Seven Minutes in Purgatory returns to Chicago November 18th!

Ian Abramson and The Steamroller's standup comedy science experiment returns to Chicago with a special one night only event on !

Standup comedians perform their material directly to a camera alone in a soundproof room while the audience watches live onscreen at the beautiful and historic Music Box Theater.

Guests include Danny Kallas, Mike Lebovitz, Rebecca O'Neal, Candy Lawrence, Jeff Steinbrunner, Trey Brown, and John Eisenrich.

This show doubles as the tour kickoff event for Thanksgiving in Purgatory: Ian Abramson on Tour, which will take Ian and Seven Minutes in Purgatory all over the Midwest in the following two weeks. Comics in Denver, Omaha, and Kansas City will have the chance to participate in their own pop-up edition of 7MiP before Ian moves to Los Angeles in December.

Poster design by Tim Giuliani

Poster design by Tim Giuliani

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Once in a Lifetime returns!!

One of my favorite comedy shows in Chicago, Once in a Lifetime, is back (full disclosure: I'm also a producer of the show, alongside the genius weirdos at Everything is Terrible)! The show features some of my favorite comedy people providing live commentary over a screening of Lifetime Original Movies, and has found a new home at Logan Square's Comfort Station (that little house right near the Centennial Monument in the heart of Logan Square!)!

 returns Friday, April 11th at 8pm, with goofs provided by professional spoofers , , and ! The show's totally free and open to pregnant teens of all ages. Look below for a short, ridiculous clip of the excellent Kirsten Dunst vehicle to be screened and get stoked for next month!

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The Steamroller's best of 2013

My favorite part of doing this website is getting to spotlight the work being done by the most talented people in the hugely exciting and talented Chicago comedy community. I reached out to a bunch of these people and other friends of The Steamroller to share their top five favorite people, places, and things from Chicago comedy 2013. Check out a huge list of top fives, as well as my personal list, below!

Matt Byrne

Favorite thing: The Late Live Show

This shouldn't be a shock to anyone familiar with The Steamroller. The Late Live Show was the best comedy show of any kind in Chicago, and now it lives in L.A., where Real Actual Famous People are guests (like Mad Men's Rich Sommer and Freaks and Geeks' Samm Levine). The final run of shows earlier this year at iO were some of the funniest, most well-executed nights of comedy I've ever seen; it was so exciting to see a collective with such a strong, specific comedic voice come into their own in front of packed houses week after week. They're coming back next month for a handful of shows at iO and SketchFest, and I couldn't be more excited.

Favorite festival: A Jangleheart Circus

I can't believe how perfect A Jangleheart Circus was. On paper, a three day festival of improv and sketch from over 100 (mostly local) independent teams and performers might sound well intentioned but ultimately unrealistic. In real life, it was electrifying proof of the power of Chicago's underground improv comedy scene. Endless congratulations are due to the festivals' organizers, Alex, Walt, and Caitlin, the folks responsible for making the Upstairs Gallery the palace of comedy it is. Jangleheart packed an unbelievable number of friendly, clued-in comedy people (performers and fans alike) into one venue, filling out shows on three separate stages, distilling everything that's cool and energizing about SketchFest into one no bullshit Summer weekend.

Favorite one-off/concept show: Henry Soapfloats' Funeral/HIJINKS November (tie)

I've written a whole bunch about both Hijinks (the monthly show produced by Two Bunnies Eating Flowers and Sovereign at the Public House Theater) and Henry Soapfloats' funeral (organized by local standup Ian Abramson) on here, so, again, this should come as no surprise. Ian Abramson's Funeral For A Prop Comic was a delightfully absurd, fully realized vision put on in a death trap of a basement, featuring some of the funniest, strangest up-and-coming standups in the city flexing their solo sketch muscles.

I posted a breathless wrapup of The HIJINKS Trolley Show earlier this month, and want to reiterate one last time that it was one of the most delightful things I'd ever seen, made all the more special considering of the pitch-black darkness the two teams behind HIJINKS are generally known for. It felt like one of those shows that, in 15 years, 300 people will talk about as if they were there. They weren't.

