ML - Michigan Avenue

2014 - Issue 7 - November

Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!

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photography by the second city (theater) opposite page: billy rood that in order to get good and make it, you've got to be here." Case in point: Casting director Marisa Ross (How I Met Your Mother) and Principato Young talent manager Brooke Shoemaker rent offices at the new iO with the specific purpose of being close to the action. Both iO and The Second City have easy El access to another important player: the Annoyance Theatre. Like iO, the Annoyance also uprooted itself this summer, ditching its uptown digs in favor of a new space at 851 West Belmont Avenue, not far from the location where it originally opened as the Metraform more than 25 years ago. According to Annoyance founder Mick Napier—a guru whose appreciation for mis- fits helped spawn the careers of Jane Lynch and Andy Richter, and out of whose taste for the strange and bizarre was born the long-running musical sensation Co-ed Prison Sluts—the sudden changes happening at all three theaters are largely coincidental, but important nevertheless. "The culture here, not only by volume but also artistically, is still the most challenging and the most fruitful," he says. "I feel like these changes are just declaring that even more." At Timothy O'Toole's in Streeterville, four shot glasses clink together simultaneously. The basement of this sprawling Irish taproom is home to a weekly, slickly produced showcase for stand-up called Comedians You Should Know, and tonight's edition is being celebrated with tequila. Comedian Drew Frees downs his shot and proceeds to wax effu- sive about the scene. "Stand-up is where you're going to see the next big thing in Chicago," he declares with braggadocio. He may be right. Although the scene has been red-hot lately, stand-up was the forgotten child of Chicago comedy for a very long time. Aside from Zanies, the shoebox-shaped mainstay in Old Town that is crammed f loor to ceiling with vintage black- and-white photos of famous comics and a calendar of touring greats, practitioners of this art form have had to make due without the larger stages and mentorships available to improvis- ers. What most people don't realize is how many stand-up comics have emerged from our city. "Although Chicago has been recognized by the press as an improv town, it has exported stand- up talent for decades," says Zanies Executive Vice President Bert Haas, rattling off an impres- sive list of comics with local roots, including Jack Benny, Bob Newhart, Arsenio Hall, Marsha Warfield, Bernie Mac, and Jeff Garlin. After the stand-up club crest in the '80s and sub- sequent crash in the '90s (due in large part to megawatt stars f leeing the clubs in favor of cable TV and stadiums), Zanies was the only important game in town—for a while. However, the last decade has seen a sharp rise in independent show- cases happening mostly at bars around town and produced largely by the comics themselves as a way to guarantee stage time. The greatest of these success stories is the Lincoln Lodge, the longest-running alternative comedy showcase in the country, cofounded by Mark Geary, a British expat who is not himself a performer. "Unfortunately stand-up itself hasn't shaped Chicago very much until the last few years," says Geary. "For the third largest city in America to have only 120 paying seats for stand-up [at Zanies] was not a good statistic by any means." The Second City 103rd Mainstage Revue A stellar ensemble takes aim at modern life in this new sketch revue. Opening in November, The Second City, 230 W. North Ave., 312-337-3992; secondcity.com George Lopez The mega stand-up star tells it fast, loose, and fercely political. Nov. 1, 8 pm, The Chicago Theatre, 175 N. State St., 312-462-6300; thechicagotheatre.com Drew Michael This Chicago native's dark, disturbing stand-up hits audiences straight in the gut. Nov. 1 at 8 and 10:30 pm, Zanies Rosemont, 5437 Park Pl., Rosemont, 847-813-0484; zanies.com Bob Odenkirk The comedy icon and Breaking Bad star hits town for a special book signing. Nov. 6–7, 8 pm, UP Comedy Club, 230 W. North Ave., 312-662-4562; upcomedyclub.com Broad City Live Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson take their hilarious hit Comedy Central TV series on the road. Nov. 12, 8 and 10:30 pm, Lincoln Hall, 2424 N. Lincoln Ave., 773-525-2501; lincoln-hallchicago.com Jerrod Carmichael Underneath his droll demeanor is a smart and sly rising-star stand-up. Nov. 13–15, 8 and 10:30 pm, UP Comedy Club, 230 W. North Ave., 312- 662-4562; upcomedyclub.com Open Mic Fest A frst-of-its-kind free festival devoted entirely to the art of the open mic. Nov. 14–16, various venues around town; openmicfest.tumblr.com Craig Ferguson As he prepares to step away from The Late Late Show, the laid-back Scotsman brings his lik- able comedy to The Loop. Nov. 16, 7 pm, The Chicago Theatre, 175 N. State St., 312-462-6300; thechicagotheatre.com Jerry Seinfeld The stand-up and TV juggernaut slips into town for two pre-Thanksgiving shows. Nov 21, 7 and 10 pm, Rosemont Theatre, 5400 N. River Rd., Rosemont, 847-671-5100; rosemont.com/theatre BEST IN SHOW Catch these must-see live comedy performances in November. "The allure of TV and film is real. like mosT acTors, i'm desperaTe for aTTenTion and would loVe more peo- ple To see whaT i do." –Colleen Doyle 118  michiganavemag.com

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