A Comedy (or a Greek Tragedy) Tonight

There have been two times in my life I have been so grateful to see the ground that I’ve kissed it: Once was in New Mexico one summer after the round-trip ski lift ride Richard and I took for “fun” delivered us safely back to the bottom of the mountain; the other time was arriving home last Friday night after seeing Paul Reiser at Zanies in Rosemont.

The reasons I was so happy to see the ground after the ride on the ski lift were because a) I’m afraid of heights b) I was pregnant and wanted to enjoy the only five days out of my entire pregnancy that I wasn’t “reviewing my lunch”, as my obstetrician delicately referred to barfing, and c) a sudden thunderstorm approached resulting in a hasty ride back down as we clutched the benches of death dangling hundreds of feet above the mountain in an attempt to return before lightning had a chance to strike.

The reason I was so happy to arrive home Friday night was because Veronica and I  got so lost in Rosemont looking for Zanies after dinner at Harry Caray’s that instead of working together to find it, we turned on each other like hungry jackals on a National Geographic special. Our attempt to have a special mother/daughter evening of comedy became a comedy of errors.

The plan we agreed upon was to head to Rosemont to have dinner at Harry Caray’s and then enjoy the comedy stylings of “Mad About You” star Paul Reiser at Zanies Comedy Club.

Because we arrived at the restaurant one-half-hour early, Veronica tried to talk me into going to Rivers Casino before dinner. I told her that dinner and a show were enough for me for the evening and I didn’t want to take the chance of being late for our dinner reservation. Plus, I was so out of my geographical comfort zone I didn’t want to end up lost on my way to the casino or back to Harry Caray’s.

Boy, can that kid be persistent. She can talk at me incessantly until my brain gets so confuffled that it’s easier to give in than argue. I finally acquiesced at which point she commandeered my GPS and plugged in the address of the casino. I began to follow the route until I realized just how far away it was from our destination.

After driving a few miles toward the casino I decided to stick to the original plan and informed Veronica that I was going to turn around and head back to Harry Caray’s. That’s when things became a tad uncomfortable between us.

Veronica told me I was no fun. I told her she was being difficult. She told me I was being lazy and that we had plenty of time to go the casino, go to dinner, and get to the show on time. I might have said something about her acting bitchy. She told me I hurt her feelings. That was the first time during our special bonding evening I almost decided to just go home.

But, we managed to calm down and enjoy a lovely dinner, followed by a photo shoot with the nose on the bronze bust of Harry Caray.

I am not good with directions.* Luckily, Veronica has Richard’s keen ability to know where she is and how to get from point A to point B. The problem was that we became so upset with each other (again) that she refused to help me figure out how to get to the show. If I were her I would have helped me because who wants to be stuck in a car with her panic-attack-ridden mother any longer than necessary while circling like an airplane arriving from Yemen waiting for clearance to land?Even though I confirmed my printed Google Maps route from Harry Caray’s to Zanies with the restaurant manager, who referenced a McDonald’s on a some corner or another,  I missed the turn and saw that not only were we not in Kansas anymore, we weren’t even in Rosemont anymore.

Veronica loses patience with me on a daily basis. I forget things. I repeat myself. I repeat myself. And, I’m her mother. I didn’t blame her for getting frustrated with me, but instead of helping she ignored me. At that point it’s possible I mumbled something like “This idea was a horrible mistake,” which she ignored. That was the second time that evening I almost went home, but I couldn’t even tell you how I’d get there.

As airplanes descended to O’Hare immediately overhead causing us to feel the need to physically duck while in the car, I pulled into a parking lot to locate Zanies on my GPS. Apparently my GPS was having PMS. After plugging in the address for Zanies in Rosemont my GPS informed me that it couldn’t find the location. I turned around and began to retrace my route. I passed a McDonald’s on some corner or another, so I was slightly encouraged. But I didn’t see a sign for Zanies anywhere along the way.

I pulled into another parking lot and tried finding directions on my iPhone. No luck there, either. While I thought she was still completely ignoring me and not giving a tiny rat’s ass about the fact that we were hopelessly lost, Veronica called Zanies and asked for directions. For a minute after she hung up I didn’t think she’d share the information she had just learned with me. She did, but we still saw no signs for Zanies. We saw the same McDonald’s again, though.

Eventually we saw a sign for “The Entertainment District” of Rosemont, but there was no sign listing the entertainment it districted. The bright, colorful lights of “The District” beckoned me like the Sirens in The Odyssey, plus, they were really shiny.

