Popular WGN Morning News host and standup comedian Pat Tomasulo will take a maiden voyage to Grayslake.
The Chicago personality performs a night of standup at 8 p.m. Jan. 27 at the James Lumber Center for the Performing Arts at the College of Lake County in Grayslake.
In addition to co-hosting WGN’s Morning News, Tomasulo had been working as a standup comedian for years. His hourlong comedy special, “What a Time to Be Alive,” came out in 2022 and is available for streaming on YouTube.
“It’s pretty much a brand-new hour from the special. There may be one or two jokes that are left over from the special but it’s almost all new material,” he said.
“It’s definitely not the same type of humor you see on TV — I think there are no constraints that I would face onstage that I would face on TV. It’s more of an amplified version of what you’re used to seeing. I’m sarcastic, its observational, I talk about my life, I talk about the world.”
Despite a nice career in broadcast journalism, Tomasulo felt a calling.
“When I was younger, I think I always had this very misplaced confidence when I would watch standup comedians and think, ‘Oh, I could do that.’ But I had no idea how to do that,” he said.
“There were no comedy clubs where I grew up. I mean — I was the first person in my family to go to college. So the idea of being a comedian — I had no idea how to do that.”
He arrived in Chicago in 2005 and started working at WGN. Some of his co-workers, like Mike Toomey and Ana Belaval, are also comedians. He got the inking that maybe he could do that, too.
“There’s got to be something a little off with you to want to do that. Because in the beginning, you’re just awful,” he said. “You’re just bombing all the time. Even when you’re good, you’re still pretty terrible when you start out. Even now, when I go up on new material nights, 40% of it works, at best.
“But now I’ve done it so long I don’t care about bombing. It doesn’t affect you anymore. That’s the reason you have to get so much stage time. Obviously, you have to get stage time to get comfortable, but you also have to get a lot of stage time to get comfortable with bombing.”
People should come out because even though it’s cold outside, it’s not a late show.
“You’ll laugh tremendously. I will look fantastic — I just got a new windbreaker that I will wear for the people of Grayslake because they deserve it,” he said. “I’m excited. I’m always psyched to work new areas. It’s going to be great and I am going to have a lot of new stuff and like I said, I’m going to look tremendous.”
Pat Tomasulo
When: 8 p.m. Jan. 27
Where: James Lumber Center for the Performing Arts, College of Lake County, 19351 W. Washington St., Grayslake
Tickets: $15-$35
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Information: 847-543-2300; jlcenter.clcillinois.edu
Annie Alleman is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.