Day: May 19, 2011

TBS and Just For Laughs have unveiled the complete schedule now for their third comedy festival collaboration in Chicago. So much going on. Check it! Tickets for the newly announced shows go on sale Saturday. TBS JUST FOR LAUGHS CHICAGO: Tuesday, June 14 ‚Äì Sunday, June 19, 2011  Newly Announced Shows PARK WESTViva La Risa Comedy Tour presented by George Lopez ‚Äì Friday, June 17, at 8 p.m.  Urban Legends ‚Äì Saturday, June 18, at 8 and 11 p.m.Deon Cole, who writes for CONAN, will host Tony Roberts (Def Comedy Jam, BET‚Äôs ComicView), Esau McGraw (Idlewild, Cubed) and Damon Williams (BET‚Äôs ComicView, Martin Lawrence presents 1st Amendment Stand-Up), along with local favorites Lil Rel and Chastity Washington. THE RED BAR COMEDY CLUBTBS LOL Lounge ‚Äì Hosted by Christian Finnegan ‚Äì Friday, June 17, and Saturday, June 18, at 8 and 10 p.m.A lineup of 20 rising comedians over four shows to be recorded and made available online at justforlaughschicago.com. Each night's comedy showcase will open with finalists from the fourth annual Rooftop Comedy National College Comedy Competition presented by TBS.Best of the Fest ‚Äì Friday, June 17, and Saturday, June 18, at midnight  LINCOLN HALLNew Faces of Chicago ‚Äì Wednesday, June 15 and Thursday, June 16 at 7:30 p.m.Hosted by Nick Vatterott  iO THEATER4 Square ‚Äì Wednesday, June 15, and Thursday, June 16, at 8 p.m.Long-form improv show with John Lutz (30 Rock, Saturday Night Live),...

A note from PJ Landers…(reprinted from his Facebook with his permission) Hey Everyone, I wanted to fill you in on the AIDS Walk in NY we did in honor of comic Mike DeStefano. If you were planning on going to the walk and set your alarm at 630am like most of us, then you woke up to crazy rain and wind. It was one of those lazy rainy Sunday‚Äôs you wanted to just lay in bed all day. I was that close to hitting snooze button. I was planning on bringing my two teenage boys, they helped us plan the walk. As I looked at them in their beds I figured it‚Äôs going to be raining all day, let them sleep. When the organizers say rain or shine they really mean it. Thousands of workers and volunteers were working through the night getting things ready. On Saturday I met hundreds of people that had been working for months to make this day happen. It was incredible to see so many different groups of people come together for the AIDS Walk. They say there were about 45,000 people that walked on Sunday raising over 6 million dollars, 20 or so of those people had come to walk in Memory of Mike DeStefano. Others who couldn‚Äôt make it donated to the Mike DeStefano Comic Team, the Team raised close to 6k....

A day after FOX 5 aired this "Shame, Shame, Shame" investigation that showed how former Comix manager Michael Palitz had stiffed a charity out of $7,400 it had raised at a fund-raiser at the now-closed comedy club, Palitz wanted to make amends. In this update that aired tonight, Palitz confessed: "When I saw the piece on the news, I realized it just wasn't me, and it wasn't the type of person I am. I'm a very nice person. I participate in a lot of charities." He added: "The tragedy that the Malone family has endured should not be compounded by the inability of Comix to make good on its obligations." He then handed over a personal check for $10,000. Roll the full clip…...