Holly-Days in the City- Funny HaHa Edition

One thing I love doing, and seemingly do not do enough, is going to sketch, improv and stand-up shows in the city. There are so many great ones to see! Now, I have to admit, seeing the signs for TBS Just for Laughs totally prompted this post. The thing about Just for Laughs is that some of those shows get wicked expensive! So, I thought I would break it down for those who let their money burn that hole in their pocket over the weekend....

Chicago Underground Comedy presents: Secret Big-Time Local Comedy Showcase
June 4 8:00pm at Beat Kitchen ONLY $5!!
- I recommend this, because here you can find a local comedian to laugh your socks off, AND it gives you a great event to take out of town visitors to when you can't think of anything else. (Plus who doesn't like being able to say, "Oh I just love this guy/gal. I saw him/her at this totally Chicago place before s/he was big. No big deal"). They do this sort of thing at Beat kitchen on a regular basis, I suggest checking it out!

TBS Just For Laughs Pet Project Series Tim Baltz
June 15, 9:30 PM The Playground Theater ONLY $5!!
- Call me biased, but I think Tim Baltz is HILARIOUS! (And not just because he was my improv coach at one point... oh did I just brag there?... oh I think I did...) You can catch this creative funny guy regularly at Second City... but this is waaaay cheaper and trust me, you will have a great time.

TBS Just For Laughs Pet Project Series Britanick
June 15 and 16th, 9:30 PM The Playground Theater ONLY $5!!
- If you are ready for two guys with the most ridiculous sense of humor, stay for the night at the Playground after seeing Mr. Tim Baltz for BriTANick. I have only seen their short films, but they are so ridiculously funny (I mean it- they are ridiculous) that I can't wait to see them live.

John Lutz and Scott Adsit
June 15 Midnight, iO $20 (so $10 a performer... um hellz yes!)
If you don't like 30 Rock, stop reading my blog. Go see these guys. It's $20 at iO. When are you ever going to be that close to people who get to hug Tina Fey? The Midnight show is the only one with tickets still left- they say to call the iO box office for the 2 other shows as the theatre may have some tickets through their box office.

Messing w/ a Friend featuring Michael Patrick Thornton
June 16th, 2011 - 10:30PM The Annoyance Theater ONLY $10!!
Susan Messing is one freaking hysterical woman. This is a show she does regularly at the Annoyance, so if not this night, I suggest catching her at some point in your life time, because she is a friggin hoot.

Hot Tub with Kurt and Kristen
June 17th, 7:30 PM Lincoln Hall $20 (with fees)
Hosted by Kurt Braunohler and Kristen Schaal (The Daily Show anyone??) You've seen these guys on tv. They are funny!! They do this show in NYC all time I guess, so it's a well-oiled machine and sounds like it will be a great time!

Best of the Fest
June 17th and June 18th, 11:55PM at Red Bar Comedy Club ONLY $15!!
It's the grab bag event hosted by Sugar Sammy. Various comedians from the festival putting on shortened forms of their routines and surprise "walk-ons" both nights. Sounds like fuuun to me!

*****

Now, if you have a little extra cash and want to see some great acts, my top two of the whole festival are Louis C.K. (June 18th, 2 shows!) and The Steve Martin and Martin Short shows (June 19th); both are at the Chicago Theatre.
(I don't think I need to explain why you should see these guys... right?)

For the Full listing of all acts you can click: http://www.justforlaughschicago.com/justforlaughschicago/schedule.jsp

*****

Other Funny Chicago Things That are Cheap:
Baggage Claimed
Second City: Donny's Skybox ($10 (students), $13 everybody else!!)
Fridays, 10:30pm, June 3, 10, 17, 24
My wonderfully talented friend Rachel LaForce is joined by a great group of talented improvisers for this musical comedic offering.

Selleck Man and Friends
Studio Be (ONLY $10 or only $5 if you come sporting a Hawaiian shirt of mustache)
Fridays June 3- July 8 at 10:00pm
It's an improvised show about Tom Selleck, what's not to love?

Now go! Laugh thine balls off- for cheap!
- William Shakespeare

My Kind of Town- Portrayed ALL WRONG

So I am a fan of the new Show Happy Endings. It's pretty funny, I like the characters, the story moves along well, and I think there is something for everyone in it.

Ah, but of course, there has to be a hiccup... and it's a big one for me. This show is supposed to be about Chicago... but... ummm... (begin the RANT):

Why are the streets super wide?

WHY IS IT ALWAYS SUNNY?

Why are there subway entrances everywhere and not the ELEVATED Train?

It's Clybourn Ave NOT Clybourne Ave...

