The cast of , an-LA based comedy show made up of several former Chicagoans/Steamroller MVPs, released a webseries called Tailgaters last week. It's a great, weird little series of shorts that I highly recommend you watch right away, and, if you live in LA, check out The Wheel Show, monthly at Meltdown Comics!
Read MoreChris Stephens Performs at The Laugh Factory's Open Mic
can be seen all over town, be it as a standup or as a writer and performer on The Late Live Show. As a means of capturing the experience of being a young standup comedian tirelessly working Chicago's booming comedy scene, he sent over this record of a recent trip to the Laugh Factory's open mic night.
Hey chuckleheads, Chris Stephens here!
As I’m sure most of you know, I’ve been in this comedy game for the past five years now, really hitting the pavement and giving it my all. I’ve performed pretty much everywhere in this city and I’ve made every single person that lives in this shithole of a town laugh AT LEAST twice. Heck, last year I was number 10 and number 2 on this very blog's annual list of the top 10 up and coming Chicago comics. “10 and 2? I’m DRIVIN’ this thing!” That was a joke I said a lot. It has since been retired.
My point here is that I've put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into the scene, all of it for free. I've often wondered if my hard work would ever pay off, and I'm happy to report to you all that last Wednesday, it did.
Last Wednesday I had the honor of performing at the world famous Chicago Laugh Factory open mic.
Read More"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.