As some of you may be lucky enough to already know, Chicago has a bustling stand-up comedy element in its city. Big fancy theaters, grimy little bars, and everything in between host Chicago's local stand-up talent every night of the week. And there is a LOT.
Chicago's longest-running independent comedy showcase is the legendary Lincoln Lodge, now entering its 17th year. If the show were a person it would be old enough to drive, and old enough to get a fake ID and make terrible personal choices! (Rumor has it yours truly enjoyed a brief stand-up career and herself performed once at the Lincoln Lodge - but that's a story for another day.)
The Lodge is a cast-based show that survived the sudden loss of their long-time venue, the Lincoln Restaurant, and landed triumphantly at the awesome Subterranean, where they continue to highlight the best of Chicago's stand-up and variety talent, as well as bringing in national names and Chicago-spawned comics who have found success in New York or Los Angeles.
I was flattered when the Lodge asked me to take their Season 17 cast photo. The visual gag was "everyone in prom dresses," generally pretending to be drunk, the day after prom, on a playground.
By some utter miracle, the show's longtime producer Mark Geary managed to schedule 8 comedians to show up at my house at 8 AM on a Sunday, and after some fidgeting and emergency clothes-pinning of dresses, we ambled up a few blocks to a playground where I take my kiddo a lot, and we struck 5 different poses in 5 different places, and got some really great shots.
Satisfied that we'd gotten the shot we wanted, we headed back to my house. Impulsively, the cast decided to jump up on a dumpster in my back alley for a few last photos, and - of course - THAT WAS THE PHOTO THEY WENT WITH. The one we hadn't even planned. Funny how things work out that way. The spontaneous, impulsive choice was the right one.
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