Performance Revue Robert Littwin

In these outtakes from Amy Sumpter's episode, we discuss the duplicitous toilets of Manhattan, working a day job, dating as a comedian, and a lot more.
 
Timestamps:
01:00 – Dissecting Comedy at Open Mics
01:28 – “I love a good poop joke, but…”
01:58 – The Legend of Kyle Parris
Mentions of Doc Martins, Dad Jeans, Elbow Patches, ‘The Room’, Vaudeville 03:45 – Selling the Hell Out of a Dad Joke
04:38 – New York and L.A.
05:00 – The Toilets of New York
05:52 – Moving to Chicago to Wait Tables
07:38 – Reflect on Your Decade
08:19 – “If you want me, come and get me. You fly me out”
09:35 – No Shame in Having a Day Job
11:07 – I Do Not Run Las Locas Comedy (Janice Rodriguez Does)
Mentions of 2002, Frosted Tips, Anal Beads, Janice Rodriguez, Vanilla Ice 13:28 – Entitled White Women at Open Mics
14:36 – “Everyone feels this ownership of what is funny”
Mentions of George Carlin, Checking Your Privilege, Last Comic Standing 16:50 – Absorbing Positive Messages Before a Performance
17:54 – Rachel McCartney is a Genius
18:20 – Relatable Material?
20:40 – She’s Crafty
20:58 – “So, you’re famous, right?”
21:44 – Building Women Up
Mentions of The Kates, Public Speaking 23:00 – Wisdom vs. Age
Mentions of Non-Binary, Gender Norms, Feminism, Patriarchy 24:36 – The Weird Dating Cycle Redux
25:37 – Sex and Self-Respect
26:15 – You Deserve a Sexy, Famous Gentleman
Mentions of Jason Momoa, Idris Elba, #metoo, ‘Luther’, ‘Cats’, The Rocky Horror Picture Show 27:45 – I Spill Water on Myself
28:25 – Brittany Meyer’s ‘Cats’ Story
28:50 – A Kid Keeps Farting During ‘Beauty and the Beast’
29:38 – Gym Momentum
30:15 – Hair vs. No Hair
Mention of Winslow Dumaine 30:46 – Wait, You Found Love?
32:25 – I Don’t Want to be Objectified
33:00 – Tips for Going on a Date with a Comedian
33:40 – Kelsie Huff Kicks Ass
Mentions of Marilee, Laugh Factory, Robin Williams, St. Patrick’s Day, Zanies, Scott Duff 34:32 – “Scott Duff is magic”

Co-founder of The Kates on Broadway and acclaimed Chicago comedy vet Amy Sumpter goes over her amazing 2019 set at Strip Joker in this season 3 finale!
We discuss making space for women in stand-up (and in the world), the time her breast ended up in an old lady's mouth on the subway, and what not to do when your gynecologist shows up to a pelvic exam dressed as a pirate.
Timestamps:
01:00 – Set from Strip Joker
14:00 – “I come from a pretty funny family”
Mentions of 7th Grade, Mean Girls, High School, Medieval Times, Jewel Osco, Bennigan’s 16:35 – “I want to be the weirdo; I want to be the character actor”
Mentions of College, Chicago, Second City 17:45 – “…And that’s where I met Kelsie Huff”
Mentions of Kelsie Huff, The Kates, Bear (The Nephew), Columbia College, Second City Conservatory 18:55 – The Kates Origin Story
Mentions of Frankie J’s on Broadway, Methadone Clinics, One-Woman Shows, ‘Huffs’, Tragedy Plus Time, ‘Enough is Enough’ Webseries 21:40 – “Chicago is very small”
22:25 – “Whenever I have issues [with someone], it’s usually a white dude” (SPOILER ALERT)
22:55 – “I have been getting onstage since I was twelve”
23:21 – “Open mics just make me want to quit comedy”
24:37 – “Talk about what you know”
24:54 – “Don’t try to emulate your favorite comics”
Mentions of Eddie Murphy, Lilly Tomlin, Amy Schumer 25:30 – Bad Sitcom Writing vs. ‘The Office’
26:10 – Amy’s First Open Mic Story
Mentions of Chicago Trolley, Corona Beer, Withered Lady-Boners, Eric Estrada, ‘Chips’, The Comedy Hole of Shame 32:02 – Moving to Chicago vs. LA
32:42 – ‘The Kates’ Begins
Mentions of Female Representation, Edgewater, Kate The Great’s Book Emporium, The Book Cellar, Facebook, Feminism 35:11 – Getting into the Set
35:13 – The High Kick
Mentions of Cartwheels, Counseling, Therapy, Macho Man Randy Savage 36:57 – Underwear Covered in Pubic Hair
Mentions of Gen-X, Shaving, Litmus Test 37:54 – 3-Year Old Nephew, Bear, Trying to Swear
Mentions of Child Psychology, Teaching, Testing Limits 40:11 – The L-Cup and “You’re Welcome!”
Mentions of Strip Joker, Specialty Bras, Motifs, X-Treme Commercials, Body Positivity, Believe Women 43:40 – Midwestern Politeness
44:20 – The Subway Incident
Mentions of Rebirth, Mid-Life Crisis, Hindsight, Turkey Dogs 46:27 – Mom Is Taller Than Dad
48:30 – The Tom Green Digression
Mention of ‘The Tom Green Show’ Season 1, Episode 9: ‘Parent Statues’ Season 2, Episode 11: ‘Best of Special’ Mention of Drew Barrymore 50:20 – “I’m not a virgin and that’s sad”
Mentions of Pound Town, Self Esteem 52:11 – “Why do some people just get to live in Pound Town?”
Mentions of Hot Privilege, Serial Monogamy, Relationship Baggage, Chemistry 54:57 – The Gynocologist
Mentions of Halloween, Speculums, Tinder, Salvatore Dali, Empowered Vaginas 57:10 – Revealing The Pasty
59:58 – Reviewing the Set
1:01:21 – “I don’t necessarily believe in ‘suffer for your art’”
1:01:45 – Advice for Aspiring Comedians
1:03:18 – Where Can We Find You?
Podcast: ‘Shaped’ She’s Crafty: Chicago’s All-Female Beastie Boys Tribute Band The Kates @ The Book Cellar Upcoming Comedy Album 1:04:28 – Final Words
 

