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Red Bar Comedy Club Launches New Schedule In Expanded Space

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on May 21, 2010 5:20PM

2010_05_red_bar_comedy_club.gif Post By: Kristy Mangel

In the saga of the little nightclub-cum-comedy club that could, tonight marks the first night of the newly expanded Red Bar Comedy Club (housed in the Ontourage nightclub) schedule. Enveloped in a bustling tourist and Yup nightlife scene, the River North location has proven to be one of the key elements in making the DIY comedy club one of the hottest places to see local stand-up comedians in the city of Chicago. After nineteen consecutive sold out Saturday night shows in the 250-person capacity room (combined seating and wall-to-wall standing, as several shows over the course of the last five months have been), co-producers Mike David and Kyle Lane made a tenacious decision after five months of business: expansion of the ‘club’ from one Saturday night show to two shows both Friday and Saturday night, every week. Emboldening this venture, the club is also slated to be a featured venue during the 2010 Just for Laughs Chicago Festival, June 15-19. The venue will be the location of the TBS LOL Lounge, where twenty rising comedians will be taped for the Just for Laughs Web site over four shows.

For $10 (one of the cheapest stand-up show admissions in town, certainly in the comedy club circuit) and no drink minimum (commonplace for underground rooms in the city; in most clubs, however, a 2-drink minimum is required), the club showcases performers all over the comedy map, from up-and-coming alt-comics such as Junior Stopka, to Southside urban comics such as Brian Babylon, to road warrior comics such as Derick Lengwenus.

Babylon, who has been doing stand-up in Chicago for four years and is one of the rare local comics who plays both South and Northside rooms, said of the Red Bar Comedy Club, “It is one of the only clubs that give you a true mainstream audience. Since Chicago is hyper-segregated you get stuck in all black rooms or all white rooms. So it is hard to cross over into what Hollywood or television wants. Red Bar does that because the show is located downtown in the tourist part of the city you get a lot of out of town folk looking for a good laugh. Also, this is great for Chicago comedy -- a new club in town will give local comics a shot at working a real club. To us, the addition of Red Bar to Chicago can only help.”

David has been inviting comedian co-hosts from the Chicago scene onto his comedy podcast, Red Bar Radio, for approximately five years; Lane has been performing at colleges, clubs, and underground shows in the Midwest and Chicago for six years. After meeting one another in November 2009, when Lane was a guest co-host on David’s podcast, they began developing an idea to open a back room comedy show, “just to get Red Bar Radio's name out there,” David said. After scouting for a week or so, they came across Ontourage and thought it would be a perfect venue, he said.

This weekend’s shows will feature Marty DeRosa, James Fritz, Brian Babylon, and Prescott Tolk. Tickets are now available for shows Friday, May 21 and Saturday, May 22, 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.