Fourth Fridays at Town Hall Pub - March 27, 2009 - by Elizabeth McQuern

All pix by me, full set here.

Danielle Puterbaugh:


Ricky Carmona:


Drew Michael:


Mike Wiley:


John Markham:

Mop Top Festival Video Promo

I can claim camerawork on this brief promo for the Factory Theater's Mop Top Festival, a Beatles-themed comedic play on stage now at 3504 N. Elston. (It was supposed to be more complex, but there were technical issues - let's just say we all learned something in the process.) I used pro-quality mics with my camera for the first time, did green screen for the first time, and worked with multiple actors and a real director for the first time. The Factory Theater people are awesome, and the shooting day was so fun.


The Mop Top video was edited by the tremendously gifted Mike Tutaj, my new filmmaking guru, who has been generous with my barrage of techie questions. To get a better idea of the scope of his abilities, check out this gorgeous video he did for a previous Factory Theater production Siskel and Ebert save Chicago:


Siskel and Ebert Save Chicago - Opening Titles from Mikey on Vimeo.

Chicago Underground Comedy March 24, 2009 by Elizabeth McQuern

All pix by me, full set here.

Steve O'Brien:


Aaron Foster:


CJ Sullivan:


Prescott Tolk:


Paul Thomas:


Mike Lebovitz:

Twittering With Creative Friends Can Lead To This...

I Twittered this photo last night at dinner, with the caption "I like my dinner like I like my men - stabbed all the way through with frilly toothpicks.":















And then my friend Noah (who I know through Bryan) drew this:

Just For Laughs Audition Showcase at ChUC This Saturday!

Hey, comedy pals, looking for a fun, free night of kickass Chicago stand-up? Well, my awesome Chicago Underground Comedy co-producer Dan Telfer and I are putting up a free audition showcase for the much-anticipated Chicago branch of the Just For Laughs festival this Saturday night at 8:00 the Beat Kitchen (2100 W. Belmont).

I put up a press release if you want more details. Rest assured, the JFL scouts hand-picked a great lineup - Adam Burke, Sean Flannery, Prescott Tolk, Dan Telfer, Allison Leber, Ricky Carmona, Jeff Hansen, Aaron Foster, and CJ Sullivan. It's going to be a super fun night!

New Photo Poster for Chicago Underground Comedy

The Early Weekend Show, March 20, 2009

Pix by me, full set here.

Lauren Vino:


Kevin Hogan:


Joe Fernandez:


Haji Outlaw:


Mike Lebovitz:


Ryan Budds:


Mike Sheehan:

My Vid of Sean Flannery at Chicago Underground Comedy March 17, 2009

...and it all came to an Irish Catholic peak with our Sean Flannery, who unintentionally provided me with the best visual gag I've seen in months: right before the show started, a car pulled up out front, and six Chicago Irish comedians (including Adam Burke, CJ Sullivan, and Joe Kilgallon) poured out of the doors and the hatchback, too. They'd been celebrating since...well, who knows when?

My Vid of Brendan McGowan at Chicago Underground Comedy March 17, 2009

Hardcore Irish Catholic Chicago comic #1, our beloved Brendan McGowan:

My Vid of Chad Briggs at Chicago Underground Comedy March 17, 2009

Last night was a fun show - St. Patty's Day in Chicago is pretty raucous anyway. Our boys did a great job. Briggs hosted with aplomb, despite being pretty jetlagged from his recent trip to Japan.

Turtle Romance

The cutest animal sex I've ever seen - just listen to the turtle's little voice as he tries to get busy with a running shoe. Warning: includes graphic turtle penis, which I think is strangely adorable, but your boss might not agree.

My Pix from The Lincoln Lodge, March 12, 2009

All pix by me, full set here.

Allison Leber, looking the shiniest and prettiest I've ever seen her. She's moving to LA in six weeks and we're all going to miss her tremendously. She's incredibly warm and caring, besides being marvelous onstage.