Favorite internet thing: 

Yes Yes Garfbert Yes!

Favorite audience member: Fard Muhammad/Katie McVay (tie)

Fard and Katie are two of the biggest assets to any audience in Chicago. The effect of Fard's tremendous, purely delighted laugh, which can be heard soundtracking most, if not all footage from the Late Live Show (normally punctuated by  shrieks of joy), is amplified tenfold by his unwavering proclivity for grabbing a seat in the (normally vacant) front row at every comedy show.

It goes without saying that Katie's one of my favorite comics working in Chicago right now, with perspective that perfectly vacillates between crippling self-consciousness and a total lack thereof. As an audience member, she's often struck by fits of boisterous laughter so ridiculous and sincere, that fellow audience members are enabled to comfortably indulge in their own unhinged enjoyment, which is an incredible thing to watch happen.

First Annual Steamroller Honorary Lifetime Achievement Award: The Lincoln Lodge

Had the window for best of submissions not closed a few days before it was announced that The Lincoln Restaurant was closing and thus The Lincoln Lodge was suddenly cast out into the void, in search of a new home base, most of the lists below would look a lot different.

I'm working on a longer thing about The Lodge's enduring influence and continued greatness, but for now, I'm going to have to speak for all those on this list and beyond: The Lincoln Lodge was (and is, it's not dead) an incredibly important, reliably awesome home for weird, interesting comedy in Chicago throughout the 21st century. Lodge Papa Mark Geary, along with his myriad cast members, worked to create something wholly unique and good. I'm confident that they will find a new home and continue to support and create great comedy well into the future.

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Laughs for Lawrence: A benefit show

Chicago-based standup Candy Lawrence is always a treat to watch onstage, she's bizarre, charming, and unpredictable. Unfortunately, her father was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer just about a year ago, and has been given between six months to a year to live. Candy has organized an online fundraiser and benefit show to raise funds to help combat her father's medical bills, which have surpassed $300,000.

Please visit the homepage for her fundraiser and give generously to support one of the finest performers in Chicago during her family's time of need.  

Laughs for Lawrence, the aforementioned benefit show, is on Friday, July 26th at the Lincoln Lodge and features appearances from Adam Burke, Natalie Jose, Ted Tremper, The Puterbaugh Sisters, and more, as well as a series of raffles, featuring prizes like tickets to a taping of Saturday Night Live and a voucher good to cover the costs of an eight week class at Second City. Tickets are between $10 and $25 and are on sale now.

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The Year in Review

Now that the year is (almost) officially over, I figured a wrapup of some of my favorite things from 2012 would be something worth writing. The Steamroller was launched in September, but I've been a fan of the folks featured on this site for much longer. What follows is a list of Chicago comedy-related things that were great in 2012.

Best local comedy podcast
This one is a tie. My jealousy of the brilliantly simple concept behind the  is on record in the Chicago Tribune and continues to this day. Co-producers and Justin Schwier brought comedy into the recording studio, Good One style, for great sounding half-hour sets from some of my favorite local acts to be podcasted and sold as limited run cassettes. They just recently wrapped up their first season, hopefully we'll see another run in 2013.

Shortly before left Chicago for the greener pastures of Los Angeles, his podcast You Could Be Dead was regularly topping itself with each episode. The show's threadbare concept (Fritz and a couple friends riff on a handful of current events and news items) occasionally devolved into insane bits of transcendent silliness. The show's on hiatus for the time being, but there are some real gems worth checking out from the couple dozen episodes produced. Some personal favorites include episodes from 9/28/12 (with The Puterbaugh Sisters), 9/10/12 (with Chad Briggs), 7/16/12 (with Jet Eveleth & Erin Foy),  and 7/11/12 (with Joe McAdam and Danny Kallas). Though some of the topics discussed may be old news at this point, the bits make it totally worth it.