In these outtakes from Brittani Ferguson's episode, we discuss the queer coding within 80's and 90's action films, 'Little House on the Prairie', and, of course, the 'X-Files'.
Timestamps:
00:00 – “The Burbs”
00:48 – Del Close and Sharna
Mentions of Second City, Improv, Todd Barry, Steven Wright, Mu 02:18 – All 80’s and 90’s Action Films Were Softcore Gay Porn
Mentions of Tom Cruise, Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chuck Norris, Dolph Lundgren 03:16 – “I published an essay in college about all action films as gay romcoms”
04:32 – Telling Inside Jokes Onstage
04:56 – The Kyle Parris Story
Mentions of Jerry Seinfeld, Trigger Warning Open Mic 06:47 – “Generally people around the age of thirty just seem to be kind of sad”
07:08 – “Nobody got their porn from Tumblr”
07:38 – Little House on the Prairie
Mentions of Twitter, Doc Baker, Kevin Hagen, Charles Landon, Winger 09:36 – A Sexual Awakening to the X-Files
Mentions of Divorce, Halloween References to The X-Files Season 2, Episode 7: ‘3’ (1994) 12:50 – “What do you call fans of Gillian Anderson? Lesbians”
13:28 – What Happens in Florida Laundry Rooms

In the Before Times of Yore, comedian and cast member of The Lincoln Lodge, Brittani Ferguson stopped by to discuss her interesting set at Strip Joker.
We have a fascinating conversation about her military upbringing, reciting Mel Brooks films as a child, the context of the words "gay" and "queer," her childhood (and current) obsession with Gillian Anderson, and a lot more.
Timestamps:
01:00 – Opening Set @ Strip Joker
13:45 – ‘History of the World: Part I’
Mentions of Madeline Khan, Mel Brooks, Gregory Hines, Premature Ejaculation 16:33 – Moving to Chicago
17:10 – A Military Kid
Mentions of K-Pop, Abu Dhabi, Da Burbs 18:50 – Improv Classes at Second City
19:13 – “I wish you were a diversity candidate”
19:55 – “They will forgive any crime that anyone commits”
Mentions of Cults, Scientology, Del Close, iO, Sharna, Object Work 21:25 – “Stop playing”
21:55 – “You need to go do stand-up”
22:20 – Kelsie Huff and Fem Comique
Mentions of Alex Cumin, The Kates University, Robin Williams, The Laugh Factory 25:01 – “A lucky idiot”
Mentions of The Lincoln Lodge, Strip Joker, Bobby’s World 27:13 – Getting into the Set
Mentions of Le Aboav, Strip Joker, Sigmund Freud 28:32 – The Graveyard at Clark & Irving
Mentions of Murphy’s Irish Pub, Yelp, Bucktown, Uber, HP Lovecraft, The King In Yellow 31:33 – Gay vs. Queer
Mentions of LGBTQ, Safe Spaces, Homophobia 34:49 – ‘Top Gun’
The topic of homoeroticism in action films is addressed in the outtakes episode 35:26 – All Comics Are Recently Single
Mentions of April Fools Day, Valentine’s Day, Vitamin B12, Celiac Disease 39:17 – Gay Christmas
Mentions of Pride, Gay Pride Parade, ‘Will & Grace’ 40:29 – Hosting Your Own Straight Pride Parade
Mentions of Quentin Tarintino, Inside Jokes 41:16 – A 90’s Kid is a Sad Adult
Mentions of Tumblr, Adderall, Antidepressants, Millennials, iPads 43:32 – The Need to be Validated
43:47 – “I’ve already met all the people I want to meet”
Mentions of Introverts, Extroverts, The Kinsey Scale 45:10 – “I don’t know what a healthy, intimate relationship looks like”
Mentions of Therapy, Alcoholism, Negative Reinforcement 47:38 – Old-Timey Doctor
Mentions of Kristen Toomey, ‘Little House on the Prairie’, Doc, Plague Doctors, Morphine, Vibrators, Leeches, Country Clubs, Twitter 50:07 – Factory-Made Lesbian
Mentions of Bob Dylan, Lilith Fair, Christian Slater 51:13 – An Incredible Gillian Anderson Fetish
Mentions of ‘The X-Files’, Italy, ‘Friends’, ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’, ‘Seventh Heaven’, David Duchovny, Keanu Reeves, Coding, Katatonia, ‘Mulder and Scully’, ‘The Bad Touch’, The Bloodhound Gang 55:32 – “I would put on ‘The X-Files’ instead of music to f*ck a guy”
Mention of Masking 56:30 – The Cheerleader Circle Jerk
Mentions of Being Closeted, Male Cheerleaders, Gymnastics, Korea, ‘Bring It On’, Gillian Anderson 1:01:33 – Set Review
1:03:43 – Advice for Aspiring Comedians
1:05:33 – Where Can We Find You?
The Lincoln Lodge Instagram: @BJJFerguson 1:06:23 – Parting Words
 