Because I had no other idea of where to go, I drove toward the pretty lights and came upon a policeman directing traffic. I asked him if he could direct us to Zanies. Maybe it was my quivering chin and water-welled eyes, or the venomous look on Veronica’s face, but he knowingly nodded and said, “Don’t worry, Hon. No one can find it. I’ll get you there.”

The nice policeman told me to make a u-turn, which I didn’t want to do because there were police there for heaven’s sake. But he had told me to do it, so I did. He said to stop when I reached him again. I did. He told me to drive up the ramp ahead of me to the parking garage for “The District”, park in the garage, take the elevator down to the ground floor and Zanies would be there. He said it was behind all of the other buildings and not visible from the front. I thanked him profusely, and possibly even blew him a kiss.

We did what the nice policeman told us to do. After parking in what seemed like another zip code altogether, we took the elevator down to the ground floor thinking we’d be at the entrance to Zanies. No, we were in the parking lot vestibule. We had to go outside, walk around an outdoor ice rink, cross the street, and, as if a mirage, we finally found Zanies.

I ask you, “How are people supposed to find a place that is hidden behind other buildings with no signs leading you there?” Dave J. from Wheeling wrote the following review on www.yelp.com: ”Before I review Zanies itself, allow me to comment on the parking situation and the layout of the Entertainment District. I can sum it up in three words: PUT UP SIGNS! The signage in the garage and in the Entertainment District is TERRIBLE. You have to have your head on a swivel when you’re walking through the poorly laid out traffic garage (even one of the comedians at Zanies commented that the garage was like an episode of “Survivor”). People are in a hurry to find parking spaces, the lanes marking where the traffic aisles are located are not clearly delineated, and signs directing you to stairways, elevators (which I couldn’t find at all, btw), and the restaurants and other facilities in the complex are virtually non-existent. While you’re looking for signs directing you where to go, you could get hit by a car driven by someone looking for signs directing him where to go.” Exactly my point, Dave J. from Wheeling.

Because we arrived so late, we were seated in a booth big enough for a party of eight because that was all that was still available. Nice. By that time Veronica’s eyes looked vacant. I even kindly offered to take her home. But then our waitress appeared and said to her, “you look like you need a drink.” Since there was a two drink minimum, Veronica ordered a “Kathy Griffin” (RumChata and chocolate liqueur) and a “Gallagher” (Watermelon and berry liqueurs, lemon juice and vodka) at the same time. I ordered two Cokes.

A man named Scott was seated with us right before the show began. We introduced ourselves to each other and it turned out he was friends with Paul Reiser and was going to film the show Saturday night. I dropped Bitter Jester Creative’s name to see if he knew Nicolas DeGrazia and Daniel Kullman and he said he did. I felt so grateful and so connected to the comedy/film-making scene at that moment. It made me feel as if our entire escapade had been worth it. Almost.

Thanks to Nicolas DeGrazia, Daniel Kullman, The Comic Thread, and Chicago Comedy Sketchfest 2013, I had enjoyed two weekends in a row of laughing myself silly. I relished the idea of being entertained a third consecutive weekend by witty, laugh-out-loud comedy. Even though getting to Zanies and getting back home proved to be an adventure in recurring scenery, it was well worth the aggravation.

Paul Reiser was hilarious, not because he tried to be, but because he talked about things the audience could relate to such as the way the word “really”,with its accompanying head-bob, has become a question we use in our everyday vernacular, replacing volumes of other words in the English language. Next time you say, “Really?” to someone who insults you, cuts you off in traffic, or just all-around generally irks you, pay careful attention to your head. It will be bobbing.

He spoke about going to the doctor for a physical and hearing that if he lost 5-10 pounds his weight would be “ideal”. He told the doctor that he didn’t need to be “ideal”; that he was okay with his weight where it was.

He talked about how Jews are brought up to be “nice”. People say things like, “He’s a nice Jewish boy,” whereas Christians are brought up to be “good”. He said, “She’s a good Christian woman, but that doesn’t mean she’s nice.”

He remarked that the stage was so small he felt like he was the only guy in a police line-up, and described himself as a “delightful” husband. He talked about how you can be having a perfectly wonderful day with your spouse, and then around lunchtime one of you says something harmless that ends up upsetting the other, and then the day is ruined. So true. So funny.

I had a stomach ache; I was sweating, and crying from laughing. I laughed so much I was exhausted by the time he finished his set. His opening act and the host were crack-ups, too.