I want to like this show so badly but I can't love it because they got Chicago ALL WRONG.

I feel like they took some pictures with the cast showing the Chicago skyline in the background and said, yep- this is Chicago: It's somewhere between LA and NYC, so maybe if we combine elements of both cities that MUST be what Chicago is like... right?

But alas- why is it not humid?

Where is the lake?

What the heck neighborhood do they live in?

Why does no one complain about the Wrigleyville traffic?

How on EARTH did the opening scene, with the bride running out of the wedding, take place in a church right in front of Buckingham fountain? Were you floating on a Church boat in Lake Michigan?

The one thing they did get right were the hipsters, and that was a good episode. But I live in Hipster-Land and I am sorry that place where they go to the party is not anything like my neighborhood.

I think ever since shows like Sex and the City made a point of making their shows a little love note to the city, we all expect it. My Boy's is a great example of how the city could be incorporated! I mean the acting and writing were meh, but I still watched religiously as TBS paid hommage to Chi-town.

I love Chicago- for cryin out loud- this is not hard ABC! Hire a Chicagoan to turn this weird california/brooklyn pizza kitchen into a Deep Dish!

(end rant).

Holly-Days in the City - Festival Report

Hey Everybody!

In light of an idea I pitched to a company (that did not hire me and shall remain nameless) that is doing so well as their inaugural adventure deal on their website, I realized I should not waste this knowledge of fun things to do in the city, nor my love of finding a really good deal.

That being said, I give you My-Holly-Day: Have a Holiday everyday! (Chicago: Cheap, fun and unexpected)

My plan is to round up some of the best events in the city tell you exactly how much everything will be so you can plan your weekends, evenings or vacations with confidence and some money left over. Hopefully I will also be able to tell you some tips and tricks for getting into events even cheaper!

My Job is going to be pretty easy so far, it's festival season in Chicago! This weekend alone there are the following fests:

2-5: Maifest (Lincoln Square) (FREE) **A Favorite**

Come to Lincoln square (if you CTA, it's right of the Western Brown Line Stop) for the polka, the beer, the souvenir mugs and the great atmosphere! One of my all time favorite festivals! Do keep in mind that parking is limited, so I suggest hopping on your bike or the CTA to get here.

Beer in a large take home stein is $10 for the cheap beer and $12 for the good stuff (normally).

If you plan to hit the Festival on Friday night, I suggest first stopping by Lillstreet Art Center for their First Friday event starting at 6:30pm : Over 50 studio members open their doors for an inside peak at Lillstreet Art Center life. (FREE)

Now if you go on Saturday, and want to make this a day of German heritage, you should pop over to Dank Haus for their Lost German Chicago Exhibit (FREE)

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3-5: Eastside Millennium Art Festival (FREE)
**SEE OPTIONS FOR A FULL DAY OF CHEAP EVENTS IN THE AREA BELOW**

I don't know about you, but I love finding a really great original piece of art. If you are looking for a calmer festival, and are in the market for something to hang on your wall or new jewelry, why not come down to Michigan Ave and Lake Street? It's easily accessible by CTA.

If you are going on Friday night: Stop by Water Tower Mall for Wine Down ($15 per person)
Wine Down features 20 wines, appetizers and a great environment for mixing and mingling.

Of course you can brush up on your art knowledge by hitting the Museum of Contemporary Art's First Friday ($15 day of, $13 in advance, $10 for MCA members and a cash bar.. so not super cheap if you plan to drink)

For Saturday: After stopping by the Festival, continue your day of art at Millennium Park, and check out the sculptures of Mexican artist Yvonne Domenge at the Park’s Boeing Galleries and then head to the Lurie Garden to see photographs by award-winning photojournalist Ami Vitale (ALL FOR FREE!).

Or, you can beat the heat by wandering the halls of the Art Institute which is also close by!

Admission
Adults: $18
Children, Students, and Seniors (65 and up): $12
Children under 14: Free
Members: Free

**All You Chicago Public Library Card Holders, don't forget to check out your free passes (for up to 4 people) to AI or any other museum! You can find a great summary of the perks of being a Chicago Public Library Card Holder Here.

Of course if you are really ambitious you could start your day at Millennium park with one of their Saturday morning summer work outs: (FREE)
Yoga at 8 am
Pilates at 9 am
Zumba® at 10 am

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4-5: Printer's Row Lit Fest (FREE)

There are about a million things to do at this festival at any given point during the day. Celebrate books, intellectual discussion and literacy! It is good to keep in mind that all panel discussions and event programming at the Lit Fest is free admission. However, events in the Harold Washington Library Center and the University Center require a ticket reservation due to limited seating. This is a great family event with Lit Lit Park for the kids, story telling events and much more! I suggest checking out the link for the times of all events through out the day.

