Walking down the stretch of North Milwaukee between Diversey and Fullerton is enough to give you whiplash. To your left, there’s a farmers’ market; to your right, a movie theater; to your left, an arcade; to your right, a giant mural; to your left and your right and your left and your right again, a craft cocktail bar—I’m getting dizzy just thinking about it.
The first time I actually walked through Comfort Station’s doors, it was daytime and I wasn’t going to or coming from a local watering hole. I was there for a show called Once in a Lifetime: three comedians presented their own MST3K-style commentaries on the Lindsay Lohan Lifetime vehicle Liz and Dick while the audience kicked back, laughed, and drank juice boxes. Unlike other casual comedy events held in bars or clubs, the little details of this one at the Comfort Station made it feel like being in someone’s home. Maybe a lot of planning went into setting up the projector and booking the comedians, etc, but the gathering felt like kismet, especially when the group organically made its way to the outside lawn, where a piñata was waiting. In that moment, a group of strangers became best friends, trying their darnedest to knock a papier-mache donkey’s lights out.
