is bringing their comedy show to Manhattan's Saturday, August 7. Hannibal Buress , one of , and whose new album , will headline what is shaping up to be a balls-out Chicago-based stand-up show in the heart of New York.

The in Chicago has been selling out shows for the last seven months since its inception late last year, as well as being a featured venue in this past June's Just For Laughs Chicago Comedy Festival. They have since taken the show to Los Angeles, and now plan to defeat Manhattan.

sooner rather than later to see Chicago comedians Kyle Lane, Marty DeRosa, Drew Michael , and James Fritz , in addition to current New Yorkers Jared Logan ( Live at Gotham, Last Comic Standing ), David Angelo ( writer for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon ), and Buress. Stick around after the show to party with the comedians until 6 a.m.; brunch when the daylight seeps in optional.

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--The 13 ^th annual Chicago Improv Festival began yesterday, through April 25. On Wednesday, April 21, at 6:30 p.m., to Severn Darden, The Improvised Shakespeare Company, Susan Messing, Harold Ramis, and Dick Schaal , in a ceremony that will include a screening of short videos about each award winner, a raffle for thirty items based on the theme “30 Days in Chicago”, and a presentation of the awards by guest speakers from the world of improv and theater. The full festival and venue line-up can be found .

--Yesterday’s episode of contains possibly the best phone prank ever pulled off in the history of audio content, as authored by comedian Marty DeRosa and RBR host Mike David . You can download the episode (download free from the iTunes store to get the full episode); the prank really gets going at the 1:50:55 mark, and continues getting more amazing and more ridiculous for the next 38 minutes. Bets on if this will crack in the mainstream media? NSFW, guys.

--Congratulations go out to Cook County Social Club member and general sketch extraordinaire Tim Robinson on of his acceptance to Second City Mainstage !

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Kyle Lane and Mike David gear up for the big show. Photo courtesy of Mike David

Mike David is finally throwing the comedy show he wants to see, and thinks downtown Chicago needs to see.

After four years of seeing local stand-up comedy and inviting Chicago comedians to co-host on his popular and wonderfully giddy and crass Internet radio show , David, in partnership with comedian Kyle Lane , will be producing a new weekly stand-up show in downtown Chicago at the nightclub. David says, “ I have been going to comedy shows for the last four years and have done a lot of complaining. I never thought any of the shows in Chicago were up to Chicago standards. We’re the third largest city in the country, and we don’t have a world class comedy club…there’s no reason why we can’t have comedy clubs that pay comedians.”

David also has ideas about how to present comedians as entertainment to his downtown audience: “[We will book] three-person line-ups, ensuring that each comic gets their time on stage, to connect with an audience…give the comics a chance to make a name for themselves.”

The Red Bar Comedy Club is one of just a few rooms seeking to bring local stand-up comedy to downtown Chicago, populated at night by four-star hotel patrons, Northwestern University students, and Gold Coast condo owners*. “ The ultimate goal is to have this club become a Chicago staple for downtown. This is where you go when you visit Chicago for stand-up,” David says.

For the inaugural event, many members of David’s “Barmy”, the legion of devoted Red Bar radio show fans throughout the United States, have committed to spending the weekend in Chicago and attending the event – “We have over one hundred Red Bar fans flying in to see the first show,” David said.

The Red Bar Radio podcast can be found .

The first Red Bar Comedy Club show is TOMORROW, 8:30PM , and will feature local stand-up comics Dean Carlson, James Fritz , and Sean Flannery , with host Steve O. Harvey . The Ontourage nightclub is located at 157 W. Ontario, downtown Chicago. $10 admission, no drink minimum, 280 person capacity seating.

*Statement not in any way verified by a census; just personal observation.

-- Kristy Mangel