Chi-Town Comedy is the brainchild of Katelynn Barbosa, a 37-year-old working mom and diehard stand-up comedy fan. When Katelynn’s 7th grade health teacher played Brian Regan clips in health class, Katelynn realized that the big yellow one was the sun and she was set down the path of lifelong diehard standup comedy fandom. Katelynn’s appreciation for stand-up comedy knows no bounds. Whether it’s edgy or squeaky clean, high-energy or mellow, and regardless of political stance, if it brings the laughs, she’s all in.

Katelynn launched Chi-Town Comedy with a dual mission: to support Chicago-area comics and to raise stand-up comedy to new artistic heights in the Windy City. Her guiding light? Ensuring that as many people as possible see as much live comedy as possible.

She envisions a world where top comedians outshine even the likes of Taylor Swift, where every comedy show is a sell-out, and where as many comics as possible thrive in their craft. For Katelynn, a society that embraces live comedy fosters greater authenticity and truth in communication.

Through Chi-Town Comedy, Katelynn pledges to deliver the most genuine interviews with local comics, offer insightful reviews of comedy specials and live performances, and furnish valuable resources for aspiring comedians. Looking ahead, she aims to produce comedy shows tailored for comics to experiment with fresh material in a supportive environment where failure is just another step towards success.

Katelynn has watched many thousands of hours of stand-up comedy and spends all of her spare time and money consuming as much live stand-up as humanly possible. Katelynn lives in the NW Chicago suburbs and you can find her sitting in a Chicago-area comedy audience with her husband most weekends, usually at her favorite local club, the Comedy Vault in Batavia, IL. She also frequents Zanies Chicago, Zanies Rosemont, the Chicago Improv, and Lincoln Lodge. While Katelynn favors the intimate atmosphere of comedy clubs, she’s willing to venture to venues like Thalia Hall, the Den Theater, and even the Chicago Theatre for must-see headliners.

Katelynn also regularly travels for live comedy and never plans a vacation without incorporating live comedy into the trip. She has been to all of the best clubs in the world, including The Comedy Store, The Stand, The Comedy Mothership, and the Comedy Cellar and she goes to New York at least once a year just for the comedy clubs. The best vacation of Katelynn’s life was Just For Laughs Comedy Festival (RIP but hopefully not forever) in 2015. If you invite Katelynn to a comedy show, the answer will always be yes. And this blog’s ideal audience is those who feel the same way.

Chi-Town Comedy’s Core Beliefs:

• Live stand-up comedy is the greatest art form.

• Comics are only able to reach their full potential when they regularly try new material and learn to embrace failure.

• The only 100% true free speech is stand-up comedy.

• Comedy is best in a comedy club, ideally a small mildly deteriorating club with low ceilings in a basement. Front row of a small comedy club is transcendent. A small comedy club is great. A large comedy club is good. A small theater is tolerable. A large theater is barely tolerable. Anything bigger than that and you’re better off seeing any random show at the local comedy club down the street.

• Stand-up comedy sits at the very top of the free speech pyramid and represents truly authentic communication. That authenticity trickles down to everyone in society, facilitating more open and genuine communication for everyone, even those who never watch or listen to comedy. Thus, the existence of stand-up comedy transforms how societies communicate.

• Stand-up comedy can only exist in a free society and any society where stand-up comedy flourishes is better off.

• Life would be better if every live comedy show in every city in America were always sold out.

• Chicago is the best city in the world and one of the best comedy cities in the world. Every comic has a chance to succeed here.

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