(from mtv.com)
It’s hard to believe it’s been over a year since Robin Williams’ death – and considering the impact the actor and comedian had on millions of people who never met him, it’s harder, still, to imagine how his loved ones have grappled with his loss. (MORE HERE)
So much funny in one weekend in one city. SNL star Jay Pharoh is on air tomorrow with Bryan and Lou showing of his game to tease his shows this weekend at Zanies, but the city of Chicago has been grinding out the funniest people in the chuckle arts for decade which is exemplified in the DIY comedy festival Comedy Exposition.
A few years ago the Just For Laughs with huge backers left Chicago, and in it’s place Chicago comedy entrepreneurs did what our city did in the 1800’s when we had the Great Fire of 1871 , we put on the World’s Fair of 1893 ‘the Colombian Exposition’. But this festival is way better and they didn’t even need to invent the Ferris Wheel to be better too.
Comedy Expo takes place at several independent venues through several different neighborhoods starting with a kick-off show tonight called 42×42 which features 42 comics doing quick-hit 42 second sets at Coles. Come for the bathroom graffiti, stay for the comedy. The action then spreads into Wicker Park, Lincoln Park, and other near Northside areas for shows that will feature comics from here and beyond showing why this is the funniest city in America. As someone who besides talking into microphones also (y)ells jokes into mics all around town, here are 5 comics who I can assure you should go see this weekend.
When he’s not pointing at buildings for tourists on top of double-decker buses downtown, David Phillips is making fun himself and anything else on stages across the city. Phillips cuts to the dirty secrets of some Cubs fans at Wrigley Field in this clip from the JBTV produced Fourstar Stand Ups. See him Friday upstairs at Schubas on a showcase headlined by Rebecca O’Neal at 9:30pm.
Laugh Factory regular Reena Calm has no filter and that is what comedy is about: being yourself as much as you can. She has said things on stage that I would be scared to say in front of a mirror. Her work ethic is through the roof, booking her own tours, and scratching off towns on her map while tweeting off gems like “Women who wear heels all the time are probably unstable. If you like comics like Amy Schumer, than this in this Fourstar Stand Ups clip with Reena will be right up your alley. Reena Calm hosts the Putterbaugh Sisters showcase at @North Bar on Saturday at 9:30pm
Rhea Butcher came storming out of Chicago (where she hosted the Coles Open Mic in Logan Square) and has been kicking all the butts in Los Angeles with her weekly live show ‘Put Your Hands Together’ and along with her wife/fellow comedian Cameron Esposito (see her below on ‘the Late Show’) are releasing their new show ‘Take My Wife’ which will soon be available on NBC’s all comedy streaming service Seeso.You can catch a preview screening of the series at the Hideout on Saturday at 5:30pm. Despite having the name ‘Butcher’, Rhea talks about the struggles of being vegetarian in this clip from Conan.
Calvin Evans started as the class clown in a Chicago school, doing Eddie Murphy impressions and the guy just hustled his way around the country since. Evans has performed all the major comedy clubs in the city and throughout the Midwest. He also understands why your Dad is really mad all the time. In this Fourstar Stand Ups clip, he lays out a wonderful argument for why Father blows a gasket because your entire family is leaving the lights on. Evans headlines a showcase of fantastic comics with must-see host Keith Paesel at the ‘@North’ Bar on Saturday at 6:30pm.
Megan Gailey is one of the funniest and most intimidating people in comedy that I have ever worked with, she has a level of sass that is not measurable on any known scientific scale. Is there a measurement for sass? Back to Gailey, her ability to have a comedy that bites first and asks questions later lead her to a spot on the MTV prank series, Ladylike which recently debuted. She headlines the Expo’s showcase in the main room of Schuba’s on Friday at 8pm. Here she is killing it on Conan earlier this year.
Comedy Expo also features shows from ‘Whose Line is it Anyway?’ cast member Greg Poops, cult favorite Eddie Pepitone, You can all the info on when and where the shows are at comedyexposition.com
Twenty-One Pilots continuing to take over the whole gee golly world. They did just that in this video shot at the Fox Theaeter in Oakland, California. This performance culminates with Josh doing one of the band’s signature feats of daring-rock-do, playing the final drum sequence on top of the crowd. This is just a sliver of the spectacle that this duo puts on with their current Emotional Road Show tour which a second lap through Chicago in January, enter to twin tickets to that show here and simply scroll to the bottom to plug in your info.
@kevkellam
Sad news guys, the jubilant of post of many a black eye-shadow wearing gal and a black demin wearing guy yesterday may have all been for nothing, as 00’s alt band My Chemical Romance is not happening. The rumor mill was churning at full blast yesterday when the band’s official website and social medias all flipped to a new logo and teased the date September 23, 2016. The speculation got to fever pitch with a video that simply played off the opening notes of ‘the Black Parade’ as a flag waved in the sky. It seemed like a graceful tease for the return of Gerard Way and company to get us screaming we’re not okaaaaaay again.
