Toward the end of his career, Frank Sinatra told friends that he played Chicago more than any other place, and comedian Richard Lewis holds similarly close bonds to this city.
Lewis brings up the subject frequently in our conversations:
“You haven’t asked, and I might have told you,” he says, “but, this really has been the most important city in my career. And I’m not saying that just because I’m coming there, because it really has been the most important city.
“And the reason I say that is because I had the most success in Chicago, and I also considered Chicago historically the most important city for stand-up. Everybody went through Chicago. Every person that I got to know or I grew up loving, from Lenny (Bruce) to Mort (Sahl) to Jonathan (Winters) to Nichols and May, Phyllis (Diller). I mean Chicago — this was it, man. This was the town.
“So it’s incredibly important to me every time I get invited back to be as anxious as possible — and funnier than I can be.”
Howard Reich is a Tribune critic.
Twitter @howardreich