday today and revisiting Wednesday and Thursday in a couple of days.
Friday night was a rousing success of a show to see Renee Gauthier off to the mystical land of Los Angeles. The line-up was a showcase of who's who in Chicago underground stand-up comedy, with appearances by Allison Leber, Brady Novak, Becky Garcia, CJ Sullivan, Mike Holmes, Lauren Bishop, Kumail, Mike Bridenstine, Prescott Tolk, and girlfriend herself, Renee Gauthier. Everyone was on their total A-game, bringing raucous laughter with new material, touching epitaphs, and slight roasting. The night stretched on with post-Lodge favorite Resi's Bierstube around the corner, including way too many 'mystery' beers and lots of revelry. Noticably absent from the festivities was filmmaker/auteur Jordan Vogt-Roberts; we found out later it was because he was in Ohio filming Sean Flannery's wedding (congrats again Sean and Jessica!).
Continue reading "Weekend Recap, from Back to Front" »
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" »
How was your weekend? Ours was...well, great. More on that later, after we catch up on our rest. (Damn you, Mike Bridenstine! And those Lincoln Lodge gigantobeers!) First, a bunch of tantalizing tidbits.
 Our Big Poppa in New York, the Apiary, has scooped us on exciting news about Chicago's Hannibal Buress by confirming that Hannibal has landed a management deal with 3 Arts. Nice! 100% of the Bastion caught Hannibal last Monday at the Mix, and saw for ourselves why NYC-by-way-of-Chicago comedians were "humbled" when this twenty-three year old skipped to the front of the line and landed a spot in the recent Montreal Comedy Festival.
 Second City alum Alan Arkin's 1989 interview on NPR's Fresh Air was replayed a few days ago. Arkin discussed movies, life, and the spirituality behind creativity. He currently stars with fellow Second City alum Steve Carell in the movie Little Miss Sunshine, which our cinemasnobbiest friends have declared to be a fantastic piece of film comedy. In his interview, Arkin calls Second City his "entree into everything...I feel like I got born there" and credits it as the place where he truly found his comedic voice and confidence.
 Back to NYC-by-way-of-Chicago comedians, the Bastion's recent interview subject Brad Steuernagel is going to be at the Chicago Comedy Underground show at Gunther Murphy's at 8 on September 5. We're hoping to pop in that night and say hi to yet another comic who has prompted us to have even more discussions with people on the Chicago comedy scene about how we can learn from the wildly creative, increasingly popular (and now widely adopted) format of the Invite Them Up shows, staged by Eugene Mirman and Bobby Tisdale every week at Rififi in the East Village. More on that as things evolve.
Also, thanks to our friends at Gapers Block for giving us a little introduction to their readers this morning! We dig you, too.
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