Yet MCR clarified today in a Facebook post that they indeed not launching a reunion in anyway, but are simply releasing a 10th anniversary edition of ‘the Black Parade’ album.
We’ve been really touched and blown away by the response to the teaser trailer. We are not touring and there is no reunion planned – only a release for the anniversary of The Black Parade. Thanks so much for continuing to keep MCR in your minds and in your hearts.
–My Chemical Romance
MCR broke up in 2013. You can get the whole story on what they’ve been up to since then here.
Today through Monday is looking pretty, pretty steamy. The heat index, which is basically how hot it feels out compared to how hot it is, will be near or over 100 each day. If you’re looking for a way to cool off this LIST might help you out.
(from digitaltrends.com)
USA Networks’ hit drama centered on the hacking group Fsociety, Mr. Robot, is so real, it has even inspired its actors to change their lives. In an interview with Digital Trends, Mr. Robot star Carly Chaikin explains how the show made her more paranoid about computers, what it is like to represent a woman in technology, and why Pokémon Go is stupid. (MORE HERE)
After watching the show I’m a bit paranoid too. Good thing nobody would ever guess my password from grade school, ‘bloodburpsofdeath85’ …wait am I typing this? – m
Simple notes from a piano are all you get from this video posted by My Chemical Romance today, but it provokes an exciting question: ARE THEY COMING BACK?! One would have to assume MCR are gearing up for a return as their website and social media accounts are all using a new ‘MCRX’ logo with a vague lead to the date of September 23,2016. Fans of the band are already speculating this could be an anniversary celebration of some kind for MCR’s definitive album ‘the Black Parade’ which turns 10 years old this year.
My Chemical Romance quietly broke up with the following blog post on their site in 2013.
“Being in this band for the past 12 years has been a true blessing. We’ve gotten to go places we never knew we would. We’ve been able to see and experience things we never imagined possible. We’ve shared the stage with people we admire, people we look up to, and best of all, our friends. And now, like all great things, it has come time for it to end. Thanks for all of your support, and for being part of the adventure.
My Chemical Romance.”
Since then, singer Gerard Way put on a solo album called ‘Hesitant Alien’ in 2014. it had a slight Bowie influence and 80’s vibe that earned positive reviews to boot. Here is a video from that album for ‘No Shows’.
Way in an 2014 interview with NME stated he never felt MCR was meant for anything “beyond the Black Parade”. Which makes sense with his perspective as someone who also works on comic books and other story driven projects, but that doesn’t mean they can’t come back and tell more stories in song right?
Frank Iero guitarist for MCR denied a reunion was in the works amidst rumors of it last year.
So here we are with MCR members staying busy with other projects, they have found themselves back together again. How do you feel about this? – @kevkellam
Youtube superstar Caset Neistat brought the Pokemon craze to the very real streets of NYC in this very entertaining video where he wildly pursues a friend in a big goofy Pikachu outfit in a skateboard chase that is utterly delightful. The highlight has to be other random strangers (who we can assume were in Central Park playing PKGO) jumping in on the chase to ‘catch ’em all’. Anytime I see someone in a big mascot-like costume I feel the need to at least bear-hug them, so I get their compelled actions here.
So whether or not your walking into traffic trying to catch a Squirttle or getting annoyed with everyone posting about this game that has distracted us all from the real world, you can take this fun video,
-@kevkellam
If you are looking for a reason to hate Pokemon Go then this may be it. First things first though, you should never be using your phone and driving at the same time, it’s dangerous and stupid because you could get in an accident along with putting others in danger.
The other day while a couple of Baltimore Police officers were sitting outside their car talking, they caught something very shocking on their body cameras. They caught coming out of no where a car sideswiping their police car! Thankfully no one was inside the police car and after the Police Officers initial shock they ran over to the car to make sure the driver that hit them wasn’t having a medical emergency. After coming to the car and seeing what was up, the driver openly admitted right away to playing Pokemon Go and driving at the same time.
If there are two lessons that come out of this video, it’s that you should not be using your phone and driving at the same time and you should stop playing Pokemon Go right away because it is ruining lives everywhere!
You can check out the video of the incident below!
