We look forward to the TBS Just for Laughs Festival every year to get a week long dose of great comedy from dynamite Chicago locals and some of the best headliners in the business.
So when it was cancelled this year, we figured it might be nice to catch the one group of TBS comics on tour from the critically bashed TV show Sullivan and Son, where the whole gang was performing at Improv in Schaumburg. Atwww.BuzzNews.netwe are always hoping to show our support and possibly feature individual comics who might be talented but underutilized on their current project.
Unfortunately, it was a huge waste of a night. The entire set was nearly identical to last year’s Park West set at The TBS Festival. Right down to the closing "skit" where a female audience member gets a lap dance from the comics and some hapless audience members. Come on guys, how many huge and potentially comedic topical events have occurred in the last year? Yet, not one of you had written anything new, not one.
The normally smooth, funny and pleasant Steve Byrne had some awful aggressive rant in his material about his wife. Roy Woody Jr. went on and on about getting a "blowjob from a woman in a Walgreens' parking lot" until even his fellow cast members onstage were telling him to move on. Ahmed Ahmed gave his little bit of covert sexism to the night by apparently stealing one of John Leguizamo's funny transvestite voices AGAIN to portray women in his life who refuse to pick up the check.
Owen Benjamin, whom I can only describe as the "Master of Mediocrity" was so completely forgettable and bland that I couldn't roll my eyes hard enough to express the "blech" feeling his tired routine was causing. Benjamin proudly calls his vanilla brand of comedy "broad". Bill Cosby was broad, the late great Robin Williams was "broad", and unfortunately Owen Benjamin's comedy is just plain "shallow".
I feel sorry for the actually talented women on the TV show, including wonderful, adorable Christine Ebersole, Vivian Bang and tartly funny Jodi Long.
If you are one of the few beer guzzling, simple minded fans of this show, which tries but fails miserably to recapture ANY of the warmth and edginess of 'Cheers" and "All in the Family", I still recommend that you not take the time or spend the money to see these guys live.
Porchlight Music Theatre is proud to announce the return of its free summer concert series Broadway in your Backyard, now in its…
Despite the fact that I have never read the Newberry Award-Winning children’s book called Last Stop on Market Street, I…
I’m amazed that it’s been 18 years or so since I first saw a Hell in a Handbag production. Though…
“Together we created this nothingness,” says Audrey Francis in Steppenwolf’s production of Larissa Fasthorse’s ‘The Thanksgiving Play’. Hot off its…
Bramble Theatre Company, is proud to announce the third annual Festival of Unfinished Work at the new Bramble Arts Loft located on the second…
Broadway In Chicago is excited to announce that individual tickets for the world premiere of the first ever touring production…
Chicago Shakespeare Theater presents The Enigmatist, an immersive and captivating experience of illusions, puzzles, and cryptology, written and performed by renowned magician…
Steep Theatre will be back on stage in 2024 with two new productions that continue the company's tradition of bringing…
In 1940, the 25-year-old Orson Welles, previously known as a stage and radio actor, had achieved widespread fame for his…
Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre's 2024 season of four productions will open with the original musical 1619: THE JOURNEY OF A PEOPLE by Chicago writer…
Growing up our radio dial was tuned to one channel, K-Earth 101. In Southern California that station was the oldies,…
Crowds will flock to see “Judgment Day,” having its world premiere at Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier. While many…
In "Panther in the Sky," playwright Lani T. Montreal masterfully weaves a tapestry of grief, resilience, and redemption through the…
A collaboration of Chicago dance and Germany lighting sculpture live on stage About the Program: This program, set within an…
Broadway In Chicago is excited to announce the pre-Broadway World Premiere of DEATH BECOMES HER is now playing at the Cadillac Palace Theatre…
Blue in the Right Way audaciously chose for their inaugural production a 400-year-old play, WOMEN BEWARE WOMEN, written in 1621…
I think my favorite thing – well, one of my favorite things – about Wyatt Kent’s take on HAMLET is…
Frolicking season is upon us once again and Joffrey Ballet welcomes summer with the return of Alexander Ekman’s “Midsummer Night’s…
As the audience takes its seats we are greeted by an atmosphere of foreboding, a trestle bridge girder to the…
Director Chuck Smith returns to Goodman with another major August Wilson revival–“Joe Turner’s Come and Gone”. This is the second…
The Gift Theatre is pleased to announce its 2024-25 season featuring Suzan-Lori Parks' masterpiece Topdog/Underdog directed by Shanésia Davis and the world premiere of Cygnus by Susan Soon He…
Broadway In Chicago is excited to announce that individual tickets for the world premiere of the first ever touring production…
Full cast and crew have been announced for BrightSide Theatre's upcoming production of JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, the rock opera that…
Chicago Opera Theater (COT), Chicago’s foremost producer of new and reimagined opera, closes its 50th Anniversary season presenting the final performances of…
Tim Rhoze, Artistic Director of Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre, has announced the company's 2024 season of four productions. The season will open with…
David Williamson, regarded as one of the top magicians in the world today, makes his Rhapsody Theater debut with Ridiculous! Known for his tours…
Curious Theatre Branch is pleased to announce the 35th annual Rhinoceros Theater Festival, May 25 - June 30 at six venues across Chicago. The…
It’s often said that in the workplace you should refrain from talking about politics and religion; too personal, too easy…
BALLET 5:8 is a female - and minority-led ballet company resident at Harris Theatre in Millenium Park. Under the leadership…
When life’s chaos is full of impossible choices, how are we possibly meant to move forward? Brooklyn Laundry is about…
Does your theatre company want to connect with Buzz Center Stage or would you like to reach out and say "hello"? Message us through facebook or shoot us an email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
*This disclaimer informs readers that the views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to Buzz Center Stage. Buzz Center Stage is a non-profit, volunteer-based platform that enables, and encourages, staff members to post their own honest thoughts on a particular production.