From the home office in Chicago, here are the Top Ten Reasons Why People Should Come Out and See The Caterpillars, a list provided by the musical comedy duo specializing in spoof-type tunes:
10. “We wear fake hair and glitter (sometimes).”
9. “Have you ever seen a caterpillar sing and tell jokes?” (No, but we have witnessed a few cockroaches make an attempt.)
8. “There’s a bar” in the Cue Club, where the ladies are performing on Sundays for the next few weeks.
7. “We have a different opening act each week.”
6. “We write and play all our own original material.”
5. “You get in for free!!” Whoops, that one should be under “Top Ten Reasons Why You as an Influential Writer/Reporter on Comedy Should Come Out and See The Caterpillars.”
4. “If you look at our photo, we’re nice girls.”
3. “We’re `Back in Black’ (or something that matches our shoes).”
2. “We play eggs and oatmeal (it’s something to see).”
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And the No. 1 Reason Why People Should Come Out and See The Caterpillars:
“If Bette Midler can get started in the bathhouses of New York, we can become stars in the back of a pool hall.”
Stacy Patinkin and Debra Downing make up the guitar-strumming, song-singing, comedy-making Caterpillars, who are working Sundays through Oct. 19 at the Cue Club, 2833 N. Sheffield Ave. For more information, call 773-477-3661.
Scott free
There was a surplus of superior talent at this summer’s Montreal International Comedy Festival, and among those talented performers was Scott Thompson, one of the stars of Canadian sketch comedy group Kids in the Hall.
Thompson, who is also a co-star of HBO’s excellent comedy series “The Larry Sanders Show,” gave audiences there a taste of a one-man show he has been working on. His piece surrounded a ribald, riveting monologue as Buddy Cole, an irreverent barfly who is extremely liberal with his sexuality.
The set was as dangerous as it was funny, and it showed what a risk-taker Thompson is. He’ll offer more proof of his edginess on Saturday, as Thompson brings his show to the Park West for a performance. Scott’s Buddy Cole character will be there, as will several other Thompson incarnations.
Tickets are available at the box office or by phone, at 312-559-1212.
The standup lineup
Here are some comedy performances scheduled for the weekend and next week. Current sets are to run through Sunday; all new acts begin on Thursday unless otherwise noted. Lineups are subject to change.
– Comics are doing things for themselves, in these days of fewer rooms for acts to work in. Standup Ken Sevara is helping book a night of comedy at the Copacabana in Alsip. Every Wednesday comedians will take the stage, with Mark Fenske and Tim Clue penciled in for next week. The room is at 12340 S. Cicero Ave.; call 708-385-1388 for other details.
Also, Jimmy Wiggins is soliciting talent for Friday and Saturday work each week at the Mad Monk’s Room in the Abbey Pub (3800 N. Elston Ave.; 773-478-4408); and Amy Crossfield is doing the honors for the Marriott Lincolnshire Resort’s Main Brace Lounge every Thursday (10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire; 847-634-0100, ext. 6125).
– T.J. Kirkland is as nasty as he wants to be this weekend at All Jokes Aside (1000 S. Wabash Ave.; 312-922-0577). Be warned: The hardcore comic can be extremely profane, and to say he’s for mature audiences only is a vast understatement.
Yuks on the tube
Are you wondering why people aren’t asking you to record a CD? Does it mystify you that networks don’t call with an offer for a television series? Would you like to know the reason publishers haven’t given you a book deal yet?
Maybe it’s because you’re not a hot standup comedian.
“If you’re a comedian and if you can manage to do decent work, people call,” says Chris Rock, 32. “People call from all over the place.”
Rock, who won two Emmys this week for his HBO special, “Bring the Pain,” was tapped to make a comedy CD, “Roll with the New,” which has the song “Champagne” making the music video rounds. Rock has a book that should be out in October called “Rock This,” which is semiautobiographical but also has comedy bits in it.
And Rock has “The Chris Rock Show,” a weekly half-hour talk show, a mix of comedy bits, music and celebrity guests that is in its second year on HBO. Airing at 10:30 p.m. Fridays, this week’s show has Wyclef Jean of the hip-hop group the Fugees and talk show host Conan O’Brien lined up.
Rock was asked by HBO to come up with a show, which just started a 13-week run.
“It’s fun because it’s all about being funny,” he says.