Joking at the Skokie Review – Kinda Funny

Joking at the Skokie Theatre
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This past Thursday I attended Joking at the Skokie-Here Comes Trouble at the Skokie Theater. A week filled with comedy, this was the kickoff show.  Featuring Brad Walkow, Eunji Kim, Andrew J. Pond and headliner Seth Davis.

 

A theater of smaller size, It was a good size for an audience to see the performer. It was a small audience filled with what seemed like mostly locals from the Skokie area. All the  comedians that night seemed to have a Chicago and local connection. Throughout the night, my hunch proved correct as most of the comedians called out various locations in the Chicago area in their act along with pointing out members of the audience ranging from old high school coaches, parents and significant others .

Three comedians

First comic up on stage and host for the night was Andrew J. Pond who works as an actor/director/playwright with several children’s theatres, teaches drama and stage combat classes He made a few political jokes while telling us about a few of experiences with his job as a standardized patient. This is an individual who acts as a real patient in order to simulate a set of symptoms for in his case, medical students. I was not familiar with this occupation and did make me laugh with his recollection.

 

Afterwards, Andrew introduced Eunji Kim, also we were told is also known as “Kim Kong” referencing her solo show, KIM KONG: A Comedy Monster at the Annoyance Theater. She co-hosts The Ajumma Podcast and also performs improv at iO Chicago does stand-up at Zanies, Paper Machete and Laugh Factory. She was in my opinion the funniest comic of the night, including the headliner. Her set included jokes about what it is like being Korean and Jewish. My favorite line from her set was, “Sometimes people are what you think.”

 

The third comedian of the night was Brett Walkow who has made appearances on The Tonight Show, The Golden Globes, and performed with Melissa McCarthy, Jimmy Fallon, and Gwen Stefani among others.  His jokes included going on blind dates and manscaping. While we have all had bad dates that we can laugh about later, calling someone “Chewy” cause because they were thought to be too hairy was  in my opinion, not funny.

Seth Davis

Last but not least was Seth Davis, the headliner. Introduced as having gone to The Second City and i.O. Theater, he also has appeared on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, several festivals and is a regular at Zanies and The Laugh Factory. Growing up in Skokie he made several references to this along with bits about synagogues and his mom.

 

While I did have some laughs, the comedians were catering most of the time to the audience, which seemed to be Skokie locals. With so many “in jokes” I felt a bit left out.  Not growing up or being familiar with this area, I felt a bit like an outsider.

 

For more information about the Skokie Theater located at 7924 Lincoln Ave, Skokie Il 60077 and upcoming events, visit their website.

 

Photos: Courtesy of the Skokie Theatre

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