After Paul left the stage, Veronica and I serpentined through the crowd, ran out the door, crossed the street, ran around the ice rink and found an elevator vestibule. We found the car, cranked the heat and put the GPS setting on “home”.

Only I got lost on the way home, too; not because I didn’t follow the GPS, but because the exit from “The District” was in the far left lane and the exit to the tollway was an immediate turn from the right lane. As much as I wanted to get home, it wasn’t worth risking our lives.

It took a few “recalculatings” from my GPS, but eventually I was on the tollway (heading in the right direction!) and in familiar territory. I vowed that if we saw the McDonald’s on that corner one more time I was going to get us a room at the nearest hotel and return home the next morning during the light of day.

Even though I’ve been craving live comedy, after three weekends in a row of being spoiled by it, I was very happy to watch SNL last night and listen to my dad’s jokes over brunch this morning.

*Please click and read “Mission (Almost) Impossible”, the true story of how I ended up in a restricted area of O’Hare airport and was escorted out by police when attempting to pick Veronica up from the airport. https://talesofwildboomba.wordpress.com/2009/09/24/mission-almost-impossible/

Serious Comedy by The Comic Thread

If I could, I’d buy my tickets to see The Comic Thread at next year’s Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival  today. Having never walked into a theater lobby and being met by a woman dressed as “poop” walking around with a guy dressed up as a lobster who asked me to play with his balls (they were in a bag; Gee, I thought that would help explain the lobster balls, but it really didn’t.), I was unprepared for such a “happening”. My friend Jody, who was with her husband Jeff, was “game” and played with the lobster’s balls. She paid $1 to reach into the bag-o-lobster balls and pulled out a doll head. There were other prizes to be won, such as free tickets to see some of the 169 shows over the 8-day festival, so playing with lobster balls was not such a bad idea.

My husband Richard was keeping our place in line to see the comedy sketch troupe The Comic Thread, which I later found out he didn’t need to do. Because of the groovy press pass I was given by James Juliano of SHOUT Marketing and Media Relations, I can now go to the head of any line of any show during the duration of the festival because my press pass says, “I’m fucking important!”

My eyes wandered from the lobster’s balls when I saw a guy wearing only blue tightie…bluies, a leopard-print cowboy hat, and furry cowboy boots (which happens to be a fantasy of mine, but enough about me). I had no idea what I’ve been missing all these years.

Don’t worry. I’ll get to The Comic Thread’s outstanding sold-out-for-the-4th-year-in-a-row performance in a minute.

I just have to finish telling you about what was happening in the lobby because the magic began the moment Richard and I walked in. There was a girl in a tutu, a very twisted-looking Winnie the Pooh, a guy wearing jeans, a bunny head, and no shirt (another fantasy of mine), and a colonially-dressed guy –George Washington?– (definitely NOT one of my fantasies.)

We were let into the theater and after we had been seated for a few minutes all the characters we had encountered in the lobby ran onto the stage to introduce The Comic Thread, including the Master of Ceremonies, Executive Producer of Sketchfest, Brian Posen. The characters from the lobby quickly exited stage right as the lights dimmed and the audience members sat on the edge of their seats waiting to be entertained.

I’ll tell you right now, I laughed, and if you know me you know that I laugh loudly no matter how hard I’ve tried over the years to bring it down a notch, from the moment the show began until I realized we were walking down the street towards the restaurant and I should probably stop.

The Comic Thread is fucking important! It is completely obvious that Matthew Birnholz, Nicolas DeGrazia, Meg Grunewald, Daphne Scott, and Charles Turck take their comedy very seriously. They are the hardest working comedians in Chicago; maybe even the world! Each one could stand on his or her own, but as an ensemble they are unstoppable.

What makes each of  them such complete comedians is a combination of extraordinary material, obviously honed to the  point of defining who they are, and the way in which they trust each other and work with each other. There was no star. There was no one actor who obviously stole the show, except for, possibly, Charles Turck’s naked behind in the Peter Pan sketch. Don’t remember that from the Peter Pan of your childhood, do you?

Speaking of Charles Turck, his face speaks volumes when he’s not speaking. During The 7th Inning Stretch sketch, the ensemble sang an almost impossible rendition of “Take me out to the Ball Game”, except for Turck who just looked so perplexed it was hard for me not to fixate on his face, especially while my brain was trying desperately to figure out how the rest of the cast was achieving brilliance with a song we all know, or thought we knew.