#PokemonGO is not all fun and games. Here is a video of a distracted driver who struck one of our cars. #PlaySafe pic.twitter.com/kOTfbTcILo
— Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) July 19, 2016
We already know that the Cubs are becoming one of the best teams in the MLB. They currently sit in first place in the Central Division with a 7.5 game lead over the Cardinals and they are only .5 games back of having the best record in baseball behind the Giants. Not only are the Cubs making great strides on the field, but Wrigley Field is slowly becoming one of the best stadiums in baseball. No longer does it smell bad or have the bad rep of being one of the most under appreciated stadiums in the MLB, but instead with recent renovations and construction it has skyrocketed in popularity, again.
The popularity of Wrigley is about to become even higher! Announced yesterday after the Cubs season is over, the whole lower bowel of Wrigley field will be overhauled and going in underneath the seats behind home plate will be a new luxury dining and drinking experience for ticket holders of those seats. Even though the the area will be under field level and right behind home plate, there will be no view for that area but you will get to eat some pretty amazing food along with some nice cocktails to then go back to your seats and enjoy before, during, or after the game. Along with the private eating and drinking options of this new area, you will also get to experience the great feature of private bathrooms away from the rest of the visitors to Wrigley!
As you probably guess this is not going to be cheap and it will cost you a pretty penny to get all of these experiences. It already cost around $300 a ticket to sit in that area of the ballpark, but to be put on a priority list to get into the new luxury area it will cost you about $500 just for the deposit. As of today, the Cubs said they have already received close to 300 deposits just for the experience alone, that doesn’t include tickets.The areas isn’t expected to be fully ready until the 2018 season, but with that being said do you think this is good or bad for Wrigley, and why? Go ahead and let us know what you think!
Dictionary.com has added more than 300 new words. Even thoug a lot of the words are just words that we already know, but have been put together. Like “mom jeans” and “butt hurt.” Good to see “lumbersexual” has made the cut. In case you don’t know a lumbersexual is a man whose style of dress and appearance is reminiscent of the ruggedly masculine stereotype of the lumberjack.
Here are a few more…
al desko: eating at one’s desk in an office.
athleisure: a style of clothing inspired by athletic apparel but also worn as casual, everyday wear.
butthurt: mental distress or irritation caused by an overreaction to a perceived personal slight.
Daesh: a name used to refer to ISIS/ISIL, the radical Sunni Muslim organization.
deso: designated driver.
free-range parenting: a style of child rearing in which parents allow their children to move about without constant adult supervision, aimed at instilling independence and self-reliance.
ghosting: the practice of suddenly ending all contact with a person without explanation, especially in a romantic relationship.
health goth: a fitness enthusiast who is part of the goth subculture.
hijra: a person whose gender identity is neither male nor female, typically a person who was born male and dresses as a woman.
hot take: a superficially researched and hastily written journalistic piece, online post, etc., that presents opinions as facts and is often moralistic.
intersectionality: the theory that the overlap of various social identities, as race, gender, sexuality, and class, contributes to the specific type of systemic oppression and discrimination experienced by an individual.
lamestream: noting or relating to traditional print and broadcast media, when regarded as lacking the fairness, creativity, etc., of independent online news sources.
long-form: noting or relating to types of print or visual media content characterized by in-depth, lengthy narratives.
manspread: to sit with one’s legs far apart, taking up too much space on a seat shared with other people.
Minecraft: a sandbox video game with construction, crafting, exploration, and combat mechanics, available on many game platforms.
misgender: to refer to or address (a person, especially one who is transgender) with a pronoun, noun, or adjective that inaccurately represents the person’s gender or gender identity.
mom jeans: unstylish women’s jeans.
NBD: acronym for no big deal.
panromantic: noting or relating to a person who is romantically attracted to people of all sexual orientations and gender identities.
Pokémon: a media franchise including video games, animated television series, movies, card games, etc. that depict a fictional class of pet monsters and their trainers.
presstitute: a journalist or media source whose news coverage is considered to be inappropriately influenced by business interests, political motives, etc.
totes: totally.
train wreck: a person who has experienced a personal failure, disaster, etc.
warmist: a person who accepts global warming as a reality (a term used by people who reject the concept).
woke: actively aware of systemic injustices and prejudices, especially those related to civil and human rights.
ze: occasionally used with a singular indefinite pronoun or singular noun antecedent in place of the definite masculine he or the definite feminine she.
Zika virus: a chiefly mosquito-borne virus of the genus Flavivirus that causes Zika, a mild illness.
More are Dictionary.com.
There is a new Blink-182 album, Pokemon is everywhere and here’s our first look at the new “Power Rangers!” Bryan Cranston, playing “Zordon” in the new movie, said we can expect it to be a little darker comparing it to the Christopher Nolan “Batman” series. The PR reboot will hit theatres in March of next year.