Easiest way to get there via CTA is to hop off at the Harrison stop.

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4-5: Do Division Street Fest and Sidewalk Sale ($5 Donation Suggested) **A Favorite**

Now on to one of my absolute favorite festivals in the city: Do Division. I may be biased since this is my neck of the woods, but if you want a great musical experience (courtesy of the organizational minds at Empty Bottle), and vendors/ artists that are all very talented, then I suggest Do-Division. This isn't like other street fest where the surrounding businesses aren't too involved etc, the whole neighborhood for 10 blocks gets involved! Check out their site- it will be a full day! Beers are usually around $4- but you can always hop into a bar when you need a break. The fest is on Division between Damen & Leavitt. Getting there is a bus or bike experience. You can take the blue line to Division or Damen and hop on one of those buses to get to the action quickly.

* No other neighborhood events needed- this is an all day excursion*

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4-5: 57th Street Art Fair (FREE)

For those of you on the Southside of town check out this Art Fair to spruce up your digs! the fair is from 11-6 Saturday and 10 -5 on Sunday.

I suggest you make the quick trip over to The Museum of Science and Industry. Body Worlds is back at MSI and not to be missed!

Admission:
Adult: $27.00 (for Body Worlds and general admission)
Child age 3-11: $18.00 (for Body Worlds and general admission)
**Once again All You Chicago Public Library Card Holders, don't forget to check out your free passes (for up to 4 people) to MSI or any other museum! You can find a great summary of the perks of being a Chicago Public Library Card Holder Here

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4-5: June Jam ($5 Donation suggested)

This Roscoe Village festival looks like it could be a lot of fun and on the not so crowded side. The fest starts at noon on both Saturday and Sunday Check out their facebook page for updates on Events, like their Bag's tournament and their many prize give aways! Mid-day it should be a fun family event, but by evening it will be a great neighborhood party!

OR might I suggest boppin on down Addison and also hitting this next festival on the list...

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4-5: SausageFest ($5 Donation suggested)
This is a new festival, and if you like sausage- this may be the fest for you! I hear this is taking the place of the Lakeview Street Festival, which is always packed and tends to take carry festival goers right into the bars of Clark street after the festival winds down. Located Right at Addison and Sheffield it is easily accessible from the red line. The Cubs are playing at the Cardinals this weekend, so you may want to pop in to one of the bars and enjoy the game and then hop on to the street for the festivities!

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I love a good street festival! If you plan your day out well you can hit more than one! Heading to a festival for part of the day is a really great way explore different neighborhoods in Chicago. You get to see all the neighbors out and about at their fest, many restaurants and stores participate and you can take the extra time to wander around since you are there already! Each neighborhood has a lot to offer- you never know, you may be missing out on your perfect spot in the city!

Chili and Sketch Shows and Dinosaurs, OH MY!

I am a little late in posting last week's creation, I was busy what can I say?

But anywhoselbees (stealing a saying from the hilarious mind-swamp of Courtney Mueller), I made some homemade chili last week. It was pretty good, this is my second attempt at chili this year, I made some once before for a Bears game. How did it turn out you ask? I ate it... that's not saying much though, I will eat anything. The first batch was best- I accidentally put garlic salt instead of garlic powder in this one, so it was wicked salty. I also made my first cake from scratch this week, but, well it doesn't look too pretty anymore. Let's just say I got home at 3am and cake sounded REALLY good... so... yeah...

But food aside, let's talk about what I found in my beer at Thursday Trivia:

It's a little dark, but can you see it? What little beer head I had in the beer at this point turned into a little dinosaur head!! I probably got too excited about this, but c'mon! DINOSAUR in my BEER. You would take pictures and send it to people and post in on your blog if it happened to you...really...

no? oh, ok.

In Other news! We are working on a new show! YAY! here is a little info on the show. If you want to audition let me know- we are holding auditions on February 5th from 2-4pm at Second City.

2011 Inaugural Post

I MADE BREAD!

I am just as shocked as you are. But I did it- honey whole wheat bread! I do not own a bread maker, so I did this shiz old west style... I wore a gun and spoke with a southern accent the whole time I made it...

My New Years Resolution is to bake/ cook at least once a week in an effort to save money and not eat Jimmy John's every day of my life. So, I got a little antsy to do something the other night whilst watching Glee ( I just got the first season via Netflix... oh yes, I am in love). So you know... bread happened.

I am going to try to update the blog each week with the things I attempt to make and I will also tell if it was good or not. The bread was good. I may just start making bread instead of buying it...


