“I got my sense of humor from my mother,” famed funny lady Carol Burnett once said. “I’d tell her my tragedies. She’d make me laugh. She said comedy is tragedy plus time.” Actually, it was legendary wit Mark Twain who said, “Humor is tragedy plus time.” Regardless of the credit, it’s time to enjoy a host of comedic shows across Chicago and the nearby burbs.
Rachel Bloom, the co-creator and star of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2015-2019) brings her off-Broadway hit Death, Let Me Do My Show to Chicago. The actress, comedian, producer, singer, songwriter, author and mental health activist will perform her one-woman act in Steppenwolf’s Downstairs Theater (Aug. 14-24).
Steppenwolf Theatre is also the place to be for the Chicago Musical Theatre Festival (Aug. 8-11). Presented as part of its LookOut series, the Kokandy Productions lineup features five new musicals including the comedy Wanderlust directed by Becca Holloway.
Brittani Yawn, Claudia Martinez, Leila Gorstein and Meghan Babbe are among the comical cast members in the sketch show Oh, The Places You’ll Glow! currently performing at The Second City’s e.t.c. Theater in Chicago, while Kristen Toomey, founder of the all-female collective Hoo HA Comedy, brings her stand-up act to the Laugh Factory (Aug. 30-31) as Improv Comedy Club prepares its Schaumburg stage for comedian, actress and writer Adele Givens (Sep. 13-15).
Stand-up comedian, author, actress, and panelist on NPR’s quiz show Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me Paula Poundstone comes to the McAninch Arts Center in Glen Ellyn (Sept. 14) where Buffalo Theatre Ensemble presents its political sendup The Outsider (Sept. 5-Oct. 6).
In Glenview, director Christina Ramirez will tackle the humorous outcomes of blind dating via the musical comedy First Date at Oil Lamp Theater (Sep. 5-Nov. 3). With book by Austin Winsberg and music and lyrics by Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner, the production includes musical direction by Kyra Leigh.
The adult-themed musical comedy The Full Monty (Aug. 21-Oct. 6) comes to the Paramount Theatre which also is staging the family friendly Peter and the Starcatcher (through Sep. 1) at the Copley Theatre in Aurora. This whimsical prequel to “Peter Pan” (1904) features songs, humor, and pirates. “Imagine, for a moment, that anything is possible,” pose the play’s director Nate Cohen and choreographer Binal Lital Schatsky. “Imagine humans speaking to birds, pirates making a comeback and real, live mermaids. Now imagine that each and every one of us is born knowing how to fly. While most of us grew up, moved on, and forgot, this play returns us to the lost art of childhood and reminds us of what we’ve forgotten: that anyone, with the right dose of conviction, can remember how to fly.”