(from redeyechicago.com)
“Making a Murderer” is coming back to Netflix, the network announced Tuesday. The new installments will plop us back into the emotional roller coaster that is the post-conviction process, following convicted murderer Steven Avery and his nephew and co-defendant, Brendan Dassey, as their legal teams try to fight the system and challenge their convictions. (MORE HERE)
I was just glad that the premise wasn’t Steven Avery as a new cast member on Orange Is the New Black. – marconi
Despite being told otherwise, Brian & Lou are convinced Jay is doing his best Denzel impression…
We’re getting one last taste of what we’ll see in “Suicide Squad” on August 5th.
Here’s the final trailer:
“Heathens” from Twenty One Pilots really is the perfect song for this movie!
Coldplay showing some BTTF love during their stop in New York. It was pretty much the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance. They broke out “Earth Angle” and Johnny B. Goode” and even had Marty McFly himself on stage. Yup. Michael J. Fox.
Wonder if Chicago will get the BTTF treatment this weekend? You can still score your way into a private soundcheck party with the band HERE.
After 13 seasons in the NFL, mostly spent with the Bears, Charles “Peanut” Tillman is hanging ’em up. Always a class act on and off the field. He came put together a video showing how he’ll be incorporating the “Peanut Punch”into his life outside of the NFL.
Yes, that game that everyone is playing a.k.a the new supreme ruler of the world Pokemon Go has proven in less than two weeks since it’s release to be a huge money maker for Nintendo. Bloomberg reported the Japanese video game company had the biggest turnover on the Tokyo Stock Exchange trading $4.5 Billion worth of stock on Friday. Overall it’s a 71% rise in one week.So does this mean that when Nintendo has it’s holiday party that Super Mario will be drinking in the corner, while everyone is talking to Pikachu and Squirrtle?
Nintendo is not the only company to benefit from this titanic move that has everyone trying to ‘catch them all’. Niantic, the mobile game developer behind the game and of course the Pokemon Company will eventually reap the rewards of the PkGo mania. But the buck does not stop there, as many advantageous entrepreneurs have created businesses off the game as detailed by here Game Zebo.
We’ve been covering the Pokemon craze all week so whether your enjoying the game as a distraction from reality with ‘augmented reality’ or you just laugh at people walking into things with their face in their phone, check out these stories looking into the whole thing.
1. Awolnation – Run (Beautiful Things)
2. Brand New – I Am A Nightmare
3. Bad Suns – Disappear Here
4. Bob Moses – Tearing Me Up
5. Kungs – This Girl
6. Trapdoor Social – Sunshine
7. Miike Snow – My Trigger
8. Zipper Club – Going The Distance
9. Run River North – Run Or Hide (Queued Up Artist Showcase – 7/19)
10. Switchfoot – Float
11. Arkells – Private School
12. Powers – Sunshine
13. BØRNS – American Money
14. Descendants – Without Love
15. M83 – Go!
16. Two Door Cinema Club – Are We Ready
1. Grouplove – Welcome To Your Life
2. Judah and the Lion – Take It All Back
3. Bronze Radio Return – Only Temporary
4. The Wombats – Be Your Shadow
5. Bleached – Wednesday Night Melody
6. Night Riots – Contagious (Queued Up Artist Showcase – 7/19)
7. Local Natives – Fountain Of Youth
8. The Hunna – You & Me
9. Weezer – I Love The USA
10. Coin – Talk Too Much
11. Angel Olsen – Shut Up Kiss Me
12. The Struts – Put Your Money On Me
13. The Naked and Famous – Higher
14. The 1975 – Somebody Else
15. The Moth & The Flame – Red Flag
16. Blink 182 – Home Is Such a Lonely Place
1. Oasis – Supersonic
2. Erasure – Chains Of Love
3. Primal Scream – Movin’ On Up
4. Siouxsie & The Banshees – The Passenger
5. Talking Heads – Life During Wartime
6. Radiohead – Paranoid Alien
7. The Rentals – Friends of P
8. Squeeze – Is That Love
9. Urge Overkill – Positive Bleeding
10. Less Than Jake – History of a Boring Town
11. The Church – Under The Milky Way
12. Teenage Fanclub – The Concept
13. Sublime – Badfish
1. Social Distortion – I Was Wrong
2. ABC – The Look Of Love
3. Breeders – Cannonball
4. U2 – Trash, Trampoline and the Party
5. R.E.M. – Finest Worksong
6. Kim Wilde – Kids In America
7. CIV – Can’t Wait One Minute More
8. Love and Rockets – So Alive
9. Candlebox – You
10. The Smiths – The Boy With The Thorn In His Side
11. Nine Inch Nails – Terrible Lie
12. The Replacements – I Will Dare
13. The Cure – Why Can’t I Be You
14. Everclear – Heartspark Dollarsign
15. Jane’s Addiction – Standing In The Shower… Thinking