Meg Grunewald brought Peter Pan to life, reprising the role of Elana Ernst Silverstein; a beloved cast member she had never met who recently passed away. In fact, The Comic Thread dedicated last night’s performance “with love to the enduring memory and friendship of Elana Ernst Silverstein”. Peter Pan was obviously a woman pretending to be a boy and when Daphne Scott’s “Wendy” called her bluff, Peter Pan’s obviously male shadow (played in a very tight-fitting black unitard by Matthew Birnholz)  killed her. Spoiler alert! (That’s for Nicolas DeGrazia who said “spoiler alert” after  revealing the ending  of the movie “The Hobbit”.)

The use of dramatic music, meticulously-placed lighting, and elaborate costumes for the shortest of sketches was unexpected and yet perfect. The Comic Thread, a division of  Emmy Award- wining Bitter Jester Creative, deserves the accolades it gets, and there have been many. To read them and to learn more about Bitter Jester Creative, go to http://www.bitterjester.com.

One last thing that impressed me to the core was the genuine affection they had for each other and for all of the other over 1000 artists performing in the festival. On Facebook there were shout-outs, recommendations, and heart-felt admiration for all of the other comedy sketch troupes participating in the 12th Annual Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival.

While The Comic Thread will not be performing again during Sketchfest, you can still catch other shows today, and from Thursday, January 10th through Sunday, January 13th at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont, Chicago. Meg Grunewald’s troupe “Just the Tip” will be performing Thursday, January 10th at 9:00 PM.  Call 773/327-5252 or visit their website at http://www.chicagosketchfest.com for more information.

Saving Lives; One Sketch at a Time

Whatever you do, don’t yell “Is there a doctor in the house?” Saturday night during The Comic Thread’s performance. Why? Because 3 1/2 of the members of The Comic Thread (TCT) are doctors: Matt Birnholz, Charles Turck, and Daphne Scott. And Matt’s brother, Justin, is a mere months away from being awarded a PhD in Clinical Psychology.

But Justin won’t even be in the house because he’s in New York doing an internship. But, as he told me, “Anything you laugh at, I wrote.”

That’s the beauty of TCT. Members of the troupe might not even be in a performance, yet his or her contributions will. Justin says, “It’s how the writing process works for us. One person will write a sketch, everyone else will edit it, both in writing and in rehearsals, and in the end it changes into something else.”

With their demanding “day job”schedules and geographic challenges I wondered how they each have time to collaborate in TCT.  Charles says, “Some of it is the opportunity to chip in and shoulder the burden of work adopted more frequently by a group of people I love.  Oftentimes I collaborate in sound design for shows in which I’m not performing, because that work can be done from anywhere in the world.”

Charles continued, “Sometimes there’s even engagement in real time: Nic once found himself in a bind; he needed to procure some props last minute – on opening night – but he didn’t want to abandon his office phone and the ability to take reservations for a show TCT was doing locally.  So I said forward the calls to me and I’ll take reservations for you so that you can do what you need to do.  So on a Friday night in 2008, I took phone reservations for a show in Highland Park from my apartment office in Worcester, Massachusetts.”

But who knew doctors were so passionate about being so painfully funny?

Matt says, “Our backgrounds pretty much cover the entire spectrum of health and wellness, but our shared love of comedy brings them all together . . . or not, but it’s nice to envision. I think the comedy we do provides a sort of balance to our respective work areas. Yes, our costumes on stage are often ridiculous, and our characters rarely “normal,” but what better environment to embrace those opportunities than a medium where normalcy is, if anything, the exception?”

Matt continues, “The potential for earning greater and greater awards for our brand of comedy and performance has always been appealing, but nowhere near as strong a driver in what we do compared to the sheer enjoyment of it. We’re in it for the experience, the way it adds something immeasurable to our lives and makes each day feel fuller. There is nothing quite like it, and that is certainly its own reward.”

I ask Daphne, “What’s the deal with all the doctors?” She says, “I don’t know directly but I can say that beyond our collective intelligence there is something incredibly healing about laughter; no matter how cliché that may sound. In my work as a physical therapist this was a critical element in allowing people to keep their motivation and to know that they were capable of accomplishing their goals even in the face of sometimes very painful conditions. And there is possibly no better experience than laughing-crying. I have witnessed several people having this experience over the years.”

