When the Small Screen Just Won't Do
By Justin Sondak in Arts & Entertainment on May 31, 2007 3:00PM
If Monday’s holiday has you cramming five days of work into a four-day week and the headlines are only aggravating you further, you need to put the laptop away and get yourself to a comedy show this weekend.
The Blerds, a cabal of mostly Chicago-based comics and a film producer, are celebrating their Paper Anniversary Saturday night at The Spot. Drink specials have been promised. The good people at The Bastion are totally crushing on these Blerds, posting their latest Apple-ad-parodies-can-still-be-funny video. A Bastionite also tipped us off to Friday night’s Please Enjoy Yourself Stand-Up Comedy Showcase, featuring three Blerds: Chicago Underground Comedy’s Michael Holmes, out-of-towners CJ Sullivan and Mike Burns, and Tim Kazurinsky, still the only SNLer to have married a monkey.
But Aziz Ansari boldly takes on the Blerds both nights, bringing his nerdy, badass routine (warning: audio on the video is raunchy and nsfw) to the Lakeshore Theater. You Tube helped Aziz and his buddies land their own MTV show, indie rock fans may recognize him as overzealous marketing guru Clell Tickle (warning: sponsored content) or ad executive Bobb’e J. Thompson. Here’s one of his few safe-for-work stand-up videos, where the blurry comedian smacks down Kanye West and imagines his own death:
The Please Enjoy Yourself Stand-Up Comedy Showcase is at the Lincoln Restaurant, 4009 N. Lincoln Ave, Friday at 9 p.m. Tickets are $8, available at the door.
The Blerds Anniversary Show is at The Spot, 4437 N. Broadway Ave, Saturday at 10 p.m.
Aziz Ansari performs at the Lakeshore Theater, 3175 North Broadway Ave, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15