The Apiary

Jamie Kaler and Mo Mandel | Photo by Heather M. Scholl

The new hot spot for comedy in Chicago, Red Bar Comedy Club , was home to the “LOL Lounge” Friday and Saturday nights. The sultry nightclub got a TBS.com-ready facelift, transforming into a bright television studio and welcoming “My Boys” television actor Jamie Kaler as host to the four showcases. Twenty up-and-coming comedians from all over the country performed over the span of four sold out shows, and some of those sets can now be seen on TBS.com (including recent YouTube viral star Dan Telfer ).

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A few words/bits/baubles from Chi-City, pals. (And if you are reading this and involved in a scene outside of CHI or NYC and are thinking to yourself, "Hey, there's cool things HERE too ya know, what's up?" Then please, PLEASE drop us a line! We're looking for ALL the bits AND the baubles, nationwide. Feature interviews, too. Stunning photos. Hilarious video shorts. What's your crew doing? Drop us a line!).

Lakeshore Theater Manager Chris Ritter with Doug Stanhope and Junior Stopka | Photo by Brian Jarreau, courtesy of the Lakeshore Theater

Early yesterday morning we saw that Doug Stanhope dropped a big ol' props via Facebook on one our local underground superstars, Junior Stopka , who opened for Stanhope in four shows at the Lakeshore Theater this past weekend. You can peep some photos from the show here and here .

Mick Betancourt 's got his hands on the new Web site Actually Funny , and tapped CHI comedian Ricky Carmona to submit the hilarious and inspiring blog, " Brad Pitt vs. Bootsie Collins ." As Ricky says, it will do you no harm! Check it out!

Photos from the inaugural Laughing Skull Comedy Festival have emerged , granting us a little voyeur access into this new comedy hot spot. Props to Michael Palascak , Prescott Tolk , and expat Jena Friedman , representing CHI in ATL.

Local comedy writer Steve Heisler has been slowly and surely making his way to national reporting, and a few days ago he unveiled his new monthly column for the A.V. Club, called Laugh Track , that seeks to "round up new and noteworthy stand-up, sketch, and online video, much of it courtesy of under-the-radar comedians with a little too much time on their hands." Suitably, it features many Chicago folks, both here in town and those that have flown away for the coasts.

And finally, we'll leave you with a new video by comedian Paul Thomas , featuring comedians Jet Eveleth and Dan Telfer , and directed by Chad Wilson .

Creep from Paul Thomas on Vimeo .

EDIT: We just received word that Seth Herzog will be performing at the cozy Gallery Cabaret this Saturday, March 13, 7 p.m., as part of the new showcase, The Two-Hour Comedy Hour. Fun!

-- Kristy Mangel

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