The Art of Local Comedy at the Lakeshore -- Prescott Tolk

Tonight and tomorrow night are the first in the Lakeshore Theater series, "The Art of Local Comedy." The theater will be hosting headliner sets for five Chicago stand-up comics over the next six months, kicking off this weekend with hometown hero, Prescott Tolk. A staunch proponent of staying in Chicago, Tolk has been entertaining throughout the country for years and has even roped in that seemingly elusive TV cred, all from the cozy confines of the Heart of America. We got to chat with Prescott a bit on his decision to stay in Chicago, and some memorable gig experiences:

"I just love Chicago. I appreciate the diversity of comedic styles the scene offers, and I am a fan of the rent-to-square-footage ratio. I just formed an improv group (JJ Dart), and I have some webisodes in the works. It seems relatively easy for me to dip my feet into new projects because I know everybody, and they are comfortable with my feet.

"For the past several years, I have managed to headline a lot of fun clubs in the Midwest. This past summer I headlined Cap City Comedy Club in Austin, Texas, which was awesome. I usually do one or two club dates a month and a couple of college dates. I purposely split up my time between the showcase rooms in Chicago and these road gigs because I like being able to play to both crowds, which are often very different. I also got a chance to open for some really big names recently: Dave Attell and Todd Barry. I mention these two guys in any conversation about my favorites, so it was great to work with them."

See him TONIGHT and TOMORROW, 7:30PM, $15, Lakeshore Theater, Chicago. Opening for Tolk will be Chicago comic Marty DeRosa and visiting Australian comic, Nick Sun.

--Kristy Mangel