Comedy
Friday, May 18, 2012
Media News Comedy On David Sedaris, John McIlwraith, and NPR monologues
Posted by Michael Miner on 05.18.12 at 10:32 AM
John's stories were as faithful to the facts as they needed to be. My sister Dixie, his widow, recalls, "Every commentary was fundamentally true. These stories did happen. But not necessarily the way he said. . . Locating and revealing the humour in a memory, which maybe was not so funny at the time, is a healthy collaboration between artist and audience where everyone benefits."
These truisms are now being questioned.The other day the Washington Post reported that humorist David Sedaris's work for National Public Radio "is undergoing new scrutiny."
The stories he tells may not be true enough for these times.
Friday, May 4, 2012
Theater Arts Comedy Dance High tea and white trash: the Reader's latest performing arts reviews
Posted by Rebecca Cohen on 05.04.12 at 01:57 PM
- Anne Petersen
- Fourteen of the "numberless" (including that guitarist in the corner) from Rise of the Numberless
The "pilot episode" of Maggie and Coco Save the World mimics the form of a sitcom but steers clear of the white-bread stereotypes of that genre. Keith Griffith recommends that you tune in next time—Coriolis Theater plans to stage a new installment every month.
Drawing on another facet of pop culture, Tympanic Theatre spins the ten tracks of Bruce Springsteen's bleak 1982 album Nebraska into a gritty series of short plays, Deliver Us From Nowhere: Tales From Nebraska. It too earns a Reader rave.
Where Springsteen and Tympanic find pathos, White Trash Wedding and a Funeral finds hilarity. Its hero, a cussing septic tank "king" named Earl, leads a band of down-and-outs through a grotesquely funny trailer-park soap opera. Equally over the top: the burlesque comedy show Day Drinking and Sleep Eating, which fulfills its promise to "funny you until you can't walk right" with songs like "Long Sex Is Overrated" and "Sluts for Sale." Far more restrained but equally engaging is the Piven Theatre Workshop's Encores: After the Theatre and Other Stories, in which three Anton Chekov stories are given minimalist, emotionally intense stagings. Director Joyce Piven uses the story-theater style originated here in Chicago by her mentor, Paul Sills.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Theater Arts Comedy Dance Phallic whale stories, superboobs, and Milli Vanilli: this week's performing arts reviews
Posted by Rebecca Cohen on 04.26.12 at 05:07 PM
- Bob Fisher
- You know what that harpoon stands for: a scene from All-Girl Moby Dick
Also on our recommended list this week is Hairspray, Drury Lane Oakbrook's high-energy revival of the Broadway musical; The Late Live Show, a Conan-esque talk fest hosted by comedian Joe Kwaczala at Stage 773; and an appearance by Armitage Gone! Dance, offering three works choreographed by company artistic director Karole Armitage.
Surprisingly, the problem with Melancholy Play isn't that it's a downer, but that it suffers from an overdose of quirk. And Neil LaBute's In a Forest, Dark and Deep turns out not to be so dark or deep after all. According to Justin Hayford's lead review, it's fairly obvious and mechanical.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Do This Film Comedy Yes, do let them (or, Wilder at heart)
Posted by Ben Sachs on 04.05.12 at 12:30 PM
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Jumping Ship Media News Comedy Onion writers saying no to Chicago
Posted by Steve Bogira on 03.22.12 at 03:43 PM
- Satish Krishnamurthy
- An Onion expose
"There's too much material in Chicago," one Onion writer told us. "With your mayor, the aldermen, and the Cubs, it's just not enough of a challenge."
Film Comedy Class dismissed: Columbia College film prof Dan Dinello retires
Posted by J.R. Jones on 03.22.12 at 09:58 AM
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Broken Dim the Lights Music Comedy Back to the closet
Posted by Miles Raymer on 03.21.12 at 05:00 PM
I spent an entire bus ride to the Genius Bar and back today pondering exactly that. Below the jump are some of my guesses. Note: though these are like 98 percent jokes, there's still part of me that wonders if, given an entire 32 more chapters, we might end up seeing at least one of these.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Performing Arts Comedy Arts Have you heard of Ron Shock?
Posted by Tony Adler on 02.16.12 at 04:16 PM
I've got to admit I never heard of Shock, legend though he's supposed to be, until I got the notice about the benefit this afternoon. But I've been watching videos of him since then. Telling hip jokes and tales in a good-ol'-boy drawl, reminiscing about his prison term in New Orleans, he's kind of what you might expect if Charles Bukowski and Johnny Cash had a baby and let Lenny Bruce raise it. He's also got guts: since the diagnosis on December 14, he's been taping regular "cancer chronicles" that can be seen on Youtube. I say he deserves to live.
The benefit is scheduled for tonight at 10 PM at the Lincoln Lodge, 4008 N. Lincoln. Cost is $10.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Paranormal Crickets Media Music Comedy Another sold-out show, another "Freebird!"
Posted by Kevin Warwick on 02.15.12 at 04:44 PM
- Wikimedia Commons
- This guy has absolutely yelled out "Freebird!" before
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Onstage Performing Arts Comedy Dance Arts The latest Reader performing arts reviews
Posted by Sharon Lurye on 02.02.12 at 01:47 PM
- Jim Newberry
- The Hunchback Variations Opera
