chicago comedy – The Comedy Bureau

The Comedy Bureau Field Report Ep. 164: Mike Bridenstine & Butthole Vietnam/Chronicling History of a Comedy Scene

May 17, 2023

chicago comedy, comedy history, mike bridenstine

The collectors and curators of comedy history are rare, but they are usually delightful beings to not only shoot the breeze with, but learn the tenor of a comedy scene in decades past.

One of our favorite comedy folks, Mike Bridenstine, transplanted from a time period of Chicago comedy that has vastly influenced comedy at this very moment, has captured an exhaustive history of those years in his book The Perfect Amount of Wrong, which boasts the early days of Kumail Nanjiani, Hannibal Buress, Cameron Esposito, Jena Friedman, and many more. We talk to Bridenstine about what it takes to pull off a historical account of comedy, why to do it, and what is holding back TCB’s Jake Kroeger from doing his own comedy history book.

Also, Mike really wanted this episode to be called “Butthole Vietnam” and we love making our guests happy.

Follow Mike @mikebridenstine on IG & @brido on Twitter and listen to Hunk wherever you get your podcasts and, most importantly, pre-order his book The Perfect Amount of Wrong here or wherever you get your books.

The Comedy Bureau @thecomedybureau across platforms and please, please support TCB via Patreon or on Venmo (@jakekroeger).

Produced by Jake Kroeger
Music by Brian Granillo
Artwork by Andrew Delman and Jake Kroeger

Pick of the Day: Chicago Underground Comedy-LA Reunion Show 6/1

May 23, 2022

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alison leber, brooke van poppelen, chicago comedy, chicago underground comedy, jared logan, mike bridenstine, nick vatterott, renee gauthier, ricky carmona, robert buscemi, sean flannery, tony sam

The Beat Kitchen has been a home to one of Chicago’s most venerable indie comedy shows, Chicago Underground Comedy for well over a decade. Hailed as a haven for alternative comedy in the Paris of the Midwest, many of Chicago’s best that have found their way to national and international fame like Kumail Nanjiani and Hannibal Buress were an integral part of Chicago Underground Comedy being put on the map.

Many of their delightful alums have specifically found their way to LA over the years and, as such, want to do a Chicago Underground LA Reunion. That’ll actually be happening on Wed. Jun. 1st at The Fable in Eagle Rock at 8PM PT.

You’ll be treated to long time LA comedy denizens via Chicago including:
Robert Buscemi
Mike Bridenstine
Ricky Carmona
Sean Flannery
Renee Gauthier
Alison Leber
Jared Logan
Brooke Van Poppelen
Tony Sam
Nick Vatterott

Don’t miss out, especially because the show is the nice price of FREE.

Pick of the Day: Hideout Online Presents: Legally Not Allowed to Leave the Room 10/2

September 30, 2020

News

chicago comedy, experimental comedy, sketch comedy, the room, tyler jackson

As co-creator of one of the most hilariously chaotic variety shows we’ve ever seen, Late Late Breakfast, we trust in Tyler Jackson to make one hysterical whirlwind of a show when it comes to recreating the cult classic, Tommy Wiseau’s The Room, via a live-stream, with many of the best comedy folks from all over the country.

Per his announcement:

LEGALLY NOT ALLOWED TO LEAVE THE ROOM is a complete, feature-length re-imagining of the cult classic film THE ROOM. Part parody, part loving homage, it is The Room remade by over 50 teams of artists, using whatever they had around them during the quarantine. Musicians, comedians, puppeteers, animators, and video artists transform the original film from a bizarre melodrama into a kaleidoscope of bad accents, even worse wigs, stock footage, acid trips, prank shows, body doubles, and Lynchian horror.

No matter how this goes, it ought to be a damn hysterical time and will assuredly be less insane than what reality has presented us.

Legally Not Allowed to Leave the Room is set to stream this Fri. Oct. 2nd at 6PM PT/8PM CT/9PM ET. It’ll be presented by The Hideout in Chicago and tickets are $5 (proceeds go to saving stages via NIVA). Go get more details and tickets here.

Pick of the Day: Comedians You Should Know 5/16

May 14, 2020

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carmen lagala, chicago comedy, david drake, jeff steinbrunner, livestream comedy, mike lebovitz, saurin choksi, stand up comedy

One of the vanguards for stand-up comedy of the Chicago stand-up scene is and has been the renowned showcase Comedians You Should Know. In fact, it started expanding across the country due to its notoriety a few years ago.

This Saturday, May 16th, CYSK is making a return, via live-stream of course with a round-up of Chicago’s best along with great comedians from around the country (as they always have–it’s just a little easier to do that now with live-streaming).

Slated for this first live-stream edition of CYSK is:

Mike Lebovitz (HBO)

Carmen Lagala (Colbert)

David Drake (Camp)

Saurin Choksi (Brown Privilege)

Jeff Steinbrunner (CYSK)

Don’t miss this Chicago comedy gem and RSVP for the show (they’re accepting donations FYI) and then tune in at 4PM PT/7PM ET/6PM CT with link that will be sent to you.

Help Chicago Comedy Institution Lincoln Lodge Find a New Home

December 2, 2016

Uncategorized

cameron esposito, chicago comedy, hannibal buress, lincoln lodge, pete holmes, tight 5 productions, tj miller

TJ Miller, Hannibal Buress, Pete Holmes, Cameron Esposito, and so many more of your favorite comedians these days cut their teeth in comedy in Chicago and specifically did so at a place known as The Lincoln Lodge.

As it stands now, The Lincoln Lodge needs to find a new home to not only continue to be a pillar in Chicago comedy, but support gender equality in comedy and foster new talent like they’ve been doing so well for so many years.

Don’t take our word for it though. Let TJ Miller himself tell you why you should help find a new home for The Lincoln Lodge no matter if you live in Chicago or not.

Tight Five Productions, the team behind this whole operation, looking for an additional $30K after raising $50K for “permits, licenses and minimal resources we need to build out a facility with a 100 seat theater and classrooms” so they can open in July 2017.

You can donate to the crowdfunding campaign (complete with plenty of rewards) and find more details here.