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They're Number 1!
The Comedy Examiner 2008 Best of List Part 2: The Best Comedians in Chicago (and some Comedy too!)
Best, for The Comedy Examiner, is what makes something endure, innovative, successful, and/or flat out funny. What makes an individual able to achieve success, endure, or be an innovative comedian? Its almost something that can't be quantified. Its what the French call the "I don't know what" about a person. Its something inside that makes them special, watchable, thoughtful and there by funny. Comedians are the modern day equivalent of philosophers... heck, The Daily Show is nearly a news source. The Troupes and people on these lists are Artists, Poets, and Philosophers and that makes them... The Best!
The Comedy Examiner 2008 Best of List: High Five!
The Best Improv Troupe:
The Improvised Shakespeare Company iO Chicago, 773-008-0199, Fridays at 8pm, $14. ISC founder Blaine Swen has assembled quite possibly the most handsome, winning, smartest, wittiest, silly, talented, ambitious, intelligent troupe in Chicago. They completely improvise a Shakespearean play complete with references, archetypes, allusions, and sometimes even iambic pentameter. Sure English Majors will geek out at how smart their Platonic references are but that average person will find their acting, bits, and timing all hilariously entertaining. They can do high brow, low brow, fast, slow, topical, and historical AND have it all be funny. That's The BEST!
First Runner Ups? TJ and Dave & Chicagoland. The Chicago Reader picked iO's TJ & Dave as the best comedy troupe and The Annoyance, where Chicagoland is in residence, as the best place to see improv that's not iO. The Reader is right on. They're the best too.
The Best Comics IN Chicago:
Stand Up? Probably Monte, Dan Telfer, Prescott Tolk, Faye Canale, Sean Flannery, Carrie Callahan, Brendan McGowan, Hannibal Buress, Adam Burke, Allison Leber, Michael Palascak, Ken Barnard and several others are Besties.
Improv? TJ Jagodowski, Paul Grondy, Susan Messing, Katie Rich, and Noah Gregoropoulos are unequivocally the absolute BEST.
The Best Comics FROM Chicago:
Take a look at Second City's alumni list and you'll get the idea that everyone at some point was and or is from Chicago at some point. Some were even born here. For the record, Richard Pryor was born in Peoria, IL but he's still The Best!
BEST FROM THE NEW SCHOOL: Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Adam McKay, Mike Myers, Keegan Michael Key, Steve Carell, Steven Colbert, Jack McBrayer
BEST FROM THE OLD SCHOOL: John Belushi, Bill Murray, Harvey Korman, Jack Benny, Alan Arkin, Fred Willard, Peter Boyle, Robin Williams, Bernie Mac
The Best Comics FROM Chicago that you Never Heard of cause they are Behind the Scenes Writing for all those Good Shows we Love:
The Daily Show's Allison Sliverman and Dan Bakkedahl.
30 Rock's John Lutz and Liz Cackowski.
The Colbert Report's Peter Grosz, Peter Gwinn, and Laura Krafft.
Conan O'Brien's Kevin Dorff and Brian Stack.
First Runner Up? Saturday Night Live's Robert Smigel. He's not from here, but he sure came here to study.
The Best Jokes about Chicago:
Some pretty great jokes about Chicago can be found here and here.
This is the best CLEAN joke about Chicago:
Man A: Does dis bus go to da Loop?
Man B: No, it goes "beep-beep."
This is the best Dirty joke about Chicago:
Q: What three streets in Chicago rhyme with vagina?
A: Paulina, Melvina, and Lunt.
The Best List from the UK Ragging on the Cubs:
20 THINGS THAT HAVE HAPPENED SINCE THE CHICAGO CUBS LAST WON THE WORLD SERIES
Highlights from this list include...
#4. George Burns celebrated his 10th, 20th, 30th, 40th, 50th, 60th,70th, 80th, 90th and 100th birthdays.
#9. Sixteen US presidents were elected.
and #13. Wrigley Field was built and becomes the oldest park in the National League.
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