During the past year, comedians were forced, like so many others, to get creative.
Dave Helem, producer and host of the Dope Comedy Summer Series, had a wrench thrown into a major career milestone and had to quickly adjust—instead of filming a traditional stand-up special as planned, his first hour-long special, DJ The Chicago Kid, was filmed at a drive-in outside the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.
A Dope Comedy Summer Series
Fri 7/23-Sat 7/24, 9 PM; Sun 7/25, 8 PM, North Bar, 1637 W. North, liveatnorthbar.com, $30 for weekend pass, $15 per show.
Yard Party
Wednesdays, 9 PM, Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia, hideoutchicago.com, $10.
Gimme the Light
For more information about upcoming shows in Chicago and New York check out @gimmethelightcomedy on Instagram.
A fear when returning to these shows as an audience member is an onslaught of pandemic jokes, already cliched punchlines about baking bread or working from home. Worse yet, a fear that some things would have stayed exactly the same, with certain comics still telling sexist, racist, homophobic, fatphobic jokes as if nothing had happened. What has come to fruition instead is insightful sets about the nuances of being stuck inside and a newfound support of jokes tackling important issues.
“I think that it’s just so powerful, that when people come to our shows, if you’re an Indian American person, you’re able to come and not only see a Black person tell jokes, but you’re also able to come and vibe with them and be reminded of damn, we share so much together instead of being of course in this segregated city, being in your segregated pocket, and judging from the outside, but you’re able to come together,party, laugh and eat together,” Thomas says. “That right there is grassroots organizing.”
