Comedy Review

Well I've been in Chicago for almost two weeks and have managed to only land my self an unpaid internship, which at least gets me out of the house. Other things that have gotten me out of the house: the local comedy scene. Last week I went to shows on three different nights, so I figured I'd review what I've seen. I mean whats the purpose of having a blog unless you can comment unwarrantedly on people who have worked harder than you.

Last Sunday (5th)

Went to see the Last Comic Standing regionals with Andrew Waple. The people I got to see were the best people who auditioned in the morning (Phil Kijak was there I guess but got screwed out of a audition form, I guess). Also on a totally self-involved note, I may make it on TV due to the fact Waple and I were crammed next to the stage in the second row. There were 23 people on the ballot and we could only choose one. I understand it is very hard to be successful at stand-up so I'm just going to mention notables since I'm sure some of the jokes that bombed go well normally. Anyway my choice went to Mike Baldwin. Unfortunately he didn't get pick but my next top two did Nikki Glaser (who is a super hottie by the way) and John Roy, so watch for them. The other guy, who I forget the name of, got by on the oldest rule of comedy (that I know), pot jokes. He seemed pretty coked up anyways. One notable flop was Jimmy Pardo, a guy who is normally very funny and was by far the only name in the room. Unfortunately he relied on it and made jokes about him being more famous than he was. Unfortunately in a room full of amateurs, he was the most successful so they probably sounded a bit less funny too the audience. "I wish I could drive a firebird."

Friday Night (10th)

I saw two Improv Olympic shows this night. Its a funny all around story though. I went to the bar to wait for to guys in my IO class Steve and Neil (neither who could come), so while I drink a beer this guy starts complaining to me about his friend being late. So I go to one of the IO shows on the upperstage as opposed to the Harolds and ended up seeing The Improv Shakespear Company. The premise of which is that they take a name from the audience and form an entire Shakespearean play at least by the sound of their lines. Actually quite funny; they barely really used the title in the play, but that's just a quibble. This was an interesting situation where everyone looked good but one guy (and they never introduced themselves but I'll put it up if I find it ever) who just stood out above everyone else. At one point he did a long scene by himself playing two characters, something they'd discourage in improv but it got to the story point where it was necessary, anyways could have made me pee a little.

After that I went back to the bar to get a drink before I headed home and the same guy who was there complaining before was now with his buddy a bitter level 5 student, Rich. Anyways the original guy, Dino, and the other start swapping stories with me and keep feeding me shots and beers on Dino's tab. Super sweet.

So Dino has to take off so Rich and I go to check out the midnight harolds. The first one I went to check out was the Cook County Social Club. I'll prefice this by saying I was pretty drunk, but this group didn't impress me. I got too confused and I couldn't tell when they were making transistions or tying things back to the beginning. But this is a Friday show so it could have been because I was drunk or they were having an off night or both. The follow up Harold was the last performance of Concept Album, one that I had heard about before. They do their Harold to the soundtrack of a random iPod in the background. The music really just set the mood for their topic of "blowjob." These guy just slid from one scene to the other but actually made me laugh. Of course they were definately helped by the mood music.

Saturday Night (11th)

I ended up meeting up with Neil to go see "Don't Spit the Water" at the Playground. This is sort of like that old comedy central show were the comedian tries to make the audience member laugh or in this case spit out the full mouth of water they have. This is more character based where actor's come out as a crazy character; in this case your "dad," a hillbilly hick (no that's not redundant), and a spanish tv character obsessed with sex toys. Pretty humorous but I went more since Neil is going to be trying out for that next weekend. I should also point out they opened with a jug band Thump Stompers and I thought to myself....I think I'm seeing Dave Sheehan's future.

Anyways thats all.