Bryan was doing man on the street as Timekeeper Willis (a character who wears no shirt) and it was 20-23 degrees last night. I held his sweatshirt between segments. We rode our bikes there, too. My nostrils are still semi-frozen.


Reilly Lambert behind the camera:


Eliot Rahal - could he be more photogenic? He'll always be Han Solo to me.


Joe Kilgallon - it was "good looking Chicago dudes" night at the Lodge:


Marty DeRosa is a favorite cutie of several girls I know - he does a lot of funny things with his mouth, this is one of them:


The Listening Zoo:


Mikey Manker - I don't know how it's possible, but he looks like a cross between Joe Kilgallon and Marty DeRosa:


CAKE!:


Lincolns, Lincolns, Lincolns:


Comedy tonite:

Muppet Brandi!

muppet bran is here!!
Originally uploaded by brantastic

How can you not love puppet versions of your friends? Like this Brandi doppelganger, and Bryan's Timekeeper Willis puppet.

Bristol and Levi Broke Up

What better time, then, to whip out this hilarious Juno/Palin spoof video by my e-friend Jeremy Redleaf? Starring Jeremy and Shelly Stover, written by Jeremy and Aivan Astor, directed by Jeremy.



Jeremy is a Twitter friend with whom, as I found out, I have other friends in common, including Sara Benincasa, a comedian in New York and my sister-via-the-Apiary/Bastion family. Jeremy and Sara did this spoof of The Reader:

My Vid of Paul Thomas at Chicago Underground Comedy Jan 20 2009

Paul Thomas asks, why doesn't anyone sing like the screaming death metal singers of yesteryear anymore? And why did it take Paul so long to figure out that his voice wasn't going to just one day go from squeaky pre-teen to wailing high priest of metal? Why do so many people sing so different than they speak - Dave Matthews doesn't talk as weird as he sings, and Ozzy Osbourne doesn't order toast by screaming like a banshee.

It's too bad people love (and overuse the phrase) "born and raised" when talking about where they're from, because Paul can only yell that he was "RAISED" in Wisconsin. Paul's also a happily married dude who has been profoundly changed by marriage - for example, he never thought he'd be the kind of guy who would say "that oven mitt is too rustic." Also, naming a star after your loved one is romantic, but did an ancient space civilization really need to die to appease their sun god Norma Lipke?

My Vid of Bryan Bowden at Chicago Underground Comedy Feb. 2009

A few weeks ago we had some folks fall out sick from our show so I plugged in a local lad who teaches stand-up at Second City, has had jokes published in Time Out Chicago, performed all over the city...and happens to be my sweetie. He knocked it out of the park. (I played around with the annotations thing at the beginning of this clip, just for fun.)

Oh, and for those of you who are fans of Bryan's Timekeeper Willis character from Blewt!, he's going to be doing man on the street at the Lincoln Lodge this Thursday and Fridays nights...in character. That means a Mexican wrestling mask, no shirt, and a really bad attitude.

My Photos From Lincoln Lodge, March 6, 2009

Photos by me, full set here.

Bill Cruz:


Ranjit Souri:


Dwayne Kennedy:


Joe Fernandez:


John Markham:


Mike Wiley:

Ricky Carmona on President Obama at Chicago Underground Comedy January 20, 2009

(Yes, I am catching up on a backlog of editing stuff.)

Just after Obama's election, Chicago Underground Comedy's Ricky Carmona asks what does it mean when people say Barack should paint the White House black? How cool is it that we have a President who wants to hear marching bands play Superbad, and who requests Jay-Z's performing talent at Presidential events? Also, with that tricked-out Presidential Cadillac and Obama's smooth communications skills, will this be the first President ever to inspire panty-tossing?

Beth Stelling at the Lakeshore Theater February 2009

I did not record this, but I edited it for my friend and new Chicago Underground Comedy cast member Beth Stelling. She is a marvelous addition to our show and the scene in general. Yeah Beth!