I ask her what keeps the group together. Daphne says, “While the group has had different performers come in and out when needed and as available, we never seem to lose a core connection that we have with each other which is clearly grounded in our love of comedy and our desire to create the best shows possible.”

So, I ask Charles, “What’s up with all these doctors?” He answers, “TCT has ensnared a wide range of healthcare practitioners in its admittedly lengthy tendrils because so many of us, both within TCT and without, yearn for a degree of balance in our lives.  On the balance, healthcare practitioners that belong in their field have a tendency toward being serious about what they do for a living; patient’s demand and deserve care from someone who is passionate about what she or he does.  I do agree, though, that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, and TCT is but one of the outlets its group members use to channel their creative energy.”

I ask him, ”What is it about TCT that compels you to travel from Massachusetts to perform with the group, as well as Montreal and LA?”

“Schedule and resources permitting, and a love of travel aside, there’s just nothing quite like performing for an appreciative audience (or, for different reasons, an unappreciative one too).  From my perspective as a performer, the audience is such an interesting, unique entity.  As I actively engage in the art form on stage, hopefully successfully a microcosm of reality to which my fellow humans might relate, this group of individuals in front of me delivers a collective energy in the form of laughs, gasps, and even silent reaction to the spectacle before it.”

“In my mind, the group seemingly melts into an amorphous, single mass – the audience – that’s every bit as complex a conversational partner as the individual people who comprise it.  And yet at the same time I can, at any moment in a planned or spontaneous manner, begin to interact with an individual member or a small group within this larger entity while the larger whole remains intact and responsive just as before.  I’m no doubt describing a process that many performers experience routinely and consider as natural and perhaps easy to forget as breathing.  But for those who have never performed or attained a level of comfort with it that allows for reflection, it’s worth describing here; it’s a phenomenon that’s quite remarkable.”

Meg Grunewald, who is performing with TCT Saturday night, is also a member of the all-female comedy sketch group “Just the Tip” along with Jessica Antes, Bess Boswell, and Julia Lippert.

Meg became friends with the cast members of TCT because they realized, as they sat with each other to see Sktechfest every year, that they actually enjoyed each others’ company. They decided they didn’t  like just being “camp friends” who only saw each other once a year, so they decided to hang out and become “show buddies.” Meg subbed for one of TCT’s actors one year and ended up going with the troupe to New York for a competition.

She says her group is more loosy-goosy, whereas TCT is meticulous when it comes to making every part of every scene as funny as it can possibly be. “Watching them edit their script is something to be seen,” she says. Sometimes she will bring a fresh idea into the mix, which is always appreciated.

Meg feels honored to be able to help TCT pay homage to their friend, Elana Ernst Silverstein, who passed away this past December, by reprising one of her roles. “By doing this character it’s like she’s still in the show.”

While gathering research for this blog post, two things stood out about the cast members of The Comic Thread (TCT): 1) They respect each other and can’t say enough nice things about one another, and 2) They all worship Nicolas DeGrazia. According to each and every person I contacted, without Nic’s energy, focus, and sheer will to make things happen, TCT would not be onstage Saturday night at the 12^th Annual Chicago Sketchfest at Stage 773, on Belmont in Chicago.

Each member of the troupe e mailed or called me with answers to questions I had e mailed, so they weren’t all sitting in the same room together answering my questions and being kind in front of each other; but it was as if they were all sitting in the same room together answering my questions and being kind in front of each other. It’s clear that these people would do anything for each other, except maybe for Justin Birnholz. He’s known as the arch-nemesis of the group, but I can tell he’s a softy at heart.

Like the other cast members of The Comic Thread, Nic has a day-job as Creative Director and co-owner of Bitter Jester Creative, Inc., the Emmy Award-winning digital cinema company. However, he manages to make TCT happen each year because, as he says, “I can’t not do this. I feel fortunate to work with such great friends and talent.” As Nic told Matt Birnholz in high school, “We’ll be getting Oscars someday.”

Matt says, “A solid comedy troupe needs a champion to keep us moving forward. As someone whose work in film and television complements the aspirations of a comedy group directly, there is no question that Nic has been responsible for much of The Comic Thread’s rapid growth and recognition over the past several years. He’s taken us from a ‘summers when we’re all free’ group in the schooling days to a widely known, cross-country seasoned, year-round presence on the professional comedy scene. That is a remarkable achievement. Could any one of us have taken The Comic Thread to our current level? Perhaps, but not without Nic’s help, and certainly not anywhere near as effectively. He is a networking and marketing machine, a savvy acting and tech director, a focal point for all festival and media communications, and a creative genius to boot. We owe a LOT of our success to his tireless work on the group’s behalf.”

