Just Make Them Laugh

We’re in the midst of putting up our sketch review and after only two shows in I can honestly say it’s some of the most fun I’ve ever had in my life. I am so envious of the actors who get to do this every single night and get paid for it. Making people laugh might be the best job ever.

We pitch our sketch ideas in class, improvise them, and if our director liked how they played out then they get to go on stage. So it’s basically a mix of improv and sketch, no lines or scripts are actually written out, but we know the beats we’d like to hit. Except for the songs, the songs have scripts. Like for instance my song about Hot Doug’s we performed last night, but more about Hot Doug’s in a second. One of the other scenes I pitched that made it on stage last night was a tampon commercial called “Smart Box Tampons- for women who think outside the box.” And yes, it was just as crude and awful as you might think it sounds. Don’t worry, we’re going to be filming that one and turning it into an actual commercial so I’ll make sure to post it on here so you can watch it (because I know you’re all dying to see it.) I had way too much fun with the jokes in that sketch.

But back to the Hot Doug’s song where we all sang about our love for hot dogs. A songwriter I am not, so perhaps I should just stick to my tampon jokes because that one just didn’t hit like I hoped. God love my sweet sweet cast-mates for being supportive as hell and jumping on board and rocking that song like they did last night. In the end I really dropped the ball because I was way ahead of the music and screwed up the lines “Chicago is that fat kid we all used to be… We hate math class but we love the lunch lady” blah blah blah, but my cast-mates carried me through. It’s really fun to play with such a talented group of people.

Each show is only about 45 minutes, but it feels like it’s over in the blink of an eye. So if you’re in the Chicago area and would like to come we’ll be on the ETC stage every Monday for the next six weeks, tickets are only $5 and can be purchased online or at the Box Office. Come on out, it will be fun.

But the late Monday nights make for hard Tuesdays. I’m kind of on the struggle bus at the moment. And the crazy thing is I get to do it all over again tonight because I’m starting a run of shows at iO as well. Our group is called The Pool and we’re performing in the CHRIS FARLEY cabaret Tuesday nights at 8:30. And I put Chris Farley in caps because I’m so damn tickled to get to perform anywhere that has his name on it. He will forever be my idol. Forever ever.

And since I’m plugging the shit out of my shows at the moment why should I just stop at two? You cool with that? Okay great thanks, I appreciate it. I’m also doing some stand-up this week on Thursday at Hydrate at 9:45 and at the Laugh Factory on Friday at 10:00 p.m. And for those of you that will be in Lincoln for the Miami game next month (September 20th) I will be telling jokes at Duffy’s the Friday night before, September 19th at 7 p.m.! Woo hoo for that one, it’s going to be a really fun night I can already tell. Washboard-Man is going to be my opener (hopefully, his manager hasn’t confirmed just yet.)

And now to end with a few photos from my visit to Hot Doug’s last week.

This is a photo of the line that started to form around 9:15 a.m. For HOT DOGS! Man, I love Chicago.

Was the two hour wait worth it? Absolutely!

Hot Doug’s is closing on October 5th! So you need to embrace the line and see what all of the hype is about before it’s too late.

And that’s that, have a good Tuesday!