Best new standup album
Look, another tie! Adam Burke's Universal Squirrel Theory and Beth Stelling's Sweet Beth were two of my favorite standup albums without qualification this year. That these two are from Chicago speaks volumes for the depth of talent working in this city.

I'm sure we can all agree that the concept of "nerd comedy" is pretty repellent on its surface. That being said, Universal Squirrel Theory is comedy written by an uncompromisingly smart person, with highbrow references and turns of phrase free of any self-congratulation, making for a sort of best case scenario nerd humor. Burke's charm and smarts are unrivaled in Chicago comedy, and we're lucky to have him.

While Beth Stelling is technically an L.A. resident at this point, this record's too strong to go without mention in this piece. Sweet Beth showcases her endless likability and short form storytelling chops. The album's perfectly capped off with ten minutes of riffing with her former Entertaining Julia cohosts, The Puterbaugh Sisters, making for a charming close to a very strong debut record.

Best trend that should continue into the new year
2012 has seen a ton of new shows in nontraditional venues. While shows like The Lincoln Lodge and The Kates have been carrying the weird venue torch for years at this point, there's been a slew of awesome standup showcases popping up in places that aren't bars throughout Chicago.

The folks behind , , , and (which I help produce [full disclosure]), have taken to bookstores, tea lounges, sex shops, and record stores, respectively, producing donation based, BYOB shows that are generally free of aggro douchebags and bar minimums. Keep it up, everyone.

Best festival that local club owners & talent buyers should learn something from
While Chicago is second-to-none in creating, developing, and fostering comedic talent, it's not exactly known for bringing through a lot of huge names after they've blown up. For two weeks in June, Just For Laughs approximates what it'd be like if Chicago clubs were actually interested in regularly booking unique, creative comedy shows.

If a character based panel show hosted by a conspiracy-obsessed Jesse Ventura (James Adomian) can sell out The Hideout with essentially zero advertising or promotion beyond the JFL website, there's no reason live podcast tapings and other idea-driven shows from medium-famous comedy folks wouldn't do just as well at venues like Lincoln Hall or Up with the proper promotion.

While I understand that a lot of these shows happen in NY and LA because the folks producing them live there and don't necessarily have to make a boatload of cash from each show, Just For Laughs has proved there is a base of comedy fans in Chicago willing to pay to see their favorite comedians (as well as unfamiliar faces) perform in nontraditional shows.

That is not to discount the work already being done here in the city; it's absolutely great that weird, conceptual shows like Impress These Apes, Shame That Tune, and The Late Live Show exist. They help local performers stretch their muscles in ways open mics and showcases don't and are generally a shitload of fun.

The folks from the Tomorrow Never Knows festival are leading the charge in 2013 for more nontraditional live comedy shows from recognizable names, by welcoming back the Delocated Witness Protection Program Variety Show after a ridiculous JFL show, as well as a Low Times Podcast taping and a straightforward standup show featuring Kurt Braunohler and Cameron Esposito. I, for one, am planning on hitting up all three. Maybe I'll see you there.

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"Another last Friday of the month, another Creative Control at saki."

We've done this thing 6 or 7 times at this point, and I feel like the show's never been better. Joe McAdam does a killer job hosting and building an eclectic lineup of performers, and it's pretty heartwarming to see a community of comics and regular humans has built around the show, with a large percentage of folks consistently coming out each month.

features another ridiculously strong bill, and with a few acts I've never actually seen perform before, which is always exciting for me, personally.

We've got standup from , Michael Joyce, Candy Lawrence, Andrew Smreker, and former Chicagoan, current LA resident, , as well as sketch or other bizzare shit from and , and music from local weirdo rockers Oshwa. 

, a Chicago-based brewers' collective, has been kind enough to offer up their homebrews for sampling, free of charge. All they ask is for a small tip, which they split with the show's performers. I can't explain how much I love that they're doing this, and am really happy to be working with such forward-thinking and generous folks. 

Creative Control November is this Friday, 11/30 at 8pm. The show's totally free, as always, but you should definitely bring money for donations/tips. It's the least you can do. saki is at 3716 W. Fullerton. See you there.

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