“Nic is a great judge of potential, and we all do believe that there’s no cap to what we can accomplish here with enough practice and refinement of our signature style. This is a skill-driven profession, and the more we experience, the more we can draw from to enhance those skills. In this respect, I share Nic’s view that the sky’s the limit for us. Further, in fact. We intend to kick the sky’s ass.”

I ask Charles how the work has evolved over the past 20 years. He says, “Creativity and energy have not changed, but our work is informed by additional life experience to which a hopefully increasingly large age group in our audiences and peers can relate.  And in a related fashion, we set higher standards for ourselves than ever before.”

Nic had told me that Charles used to dry heave from stage fright, so I ask him if he still does. “I have overcome it in much the same way as we are able to condition our bodies to overcome severe, allergic reactions: repeated exposure.  I had seen performance for years – I had been a fan of televised comedy shows from late childhood and was a member of stage crew in high school.  All the while I thought, I can do that (although no one said well).  So when the opportunity arose to participate in a children’s production of Alice in Wonderland at the Attic Playhouse with many of the same people who were starting Super-Natty* in the summer of 1998, I took it.”

“It’s funny, it’s all about repeated exposure and the commitment to see that through.  The mind’s a powerful thing; I’ve gone from being the boy who dry heaved to only one in the group whose ever done nudity.”

As impressive as that sounds, Nicolas says. “The Comic Thread wouldn’t be anything without Ben. (He) still brainstorms with us, but more important, we have been performing re-writes of his original material at ALL of our traveling festivals. His work has garnered us much positive critical acclaim and has even helped us to win several awards.”

Ben, who lives in L.A. and produces music videos, is currently working on a documentary/dance film. He says, “Like Nic said, my material still gets performed, and I try to brainstorm when I can. It’s tough though. Comedy is so so so so so hard. I think jokes come to comedians like melodies come to musicians, through some inspired lighting strike osmosis.”

Ben continues, “I don’t consider myself witty, though I’d love to think so.” He credits Woody Allen, Whit Stillman, and Armando Ianucci as his favorite humorists, but says, “My comedy (when I did comedy) was much broader, much more influenced by major 90’s comedy forces; SNL, Mr. Show, The State, and even (I dare say) people like Jim Carrey and Adam Sandler.” He says at the time he thought he was being like Monty Python or Andy Kaufman, but confesses, “but the end result was probably something more pandering and, like, ‘wakka-wakka’-funny, you know?”

I ask Ben, “What the heck is Super-Natty?” He says, ” The term Super-Natty is from a Tricky song called ‘Brand New, You’re Retro.’ I always liked the name Super-Natty. Perfect for a sketch troupe actually. Like, it’s sort of nonsense that at the same time sounds like a pre-existing cultural term.”

I tell Justin that Nic calls him the arch-nemesis of the group.  “Ah, the arch-nemesis thing. I’m not sure entirely when or where that started between me and Nic, but I do know why: as the group’s resident supervillain, I have a reputation of nemesising to uphold. That and the frequent use of doomsday devices IF MY DEMANDS ARE NOT MET.”

‘The Cosmic Threat’, as I believe they’re called, is a Heck of a troupe, I think. They’re all, like, funny, and stuff. And sometimes they do my stuff! I haven’t written anything for them in a year or two, sadly, but that’s more because of my crazy-ass schedule than anything else. Getting a phony doctorate takes some work and time, it turns out. I was shocked to learn that myself. But I write little funny things down when I can, and sometimes they turn into scripts and sometimes they turn into songs and sometimes, if they’re really short, they turn into texts or Facebook status updates. But comedy is important to me, and I hope I can get back into the swing of writing sketches again soon.”

“But anyway, don’t let that mawkish sentimentality fool you: I’m a villain first and a writer second, and I am actively working to destroy TCT both from within and without. And, according to my writing, apparently trying to feminize and gay up the troupe as much as possible, since my scripts *always* have female leads and tend to include gender/sexuality as main concepts. I’m into that. And it has lead to all three of ‘The Karmic Thread’s’ same-sex kisses on stage (off stage, I am not responsible for). I take great pride in that.”

You could say these doctors have no borders.

Chicago Sketchfest runs from Thursday to Sunday January 3rd-6th and January 10th-13th at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont, Chicago, 773/327-5252. Nic told me there are 4 stages with shows going on at the same time every hour, so it would be impossible to see every show.

