Performance Anxiety Stand Up Show Is Unusual Fun

By Staff in Arts & Entertainment on Jun 19, 2014 7:00PM

A guy walks into a bar wearing a latex horse face sex mask. The bartender asks, “why the long face?” Chances are you’ve heard the basic premise to this joke but the circumstances around where you've heard it have changed at Performance Anxiety Chicago. You’ll hear jokes at the monthly stand up showcase (an expected constant) but you’ll be in a sex shop (the unexpected change), which is not as weird as you might think.

Performance Anxiety sets up at Pleasure Chest in Lakeview and is the sister show to the original, which was started by comic T.J. Miller and takes place at Pleasure Chest Los Angeles. Every third Monday, Chicago hosts Kevin Brody and Kristin Clifford bring together a packed lineup of top Chicago comics and those from out of town. At last Monday’s show comics from LA, Boston, and Chicago performed for an intimate audience of comedy fans and store customers.

While it would have been impossible for the comics not to address the 500-pound elephant dildo in the room, they did a great job not making their sets entirely about the unusual location. That’s not to say there was a lack of sex jokes, it was a comedy show after all. “I won’t say how many people I’ve had sex with but I will say it’s a prime number,” comic Tyler Snodgrass assured the crowd. While comic C.J. Toledano reminded the crowd that for all its silliness, 69 is still a real number “Becoming an adult means acknowledging 69 as a real number. If you don’t pay your $69 cable bill you’re life is slowly going to hell.”

Other fun things about the show is that it’s free, BYOB, and all audience members get a 15 percent discount for in-store purchases. The next Performance Anxiety show is on July 21.

By: Allison Kelley