In these outtakes from Spencer Blair's episode, we discuss the unceremonious closing of Uptown Underground, how he used to cheat audience members into the Chill As Fuck show at Second City, the time I learned about secondary sex mattresses, gay dating app etiquette, and more.
 
 

In the Before Times of Yore, podcaster/producer/comic Spencer Blair chats about his mostly-improvised hosting set at Strip Joker.
We discuss his improv background, how he got into hosting/producing shows all over Chicago, the internal dynamics of Strip Joker, and being terrifyingly confident onstage, all before we dive into the set.
Spencer can be found on the podcasts 'Desks & Dayjobs' as well as 'Please Make This', and is currently a co-producer of Strip Joker.
 
Timestamps:
 
01:00 – Hosting Set @ Strip Joker
Mentions of Martin Felshman, Rachel Relman, ‘A Dog’s Journey’, Lexipro 10:36 – “When did you realize comedy was a thing you could do?”
Mentions of Comedy Sportz, Imposter Syndrome 12:33 – “Maybe you should stop trying so hard”
Mentions of Scott Duff, Le Aboav 14:03 – The Funny Friend
15:05 – “I went to a small, Christian university”
Mentions of Orange County, Improv Groups; Improvcivable, Improv Shmimprov, Disney Cruises, The Walt Disney Corporation 17:30 – “Doing the Chicago thing”
Mentions of iO, Second City 18:41 – “I’ve never consistently mic’ed”
Mentions of Hobart Thompson, The Chill As Fuck Show, Droday, Dewayne Perkins, Michelle Wolfe, Brooklyn Nine-Nine 21:25 – Stand-Up vs. Improv
Mentions of The Improvised Shakespeare Company, Second City 23:10 –The Chill As Fuck Show and Strip Joker
Mentions of Brittany Meyer, Le Aboav, Strip Joker Deluxe, Scott Duff, Uptown Underground, That Dude Jeff, Sunny Grissom 27:57 – “The trick is being terrifyingly confident onstage”
29:09 – “The Scientific Method, but applied to humor”
Mentions of Samantha Berkman, Kink-Shaming 30:54 – Getting into the Set
30:55 – Ad Libs
31:22 – “Are you as horny as I am?”
Mentions of Body Positivity, Sex Positivity 32:10 – “I don’t write comedy down”
Mentions of Tad Walters, Kirkwood 34:00 – “Everybody’s gay dad”
34:58 – Seasonal Depression
Mentions of Lexapro, SSRI, Edging 38:29 – “A hot guy and his boyfriend”
40:37 – Coming Down from Lexapro
Mention of Grindr, Christmas 43:18 – Gay Dating Apps
44:00 – Crying at a Movie Poster
Mention of Johnny Rockets, ‘Homeward Bound’ 48:30 – Losing the Audience
50:10 – The Oppressor in the Safe Space
52:16 – “Two white guys unpacking it on a podcast”
Mention of Casey Larwood 521:54 – Self Awareness
53:23 – Spencer Shaved His Legs
54:27 – Wrapping It Up
57:25 – “I’m definitely more comfortable with queer comedy”
59:40 – Advice for Aspiring Comedians
1:00:25 – “The reason we do open mics is to see, meet, and network with people”
1:02:49 – Asshole with Great Jokes Cool Person with Mediocre Jokes
Mention of Marilee, Tina Fey, 30 Rock, Richard Pryor, ‘The Marvelous Ms. Maisel’ 1:05:25 – Where Can We Find You?
Podcast: ‘Please Make This’ Podcast: ‘Desks And Dayjobs’ Monthly Live Show: Strip Joker Grindr, Scruff, Growler: S.B. Hashtag: #thatloudbottom Twitter: @SpencerDBlair Instagram: @spencerdblair 1:08:14 – Final Words and Pandering