Monday

Pat McGann

In 2007, Pat transitioned from packaging salesmen to stand up comedian.  Soon after taking the stage Pat was booked to be House MC at the historic Zanies Comedy Club.  Hosting shows helped Pat develop the ability and desire to work any crowd.  In 2010, Pat created and hosted the Emmy nominated television show “The Chicago Stand Up Project”.

Pat has been invited to The Great American Comedy Festival and Laugh Fest.

In 2013, Pat performed and presented at the Chicago/Midwest Emmy Awards.  He was also asked by The Chicago White Sox to write and direct a comedy show with their players.  The show, Wild Pitches, was a home run! (their pun, not mine)

Pat developed a special segment for the highly rated “Chicago Countdown New Year’s Eve Special 2013” on ABC.  He was also asked to help Giordano’s Pizza respond to Jon Stewart and The Daily Show’s assault on Chicago pizza, resulting in a quick appearance on The Daily Show.

When not traveling the country working comedy clubs or corporate gigs, Pat appears regularly on Sports Talk Live (Comcast), Windy City Live (ABC), Mancow & Good Day Chicago (Fox), WGN Morning News, WGN-Radio & ESPN Radio. Follow him on Twitter. Visit his website here.

Billy Gardell

Billy Gardell took the long road to Hollywood, stopping at every small-town lounge, military base and comedy club along the way. His comedy act took him to Los Angeles, where his dedication to acting, along with touring as a stand-up comedian, allowed him to grow consistently in both arenas. After appearing in a number of television programs including “Yes, Dear,” “Judging Amy” “My Name is Earl” and “Monk,” Gardell is also the star of the hit sitcom “ Mike and Molly” which airs Mondays on CBS. He’s starring in the new Showtime special, “ Billy Gardell Presents: Road Dogs” along with Don Learned, Bob Zany and Earthquake. Visit his website here. (Photo Credit: Guy Viau)

Tuesday

Bert Kreischer

Bert Kreischer grew up in Tampa, Florida. While attending Florida State University, he was discovered by Rolling Stone Magazine and given the title ‘The #1 Party Animal in the Country’ in a six-page article entitled ‘The Undergraduate.’ This article set his comedy career in motion. Oliver Stone optioned the rights to his life, book deals were offered, and he moved to New York City to pursue Stand-up Comedy. He began working at the Boston Comedy Club, within a year Will Smith signed him to a television development deal, he moved to LA, and shortly there after was co-hosting ‘The X-show’ on FX. A few months later he signed his second television development deal with CBS, where he made his acting debut starring in the CBS/20th Century Fox pilot, ‘Life with David J’ with Elliot Gould. Bert has also appeared on Comedy Central’s ‘Premium Blend’, ‘Shorties Watchin Shorties’, VH-1, FX’s ‘Hurt Bert’, ‘The Shield’, ‘Last Comic Standing 2’, ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’, Spike TV’s ‘Fresh Baked Video Games, & Comedy Central’s Reality Bites Back. Bert’s One Hour Comedy Central Special “Comfortably Dumb” premieres February 8th followed by the full length DVD with extras March 3rd. Bert tours clubs and colleges all over the country and performs regularly at the Hollywood Improv. Buy his new book, Life of the Party: Stories of a Perpetual Man-Child, at Amazon.  Follow him on twitter. Visit his website here.

Thursday

Henry Phillips

Henry Phillips has been seen and heard performing his twisted songs and stories on ‘Comedy Central Presents’, ABC’s ’Jimmy Kimmel Live’, and such nationally syndicated radio shows as ‘Bob and Tom’ and ‘The Dr. Demento Show’, among many others. His critically acclaimed CDs, fusing mellow folk-rock ballads with psychopathic lyrics have earned him mention in Billboard magazine’s ’Critic’s Choice’, as well as acclaim from such notable artists as Moby, who refers to Phillips’ songs as “disconcertingly funny”. He has also written songs for 2 award winning musicals, “Blake: the Musical” and “Chips”, and his semi-biographical comedy film “Punching the Clown” received the Audience award at Slamdance film festival ’09, and is currently available on Netflix and iTunes. Watch his hilarious new video  Henry’s Kitchen “Super Bowl Chicken Pot Pie.” Visit his website here. Follow him on twitter and facebook. 

Seth MacFarlane

Seth MacFarlane was born October 26, 1973 in the small, New England town of Kent, Connecticut. He began drawing cartoons at age 2, and his comic strip “Walter Crouton” was published in his local newspaper by the time he was 8.  He attended high school at Kent School in Connecticut, and then went on to study animation at the Rhode Island School of Design.  

After graduating from RISD, MacFarlane got a job working for Hanna-Barbera Productions (now Cartoon Network Studios) when a professor sent his thesis film, “Life of Larry” (a precursor to “Family Guy”) to Hanna-Barbera. He was a writer and/or storyboard artist for the shows “Johnny Bravo”, “Cow and Chicken”, and “Dexter’s Lab”. MacFarlane also did some work for Walt Disney Animation as a writer on the TV series “Jungle Cubs”. 

