There is no substitute for the magic of live comedy. You can never fully capture the energy of being in the room during a live comedy show, the interactions the comic has with audience members, seeing people who should be taken aback by jokes laughing along with you, watching an uptight girlfriend glare at her…
Author: ChitownComedy
I am a 37 year old mother of two living in the Chicago area. I spend most of my disposable time and income going to live standup shows and watching comedy specials wherever I can find them. I interview Chicago-area comics. I write about those experiences in this blog.
Tonight is a Vital Free Speech Middle Finger Moment for Comedy
Andrew Schulz’s new special, Infamous, was supposed to premiere on a major streaming channel. (He won’t say which one). But in the wake of the outcry over Dave Chappelle’s trans jokes, streamers got spooked and Schulz’s streamer asked him to cut some of the more controversial material, including an abortion joke. Schulz refused and spent…
Bill Burr: Live at Red Rocks
There are only maybe a dozen comics who could confidently go on stage at Red Rocks, as comfortable performing to a sold out crowd of 9,500 as they are watching football on their couch on Sunday. Bill Burr is one of those comics.
Is Neal Brennan the Funniest Joke for Joke Comic?
This material we saw live is the same material in Neal Brennan’s new special, Blocks, released today on Netflix. I saw this material live at the Den Theater in Chicago in July. What Unacceptable Is: Because of the serious and emotional weighty nature of Three Mics and because Unacceptable premiered on broadway and seemed more…
The Goddamn Comedy Jam Celebrating the DC Improv’s 30th Anniversary
Standup can be revelatory, poignant, powerful, take you on a rollercoaster of emotions, make you feel uniquely and genuinely seen, and can make a political point clearer than the most academic white paper from the most high-profile think tank. The Goddamn Comedy Jam is and does none of those things because it is too busy…
Josh Adam Meyers at the DC Improv
On the scale of charismatic/interactive/crowd work comic to exceptionally skilled joke writer with lethal punch lines, Josh Adam Meyers is undeniably closer to the charismatic/interactive side. But he is charismatic with a capital C, his approach of weaving in singing with his jokes is entirely original, he is as high energy as comics come, and…
Laughing All Over Chicago and Beyond: Your Guide to the Chicago Stand-up Comedy Scene with Exclusive Reviews, Interviews, and Resources 