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Splitsider's Guide to Chicago's Comedy Scene

by | March 19th, 2013

As any Chicago-based comedian, writer, or performer will tell you, there’s a glass ceiling everyone faces when developing a career in this city, due to the lack of an entertainment industry. Soon after a performer really begins to come into their own, firing on all cylinders (and sometimes before), they make the decision to move out to NYC or LA. It’s helpful to think of Chicago as a sort of comedy incubator, preparing comics for the big time.

That also means audiences regularly get to catch rising talent right before they hit, which makes Chicago’s comedy shows some of the scrappiest, most unique, and most reliably solid shows in the country. What the Chicago scene lacks in recognizable faces and TV credits is compensated for by a constantly evolving crop of innovative, hard-working performers at the top of their game, honing their craft before the imminent move.

Our recent exports include Saturday Night Live’s Aidy Bryant, Tim Robinson, and Cecily Strong, as well as Beth Stelling, who did a set on Conan just months after she relocated to Los Angeles, and Cameron Esposito, host of AST Records’ Put Your Hands Together, a comedy showcase/podcast that just took over Comedy Bang! Bang!’s recently vacated time slot at UCB LA.

When considering Chicago’s status as a comedy town, most folks think of the two sketch and improv institutions: Second City and iO. While these two venues are certainly thriving, underground, independently produced sketch, improv, and standup shows are finding success as well. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but we’ve compiled some of the best, longest running, and most unique shows from Chicago’s constantly growing standup, sketch, and improv scenes. READ MORE

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