But tonight at 6:00 PM is The Comic Thread’s night! And I can’t wait to be there to see what people on Facebook mean by comments such as, “Please don’t scare my girlfriend!”

* Super-Natty was the group’s name until it morphed into The Comic Thread.

1/23/13  This is an edited version of the original post.

Re-meeting Nicolas DeGrazia

I am a total and complete nervous wreck; and not just in my usual every-day-total-lack-of-self-confidence way. I am about to interview THE Nicolas DeGrazia, Creative Director and co-owner of Bitter Jester Creative, Inc., the Emmy Award-winning digital cinema company. Nic is also the producer and director, and one of the writers and actors of The Comic Thread (TCT), the sketch comedy troupe that won the first-ever Audience Choice Award at the 2012 Chicago Fringe Festival this past September.

I’ve met Nic before. We sat at the same table at an awards dinner about 7 years ago thrown by the Highland Park Chamber of Commerce to honor high school students who exhibited exceptional leadership skills. My daughter Veronica was being honored that night, and Nic and his business partner Dan Kullmanwere videotaping the event. They could not have been nicer when we met them. I know I have nothing to fear, and yet I can’t seem to calm down.

Until my sister Beth called. Usually Beth needs ME to calm HER down, but before she even had a chance to finish saying “Hello,” I jumped through the phone and said, “Oh, my God! You have GOT to help me! I am leaving soon to interview Nicolas DeGrazia, you remember him from the dinner we were at when Veronica received an honor, right?” Not waiting for an answer I continued, “He and I became Facebook friends through a mutual friend and when he saw I was a blogger he asked me to write a blog review of his show ‘The Comic Thread’ sketch comedy this Saturday that we’re going to. He told me to call the theater and ask for a press pass. Me? A press pass? What was I thinking when I agreed to do this? I thought it would be fun. It will be fun! I have nothing to fear, except what I’m going to wear that night? Wait! What am I going to wear today when I re-meet him?”

While I inhaled, Beth took the opportunity to say, “He’s just a person. He poops, too.”

For some reason, the common denominator of pooping really calmed my gut. “You’re right,” I said, as if I hadn’t thought of that, which I hadn’t.

“Even the Queen of England poops,” Beth said.

“I feel much better. Thank you,” I said calmly. “I have to get dressed, now.”

“Okay,” she said. “I’ll talk to you later. You can do this.” What a great much-much-much older sister I have.

Beth was right. Why should I be nervous? I’m not the one going onstage! I’m just writing about it. Hey, I can do that. That’s what I do every day. I write about life, usually mine, and other things I find humorous. I should be able to do this. I shouldn’t be Barney Fife-ing all over the place. But I am. My stomach is in Knotts.

I am almost 52 years old. Well, I will be 52 on Monday. And here I am shaking in my boots. Or should I wear clogs? Or my way-cool Asics running shoes? I want to look professional, but laid-back and casual, and I definitely don’t want to wear anything too matchy-matchy or cutesy-cutesy. So, I decide on jeans, a black Eileen Fisher sweater, black riding boots, my favorite long silver earrings that would look better on me if I had a much longer neck, and blue pinstripe panties for a smidge of professionalism, even if I was the only one who knew I was wearing them.

As I drove the 2 minutes from my house to the Bitter Jester headquarters, all I could think was, “What’s my motivation?”

Nic was adorable and relaxed, acting as if he didn’t have a show to produce in a couple of days and had all the time in the world to chat. He spent 2 ½ hours talking to me. I had no trouble thinking up questions to ask and he answered them all. He also gave me all of the background scoop on the birth of TCT, and invited me to come to as many shows that would be performed by other troupes as I could. He also gave me the names, phone numbers, and e mail address of the other players. I had worried over nothing.

Nic and his friends Matt Birnholz, and Charles Turck began writing and performing sketch comedy in 7^th grade which led to a cable TV show that aired through Post-Newsweek Cable in Highland Park in the mid-90’s. Nic was then asked to join the cast of the brand-new skit comedy and improv troupe Super-Natty. Super-Natty performed in the summers for late-night packed houses, first at the former Attic Playhouse in Highwood, IL in 1998, and then at the former Apple Tree Theatre in Highland Park, IL  in 1999 and 2000. Matt and Charles became Super-Natty cast members in 1999.

