Chicago Lifestyle Podcast & Video Blog
More than a meal Chicago’s Golden Diners Program provides an opportunity for seniors (over age 60) throughout the city to interact with the community and enjoy time outside their home. The program is funded by the City of Chicago’s Department of Family and Support Services. There …
Manual Cinema’s homage to the 100th anniversary of Mary Shelley’s gothic classic “Frankenstein” is a singular theatrical experience that mixes live action, silhouettes, puppets, shadow puppetry, masks, video, slide projection and all manner of theatrical techniques, ancient and modern to create a captivating monochromatic video …
Headliner Erica Rhodes has appeared on Modern Family and Veep. She was making her way back to Los Angeles through Chicago after working the comedy club Penguin’s and a casino bar in Iowa over the weekend. The lithe thirty something wearing a corduroy jeans jacket with fleece collar had a white knit cap pulled tight over her blond hair, looking like she was ready for the worst that the Windy City had to offer. She may have looked cold but her comedy was hot on this rainy October evening.
The show @ North Bar began with Steve Gerard the warm up comedian. A native of Minnesota currently living here said he works this venue a few times a month honing his craft and trying out new material. His set was an amusing array of mostly disjointed thoughts and non sequiturs randomly offered to see what might be worth further development. Overall a perfect opening act which had no fear of overshadowing the headliner.
Erica confidently took the stage and began a very comfortable conversation with the intimate audience. When someone said something about band camp Erica began to riff for about ten or fifteen minutes about her first love and first kiss as a fourteen year old at orchestra camp in Maine. She is a cellist and both of her parents are professional musicians.
It’s obvious this young comic has been a studious observer of her (no kidding) uncle, Garrison Keillor as she did a superb job of sharing this seemingly extemporaneous humorous and winsome tale of young love. The second half of her set consisted of more of her prepared material but full of pithy observations and enjoyable anecdotes.
Erica’s approach is not loud in-your-face or confrontational comedy. She is much more introspective and smart. Like having a drink with a very funny friend.
This set had a lot of relationship humor which would play well with couples or on a date night but certainly resonates with those who might be at “loose ends.”
I think both performers did a good job of sizing up this particular audience which skewed a bit older as they deftly avoided the more overtly sophomoric humor you usually find at most comedy clubs today.
Erica Rhodes can be found on twitter @ericarhodes and will be touring several military bases in the U.S. and Guam in the coming months.
This Wicker Park tavern serves stand-up comedy nearly every night.
Check out the Live at North Bar Calendar http://www.liveatnorthbar.com/calendar/ to see upcoming shows including an open mic at 4:00 on Saturdays.
Details: @ North Bar, 1637 W North Ave., Chicago, IL 60622 Telephone: 773-697-3563
Open nightly until 2 a.m (3 a.m. on Saturday) Closed Tuesday. Light food available by delivery from nearby restaurant. There is a modest cover charge for performances, check website for details.
It is the dawn of the civil rights movement, times are changing, President JFK has just been assassinated. Caroline is recently divorced, has three girls at home and a grown son in Vietnam. To make matters worse she is under employed and feeling like she …
While investigating the net to see what is happening in Chicago this week I was nearly overwhelmed by the number of fan videos for BTS at the United Center. It seems the K-pop (Korean Pop Music) boy band from South Korea has been rocking the …
I thought it would be fun to feature beer reviewer Mark McDermott who I found while simply trolling the web for interesting Chicago related content.
Though he does not review Chicago beers exclusively he is based in Chicago.
To give this intro to Mark a bit more of a Chicago spin I am specifically including his video review of Foudre Red a limited edition beverage from Chicago’s own Goose Island Brewery to give you a chance to experience his very informal “at home” presentation style and get a sense of his palate.
We’ll be keeping an eye on more offerings from this brew maven, posting a few updates when he talks about something else Chicago specific.
In the meantime check out the video below and watch more of his reviews at his youtube channel.
Be sure you are of legal age and please Drink Responsibly.
I have two pet peeves when parking in Chicago. The first is the high cost, especially downtown, and the second is giving money to Chicago Parking Meters LLC which will probably go down in history as one of the worst business deals in history for the …
This is a new reggae music video release produced by Reno Lovison RenoWeb.net for Chicago musician Robert Burchell with Tony Aiken & Future for New Vision One Records, distributed by VPAL Music. The primary video was shot on a roof deck on the north-west side …
Part of the fun and allure of the Ravenswood Art Walk is the opportunity to poke in and out of many of the art galleries and businesses along this former light industrial corridor on Chicago’s Northside.
This is as much an architectural tour as it is an art event. It is also a chance for several of the areas service businesses to show off their spaces and garner a bit of visibility.
Beside visiting a number of galleries you will also get to peek into a some shared office spaces, design firms, film studios, and other creative and not necessarily creative businesses.
A couple of highlights include the vintage architecture dealer and the vintage car collection. Both of these spaces are available for event rental.
When you feel the need for nourishment, food is available at a few restaurants along Ravenswood as well as near the El stops at Montrose, Wilson and Irving Park. But there is also a nice selection of food trucks assembled just for the event immediately below the familiar Deagan Building clock tower at Berteau.
Though this event is not what it has been in the past it is still one of my favorite end-of-summer activities. Perfect for a nice walk as the last glows of summer fade and the first cool breezes of fall are in the air.
A quest for success, what is legal, what is fair and ultimately, what is right and what is wrong. Real estate developer Harmond Wilks who has aspirations of becoming mayor finds himself at odds with his wife and his business partner after encountering a couple …
Enjoy a quick glimpse of the Andersonville shopping area as the neighborhood gears up for an evening of festivities centered around the annual Andersonville Arts Week. This video features a close-up look at the creation of an anamorphic 3D chalk drawing by Chris Carlson on the …
Hey kids before 3D printing there was (and still is) something called injection molding.
In this process hot plastic goo is forced between two molded pieces of steel that have been “carved” into a particular shape. When the molds are released the plastic quickly cools retaining the shape of the steel mold. How cool is that?
Well it seems that a local manufacturer has a tradition of selling molded toys from Mold-A-Rama vending machines where you can witness the entire semi-magical experience right before your eyes for just few bucks.
I remember my first experience with this nearly instant delight was at the Museum of Science & Industry in the Hyde Park neighborhood on the south side. I believe at that time the end product was a small bust of Abraham Lincoln.
That location was (and probably is still) ideal because after all you are supposed to be learning about how things are made and where stuff comes from.
Half of the fun is feeling the still warm plastic and the fragrance of the in’toxic’ating aroma.
Well it seems you can still find these fresh made toys and souvenirs “hot off the press”* all around the Windy City, specifically at The Willis (Sears) Tower and Lincoln Park Zoo. So why not go on a scavenger hunt and start a collection.
These two videos will help to get you started enjoying the experience and locating a few of these simple treasures.
*actually I think this is a reference to newspapers.
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