In 1996 MacFarlane created “Larry and Steve”, the follow-up to his thesis film. It caught the attention of the executives at Fox, who originally offered him a deal to create featurettes to run between sketches on “Mad TV”. The deal fell apart, but Fox, not wanting to lose MacFarlane, gave him $50,000 to produce a partial pilot for a comedy series. He hand-drew the 15-minute presentation of “Family Guy” over the course of six months. 

Fox Network picked up “Family Guy”, and it premiered after the Super Bowl on January 31, 1999. “Family Guy” was moved, cancelled and picked up on numerous occasions, but in 2002, Fox Network cancelled the show for good at the end of its third season. However, the exceptional sales of the “Family Guy” DVDs — combined with the high ratings of the show’s reruns on Cartoon Network — soon convinced Fox to put it back into production for a fourth season in 2004.  

During the interim, MacFarlane and two writers from “Family Guy” — Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman — pitched a new show to Fox called “American Dad”. It went into production in 2003, and premiered on February 6, 2005. 

“Family Guy” recently wrapped its fifth season, and “American Dad” its second. Both shows are in production for the next season, and air on Fox Network on Sunday nights. “Family Guy” is also airing on TBS and Cartoon Network, and on the BBC in the UK.

MacFarlane’s one live-action venture, “The Winner”, produced and written by former “Family Guy” writer Ricky Blitt and starting Rob Corddry, was cancelled due to poor ratings. Fox did, however, allow all six of the filmed episodes to be aired. 

MacFarlane has appeared on live-action television shows such as “Gilmore Girls”, “Star Trek: Enterprise”, “The War at Home” and “Mad-TV”, and lent his voice to other animated shows like “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” and “Robot Chicken”. 

MacFarlane has won two Emmys: one for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance and one for Outstanding Music and Lyrics (shared with “Family Guy” composer Walter Murphy). He also won an Annie for Best Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production. 

MacFarlane has received two honorary degrees, the first from Harvard in 2006 after delivering the Class Day Speech as several of the characters from “Family Guy”, and also from his alma mater, the Rhode Island School of Design, in June 2007. 

MacFarlane’s talent is evident from his job titles as voice actor, producer, animator, comic and writer.  
In 2011 Seth released an album called “Music Better Then Words” by 2013 He was able to host the Oscars This was after the hit movie TED…. His new movie A Million Ways to Die in the West premieres May 30. Follow him on Twitter.

Karen Rontowski

From “The Late Show with David Letterman” to Sirius Satellite Radio and Comedy Central, Karen Rontowski’s fast-paced clean optimistic humor is perfect for any club, corporate or fund raising event.  With a stand up career that spans over 20 years she has performed in 45 of the United States and over 13 countries including New Jersey.

Her quirky, original thought patterns always brings an interesting twist that lets you see a mind full of confident confusion.  She believes in things like karma so when a 2-year old sat in front of her on a plane she kicked his seat the whole way.  She is even thinking of getting some plastic surgery.  Karen wants to get her eyes done by having them both put on one side of her head and then continually asking people if her hair looks alright. “Is my part straight?”

Karen has opened for such show biz legends as Bob Hope, Ray Charles, David Brenner and the Monkees which was a big thrill for her since she feels there is no time like the present to be living in the past.  She is now featured in the new line of greeting cards called “Frank and Funny” that you can find in Target stores everywhere and is the comedy writer for “Haunted Magazine”.

A television favorite, you may have seen this hilarious woman on The Late Show with David Letterman, Comedy Central, Live at Gotham, Comics Unleashed and Comedy.com.  A regular on the Bob and Tom Radio Show and a featured performer on their CD, Karen keeps listeners laughing not only with her stand up, but also when she talks about her other careers as a Tarot reader, Reiki Master and Paranormal Investigator.  She loves the supernatural and believes she will someday have a Near Death Experience because she never finishes anything. Visit her website here.

Jimmy Schubert

Jimmy Shubert has built an impressive resume as an actor, both in film and on television. As a comedian, he is recognized as one of the busiest comedians working today, headlining A list comedy clubs, casinos and theaters across the country. His hour-long stand-up comedy special which just won top ten comedy DVD’s by Punchline Magazine, and it’s available on i tunes!!.

“Alive N’ Kickin’” is a theatrical presentation of Shubert’s stand-up persona of a blue collar working man’s man. He combines the outlook of a modern-day Archie Bunker with an utterly real world sensibility to create signature bits on Starbucks, airport security, relationships and the dumbing down of America. – soon to be seen on a premium cable network.