Eventually Super-Natty morphed into The Comic Thread, co-founded by Nic and Charles along with  Mark Sheahen ( a Super-Natty crew member) and Ben Shearn (a Super-Natty cast member, writer, and co-director). Many other cast members and writers of Super-Natty joined them and they have been doing shows on and off in their free time since 2001. Beginning in early 2010, TCT has enjoyed  touring the country and Canada, performing at festivals and winning awards. Today, TCT can proudly say that it is one of the longest-running sketch comedy troupes in Chicago, and quite possibly, the United States.

I haven’t seen TCT perform yet, so I can’t wait until Saturday to watch the magic happen onstage. I don’t know what to expect, but from what I’ve read and heard about TCT, I have a feeling I had better not drink liquids at all that day, and try to pee before the show so I don’t wet my pants.

And while I don’t know exactly what TCT is, I do, however, know what TCT is not:

TCT is not a group of professional actors, per se. In fact, Matt Birnholz, Charles Turck, and Daphne Scott* are all doctors. Justin Birnholz (Matt’s brother and a former Super-Natty/TCT cast member and current TCT writer) is a DIT (doctor-in-training). Ben Shearn is a writer’s assistant living in L.A. and is not, never was and never will be a doctor. Nurse Nic DeGrazia, who is not a real nurse, is the Creative Director of Bitter Jester Creative (BJC) and told me that Meg Grunewald,** who is “on loan” to TCT from her own all-female Chicago-based comedy sketch troupe “Just the Tip” (is that not the best name you’ve ever heard of for a sketch comedy troupe, or even a restaurant?), is not a nurse or a doctor either, but could totally play one on TV.

None of the core TCT members has been trained. I assume they’re potty/and/or paper-trained, but not trained as actors. Charles, Matt, Mark, Justin, Nic, and his Bitter Jester business partner Daniel Kullman (also a TCT writer) have never been members of Second City or any of the Improv Olympics, or Comedy Sportz, the main staples of the Chicago comedy training scene. As Nic says, “We’re just people who are good at sketch comedy and have honed our craft independent of the ‘mainstream’ of this not-main-stream activity.” I’m not sure I totally get that last quote, but Nic is much more cerebral and funny than I, so I’m going with it.

But, I don’t just  have to “go with it” because Nic (in a nasty little nurse outfit) came to me in a dream last night and with a booming voice said, “Leslie, you should clarify that last paragraph. Tell your reader(s) that basically EVERYONE in the Chicago comedy world does Second City, Improv Olympics, ComedySportz, or a combination of any or all of them. Sketch comedy itself is not really main stream, even in Chicago. So, to be as increasingly successful, as we have been becoming, having avoided that mentality of, ‘Well, if you want to do sketch comedy you have to get trained where everyone gets trained’ means that we’re on the fringe of the fringe itself, in a way.” Then he took his stethoscope and fishnet stockings and vanished.

TCT also doesn’t have a set group of writers and performers. They rotate their cast members and writers, based on who is available and who can travel to festivals to perform at any given time.

The ONE NIGHT ONLY Comic Thread show is this Saturday, January 5^th, 2013 at 6 PM at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont, Chicago.  Call 773/327-5252 for tickets, or get tickets online at: http://bit.ly/TCTSketchfest2013

A few things you should know about TCT:

SNL’s Garrett Morris called TCT “Brilliant”.

The troupe has performed for 14 years in 11 cities, and has sold out its past 3 consecutive appearances at Chicago Sketchfest, and it looks like this Saturday’s performance will continue the trend.

This past August the Shepherd-Express newspaper in Milwaukee referred to TCT’s performance in Milwaukee as the best thing to hit Wisconsin since cheese! Well, no, I said that. What the newspaper really said was, “The most interesting sketch comedy came from Chicago’s The Comic Thread. Even in independent theater, truly surreal and experimental work rarely makes it to the stage. Drawing on the comedy of the unexpected, their work can capture an audience with little more than a chocolate truffle. At one point, they thrust a random audience member into the spotlight and had her perform for a few minutes. None of the group members were onstage and yet they were in total control. Now that’s brilliant sketch comedy.”

www.chicagostagereview.com listed TCT’s upcoming performance at the 2013 Chicago Comedy Sketch Festival as an “Opening of Interest.”

For photos, please click the following link:

http://www.facebook.com/ComicThread/photos

*Daphne Scott received training through the Second City program.

**Meg Grunewald has spent a great deal of time working with the Improv Olympics.

Next blog post:

Interviews with the cast of The Comic Thread.