Written by: Joseph Santiago

If you’ve ever lived in or been to the Midwest, you’ve heard of the concept of the “Midwestern work ethic,” that hard work and perseverance will pay off in the long run.

There is a quiet humility that underscores the creativity that is breeding within Midwestern comedy.

On a Monday night in Chicago on Irving Park road, one of the seemingly thousands of open mics in the city, a small theater is filled with a laundry list of comedians outnumbering a Duggar family reunion. With notebooks and backpacks, its looks more like students attending seminar than comics ready to try out new material. The Hornet’s Nest Open Mic, a newer mic running late in Irving park mic is hosted by Josh Ejnes and John Eide. A few doors down a showcase is done and another open mic is starting at the High Hat, one of the comedians Sean White has finished his showcase performance and he is already heading over to do another mic at the Hornet’s Nest. read more

Written by: Chris Hamilton

Shout out to everyone who didn’t post “#AllCitiesMatter.” Congratulations for taking the high road! For the past few days social media has been going crazy with terrorist attacks overseas and police brutality in America, which both have yet to be resolved. Just in case you don’t know what happened in the past few days, ISIS attacked a few cities one of which was Paris. In response to ISIS’ attack in Paris, France sent out their French jets and bombed Syria, one of ISIS’ main headquarters. After hearing about the attack a number of proud Americans praised France for their actions all over social media but here’s the thing that I’m confused about, a lot of those people praising the French Jets for bombing ISIS are the exact same people who would say #AllLivesMatter. If you’re confused by the connection, I’ll try my best to explain. For some time now unarmed African Americans have been gunned down by police on and off camera which resulted in the black community creating the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter but, in a record time, another group of people created a hashtag to rebuke black lives matter. Some supporters of the police department or just anti-BlackLivesMatter introduced a new hashtag #AllLivesMatter. Now, what’s confusing is that those who use All Lives Matter in a response to say no life is more valuable than any other and have been telling the Black Lives Matter Community “All lives matter” and every life is precious, were the same people to quickly celebrate France’s attack on Syria. It’s as hypocritical as when republicans are pro-life but insist we go to war all the time. read more

Written by Gary Miller

After a tragedy there is a sense that laughter cannot come back. There is a sense that laughter is dead, Mark Twain famously quipped that, “humor is tragedy plus time.” An interesting bit of cultural study on the subject of humor can be found in the German cinema as of late.

Who says Germans don’t have a sense of humor?

“Germans should be able to laugh at Hitler, rather than viewing him as a monster, because that relieves him of responsibility for his deeds and diverts attention from his guilt for the Holocaust,” director David Wnendt told The Guardian. “But it should be the type of laugh that catches in your throat and you’re almost ashamed when you realise what you’re doing.” read more

Written by: Joseph Santiago

The New York Comedy Festival Continues with another great Friday Lineup November 13, 2015.

Kill Me Now With Judy Gold

Featuring Lauren Hennesey, Lynne Kopolitz & Steven Schirrpa

Fri 11/13 4:00pmCarolines On Broadway

Harmontown

Fri 11/13 7:00pmThe Gramercy Theatre

Joel Creasey Live

Fri 11/13 7:00pmLaurie Beechman Theater

Week at the Creek: Bonnie McFarlane

Fri 11/13 7:00pmThe Creek and The Cave

Iliza Shlesinger

Fri 11/13 7:30pmNYU Skirball Center

Norm Macdonald

Fri 11/13 7:30pmCarolines On Broadway

Homeschooled: A Comedic Lecture Series

Fri 11/13 7:30pmUnion Hall

Best of UCBT Sketch

Fri 11/13 7:30pmUCB Theatre Chelsea

John Leguizamo in Conversation

Fri 11/13 8:00pm92nd Street Y read more

Written by: Joseph Santiago

Stand Up Comedian Amy Schumer had a show November 07 2015 in Maine show. She  recently apologized for her shortened stand up comedy show.  Schumer blames her inexperience with bigger venues and stated it was a “Rookie Mistake”

Schumer has grown into a huge stand up sensation in recent years. She recently started in Hollywood Blockbuster Trainwreck. The stand up comedian performed two sets in Portland at the Cross Insurance Area. The audience become upset after she only performed on the stage for 35 minutes before the opening act. read more

Written by Gary Miller

“There is a thin line that separates laughter and pain, comedy and tragedy, humor and hurt.”-Erma Bombeck

Chicago comedian Sean White has walked the line night in and night out, the erudite comedian has found ways to make audiences across the country laugh doing so, highly touted in the city of Chicago by other comedians and the press, he was voted as one of 16 comics to check out by Chicago Magazine. A skilled comedian with a unique voice, Sean had been doing comedy for five years when his sister died. Then a few months later, his mom died, and then a few months later, his brother died. Then a few months later, his other sister died. In the middle of that was when he got divorced. read more

Written by Gary Miller

Chris Hamilton is a New York based comic that is on the rise. Chris has found himself steadily working, always performing, whether it’s at comedy clubs like New York Comedy club, Broadway comedy club, Gotham comedy club, Stand up NY or bar shows in the New York area. Gifted with an outspoken personality, strong point of view, and a matching work ethic, Chris also finds the time to do a radio show for Brooklyn on BBOX Radio.

Chris worked in the media field before turning to comedy full time. In that time he has performed in the Hoboken comedy festival, laughing devil comedy festival,  ‘Ghandi is that you?’ ‘Commune comedy’, among others. read more

Written by: Joseph Santiago

Entertainment Editor, Best Comedy Tickets

Trevor Noah is currently one of the hardest working comedians in the stand up comedy world. He recently performed at the Dubai Comedy Festival in Sky Dive Dubai.

He recently took over the hot seat of former host Jon Stewart of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show. It’s a tough role to to handle as it’s a grueling schedule. He has to perform five nights per week. The South African comedian happens to maintain a very successful stand up career on the side, as he jet sets around the globe on the weekends to perform his stand up shows at these sold out comedy venues. We sat down and spoke with a well known source at the Dubai Comedy Festival. He said the talented 31 year old comedian just flew six hours before his schedule performance. read more

Written by: Joseph Santiago

The List has never included a single female comedian.

Year after year Forbes.com makes a list of the world’s highest paid stand up comedians. And although our love and devotion towards funny female comedians, the list never features a female comedian.

Jerry Seinfeld — current net worth an estimated $820 million in 2014 — He tops this 2015 highest paid comedian list, having earned $36 million between June 1, 2014 and June 1, 2015. Kevin Hart comes in second place with $28.5 million, followed by Terry Fator, who earned estimate $21.5 million. read more

Written by Melissa Mandulis

Laughter is the Best Medicine – Benefits of Comedy Shows

Comedy is a very important part of human life has it has infinite benefits. However, the benefits of comedy itself are not much as most of its benefits come from laughs that come with it. Since the most important element of comedy is laughter, the benefits of regular laughter cannot be separated from comedy. Comedy tickets always sell like hot cake because of the numerous importance of laughter.

While a few people believe that you can develop yourself to be a comedian, most people believe comedy is inborn. Comedians are born like that. Both beliefs are right as we have both categories of comedians making waves right now. The only difference is that comedians with natural talents do not usually prepare for any event as they can create humor out of every situation while comedians without natural talents prepare and even rehearse several times before they go for events. read more