Sure, Chicago has been home to The Second City for more than 60 years, but when it comes to comedy, the Windy City is second to none.
And this week, when the inaugural 312 Comedy Festival – presented by Nashville-based Outback Presents – fans out across venues across town with more than 20 performances, it’ll be the epicenter of comedy in the U.S.
The festival runs from Oct. 27 until Nov. 5 and brings names like Michael Che, Nate Bargatze, Hannibal Buress, Franco Escamilla, 85 South and many others.
A number of podcasts will have live shows, including “Gals on the Go” and “That’s Messed Up,” and there will be cool stuff for radio fans, too, including “The Wait Wait Stand-Up Tour” and a “Steve Dahl Radiocast.”
Venues range from the giant – Allstate Arena, Wintrust Arena – to the legendary – Chicago Theatre, The Vic, Riviera, Park West – to clubs, like Zanies ahd Chicago Improv.
You can find a complete lineup, as well as links to purchase tickets for the shows at 312comedyfestival.com.
In the meantime, click here to see about the many Chicago hotels I’ve written about over the years and maybe you’ll enjoy a room in some vintage Windy City architecture.
Of course, you can always visit ChooseChicago.org for information about hotels, restaurants, entertainment and more.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He can be heard weekly on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories.