In television, Shubert is known for his recurring role on “King of Queens” for five years and several appearances on “Entourage”. Jimmy has a wide range as an actor and has played everything from a prison guard in a hostage crisis to a murder victim on “Monk.” He’s worked with such marquee names as Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Charlize Theron, Katie Holmes, Robin Williams. He says: “One of the great things about working in movies is I get a chance to work with A-list filmmakers.” It is another medium that allows you to be creative in a whole other way.On the small screen, He recently did a guest star on ABC’s “Back in the game” with James Caan on the CBS comedy “2 Broke Girls”, He played Betty Whites neighbor in a new NBC show called “ Off Their Rockers” He recently appeared on Disney’s hit show “Zeke and Luther” as Bobby Dicey”-World’s Greatest Daredevil, and “Barely Legal” a pilot presentation about a dysfunctional family law firm, other TV credits include ” “Heist,” “The Loop,” “ER,” “Reno 911,” “Rude Awakenings,” “Angel,” “Lucky,” “New Car Smell,” “Sonny with a chance” and “Youth In Revolt.”

Jimmy’s comedy routine is usually performed with an observational point of view, in comedic short-story form, and typically focuses on poking fun at pop culture. As AllMusic.com put it, “His confidence and lucid delivery enhances his humor, making even his most perverse moments hilarious.”

Friday

Reno Collier

A former P.E. teacher, West Virginia native Reno Collier has endeared himself to a wide range of audiences from college students to church softball teams. With a contagious laugh and friendly, almost intoxicating demeanor, Reno’s observations often find him recalling mishaps of his West Virginia cousins, his Scottish heritage, unruly in-laws and alien abductions.

Reno’s journey began at the Punchline Comedy Club in Atlanta, GA where he tended bar to supplement his day job. One night he found himself on stage during the weekly open mic night. His unique outlook on life – mixed with a six-pack – was instantly popular and provided a platform to launch a career as a comedian.

Reno has built a reputation by selling out comedy clubs and colleges nationwide. In 2004 he joined Larry The Cable Guy on the hugely successful “2004 Tour of America.” Reno’s other national tours look more like a comedian’s wish-list than a resume, including theater and arena tours with the legendary Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall and Ron White. In January 2007, he re-joined Larry the Cable Guy for his wildly successful arena tour spanning the United States and Canada.

Reno’s past TV credits include NBC’s “Late Friday,” “The Martin Short Show,” “Blue Collar Comedy: The Next Generation”, which aired on TBS, Comedy Central’s “Premium Blend” and “The Roast of Larry the Cable Guy.” Reno also made an appearance in the feature film “Witless Protection.”

In 2005 and 2006, Reno headlined the “Comics on Duty” tour for American troops stationed in Iraq. He is a regular fixture on the Bob & Tom syndicated radio show and Country Music Television (CMT), hosting various specials for the network. He has performed at the prestigious HBO Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, CO and the Montreal Comedy Festival, and in 2005, taped his own “Comedy Central Presents” half-hour special. He can currently be heard during his weekly call-ins to the Blue Collar Comedy Channel on Sirius Satellite Radio and was the host of NBC’s 2009 summer family reality show “Great American Road Trip.”

His newest series, TOP HOOKER, premieres on Animal Planet in June. Follow him on Twitter here. Visit his website here.

Sid Davis

Sid Davis, born Christopher Davis, grew up in a small farm town near Dayton, Ohio.  The youngest of 4 children, was declared a very smart child….on paper. His razor sharp wit made him a distraction in school classrooms. Recognized early on as a great writer, Sid slowly honed his stage presence to project his hilarious and unique comic style that includes versatility for all occasions. He can switch a couple of things around and change his set from very clean, to PG to R. His versatility for audiences ranges from Churches, to clubs to cruise ships. Sid was a huge hit at the 2012  San Luis Obispo Comedy Festival and the audiences  voted him into the festival’s Best in Fest Showcase (Which he unfortunately had to miss because of travel arrangements). Sid returned to the SLO festival in 2013.  

The audience once again voted him “Best in Fest” and he headlined the festival’s Best in Fest Showcase, which was broadcast live on the SIRUS Comedy Raw Dawg Channel. AGAIN in 2014 the audiences of SLO voted Sid Best in Fest where he hosted the Sunday showcase in the 1500 seat Fremont Theater. During his airline tenure at the  Charlotte airport he penned, Space Available; a hilarious suspense story about an airline baggage handler that uses his free flying to track down a man who stole his identity. “I based the characters on friends from the airport,” Sid shares. “I’m very proud of the story and hope to have it produced into a motion picture someday.”  Visit his website here.

Chris Gethard

Chris Gethard is a comedian, actor, and public access TV host from New York City. He just taped a stand up special for Comedy Central, and recently released his first album. He’s been seen on TV shows like Broad City, The Office, and Louie, and in movies like The Other Guys and The Heat. He’s been heard on This American Life, where he once read the title story from his book A Bad Idea I’m About To Do. Chris is the host of The Chris Gethard Show, a cult hit public access tv show that recently had a Comedy Central pilot produced by Zack Galifianakis and Will Ferrell. Chris tours the country perform stand up, and can be seen at the Comedy Attic in Bloomington, Indiana May 22-24. Follow him on Twitter. Visit his website here.