Walking out the side door of the Empty Bottle onto Western Avenue at 12:30 in the morning, I looked past a group of smokers huddled around a sign decidedly not at the corner instructing them…
Watching John Mulaney do stand-up is like watching a pitch meeting for a multicamera, multicharacter sketch show, where an overworked but energetic and eager young writer is running through …
"God bless, this is Dick Gregory." Those were the first words that legendary comedian Dick Gregory " who 58 years ago changed comedy history as a black stand-up comic performing for a white …
Once he takes the stage, comedian Felipe Esparza " who released the hourlong stand-up special "Translate This" on HBO last year but is perhaps still best known for winning "Last Comic Standi…
Both in his act and in his life, Chicago-based comedian Felonious Munk embodies the Chicago ethos of hard work, determination and self-aware levity. And in 2017 he brought them all together …
"I'm gonna tell you a story tonight," says comedian-storyteller-filmmaker Mike Birbiglia as he takes the stage at the Chicago Theater on Friday night. "But first I'm gonna tell you about my …
Joel Kim Booster doesn't want to get political. As a person who gladly and openly identifies as "dumb," the Plainfield-raised comedian feels like in these starkly divided times we're all try…
It may have been chilly in Chicago on Monday night, but inside Thalia Hall, Pilsen's hipster-centric performance space that has been picking up more and more big-name comedy shows over the p…
In December 2015, comedian and Chicago-area native Cameron Esposito recorded her first comedy special ("Marriage Material") at Chicago's Thalia Hall just two days before marrying fellow comi…
Waiting for the opening applause to die down after he's taken the stage for the first of two shows on Friday night at the Chicago Theatre, comedian Jim Gaffigan " currently making the rounds…
"The human head is least scary when attached."Demetri Martin is a person. He is a person who tells jokes, which makes him a comedian. As evidence of these two claims he has recorded stand-up…
"That was a great show," one audience member said hopefully to another as they walked out of the Chicago Theatre on Thursday night after the first of a sold out, four-night run of legendary …
From local legends (Cameron Esposito and Rhea Butcher) to legend-legends (Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin), here are our top 10 comedy shows not to miss this fall. Jo Koy Jo Koy had been workin…
Last year Just Nesh " a Chicago comic whose given name is Taneshia Rice " appeared on Kevin Hart's "Hart of the City," a show where Hart " a comedy juggernaut " checks out the local stand-up…
Leaning comfortably on the mic stand with her right hip stuck out and her left knee bent, comedian Laurie Kilmartin surveyed the Thursday night crowd at Zanies, sizing the audience up anew a…
"I was pretty much the first comic to play this club," comedian Emo Philips said early on in his playful and loose hourlong set Wednesday night at Zanies in Chicago. That's no joke. Philips …
A comedy show might not seem like the ideal place to solicit relationship advice, but Sunday night at Park West " which is the most romantically inclined of Chicago's comedy venues, if anyon…
Seven months after stepping off a plane at Midway after relocating from Denver, comedian Basil Faraj took the stage on a Thursday night in front of a sold-out crowd in the backroom of Cole's…
"That's the beauty of stand-up," comedian Dwayne Kennedy says casually, his glasses, goatee and all-black outfit mixing with his contemplative tone to give him the vibe of a philosophy profe…
I don't think it's a spoiler to tell you that Tim Heidecker " the Tim half of alt-comedy duo "Tim and Eric" " ends the "Tim and Eric 10th Anniversary Awesome Tour" parading across the stage …
"I'm gonna tell you right now my … ticket said 8 p.m.!" said a suit-clad George Lopez, taking the stage at the United Center to kick off the Comedy Get Down tour. At 8:45 p.m. He had a few…
Before comedian Kyle Mooney made the leap to "Saturday Night Live" in 2013, he was a member of the iconic sketch comedy troupe Good Neighbor, along with childhood friends Beck Bennett, Dave …
"The show ended a long time ago," comedian Gabriel Iglesias said suddenly Friday night from centerstage of The Venue at Horseshoe Casino, wearing jean shorts, white tennis shoes and one of h…
"Ya'll been to the internet lately?" As drawled Friday night to a sold-out Thalia Hall audience by comedian and Facebook/YouTube sensation Trae Crowder " better known to many as "The Liberal…
"It's important for those of us who have a voice to speak out," comedian, podcaster, author and CNN host W. Kamau Bell said Friday night, partway through his conversational and frequently po…