HAHAHAHA.


Oh I crack myself up.

In Honor of TJ's 23rd

Today is my cousin TJ's 23rd birthday.

TJ died a few months ago suddenly, and his death taught me a few things and also reinforced realities I tend to ignore. This is going to be more of a ramble and an homage to someone so young who probably taught me more than I knew he did in his short life.

Life is really eff-ing short

TJ was smart. I mean SMART.
I heard someone say at his funeral that he lived like he knew he only had 22 years.

I don't think I saw TJ not "on". It's like he tried to suck every last thing he could out of a moment.

- He was a smart ass (a quality I appreciate in people)
- He could build ANYTHING, and if he didn't know how, he figured it out
- He could dance- well, I mean he danced. It was awkward actually, but damn it if he didn't try! ha!
- He was happy
- He was always "doing". Which leads me to...

Do It.
I don't think many of us live by this principle. I know I don't, not in the way I want to. It was something I told myself I would do when I got back from his funeral, but I sorta let it fall to the way side.

Be Who You Are. Someone is bound to like it!
TJ had this sorta cockiness to him that very few people can get away with. He was TJ. He practiced his signature because he knew he would need it to be as impressive as he was. haha.

Be Bold and Curious
Live with energy and a want to experience the world.

I dunno, I could go on and on, but I feel like, this is what I wanted to say. I am proud to have been his cousin, and I am proud of all he did in his 22 years of life.

This isn't meant to be a sad post. This is meant to be a big thank you for being Good at truly living, TJ.

Politics Schmolitics

I started this blog in order to say something about my brother running in Nebraska's 2nd back in 2008. While Jim is no longer running for office, Tom White is picking up where he left off in an attempt to unseat Lee Terry .

This article from CNN prompted me to write this post. I think people do not realize how important their votes are. Not only that, they don't understand how important an EDUCATED vote is. I would never never EVER recommend voting party line, this is how people like Lee end up and stay in office. I would also never recommend voting for someone you don't know anything about. You CAN leave spaces blank on a ballot. People do not care enough about voting, yet feel it is ok to complain when their government does not work the way they want it to. I do not get this attitude. Having worked in politics, believe me, I have heard your excuses and I have a counter response for each of them. :)

WE NEED TO CARE ABOUT WHO REPRESENTS US. And this is the trick, we do not need to care about:

• How many kids they have
• Marital status
• Color of skin
  
• Their stance on abortion (because unless they are a Supreme Court Judge they can't do anything about it... so it's a moot point...)
  
• What they do in their private lives, because let's face it- no one is perfect. (We all make mistakes; just be sure to practice what you preach... AHEM!)
  

What we should care about is:

• Their stance on issues that their political position can actually effect: http://www.whitehouse.gov/our-government
  
• Their ability to work with others and ADMIT when they need to work with others. (We are not electing gods and goddesses people, you will not find the perfect candidate, but you can find someone who can actually leave his or her ego at the door occasionally).
  
• Who contributes to their campaigns (the richer the hand in that pocket; the more forceful that hand's directional shove will be) : http://fec.gov/
  
• If they make sense when they speak (please refer to all things Sarah Palin).
• Are they passionate about the office they seek?
• If they are running for re-election, what did they do with their time in office?

I love living in America. I love being from Nebraska and I am really excited for Nebraskans- especially now. I think there is an opportunity to see some real improvements happen!

I have to say, I was very sad to see Senator Hagel go from the political scene. He was a man with a backbone. He did not do what his party always said, and I think that is VERY important in a politician. I am sure many people re-elected him because he had the red R attached to his name. but he actually made me hopeful. He was a what you see is what you get type of guy, and those are few and far between in politics, which is probably why so many people are disenchanted with politics. I live in Chicago now, so yeah, I see my fair share of all things unethical. Oh Blago...

But you know, if we all could get a little more educated about who is in office, who we vote for and why voting is important, I think we would all realize the potential our voices have!

We are in a pretty bleak spot in history. So really the only place to go is up. Will a person sporting a D or an R make difference? Not unless that person is willing to work with someone from the opposing letter!

It's all about kindergarten. We need to work together, we need to share. If you support something, be willing to talk about it, be willing to debate, be willing to take a stand, EDUCATE US! This is a two way street. I challenge people to figure out what is important to them and fight for it. I also challenge you to vote in a logical way. Did you know you can order your ballot to be delivered to your house? That way, you look people up as you vote and make sure you are in fact voting for the right person. You can have your ballot (depending upon the state you live in) for around 30 days before election day and vote at your leisure. I know it's a bit early for all this, but I am guessing we all have some homework to do. I Know I do!