Local shows add humor to the holidays
The Second City and I.O. Chicago aim to jolly up your holidays with a couple of seasonal shows. Second City brings its "Dysfunctional Holiday Revue," a send-up of holiday traditions and family drama, to the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre beginning today.
The show runs at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays; 9:30 p.m. Fridays; 7 and 9:30 p.m. Saturdays and 7 p.m. Sundays through Dec. 31 at 111 W. Campbell St., Arlington Heights. Tickets are $27 and $32 ($50 and $60 for New Year's Eve, which includes champagne toast and balloon drop). They're available at the box office or by phone (847) 577-2121.
• Improviser and I.O. veteran Bob Kulhan brings his show "Bing Faithful's Very Merry Nondenominational Holiday Special" -- his partly improvised send-up of crooner Bing Crosby's Christmas specials featuring Kulhan's own Bing Faithful 5 -- to I.O. Chicago Thursday. The show runs at 10 p.m. Thursdays through Jan. 3 at the theater located at 3541 N. Clark St., Chicago. Tickets are $10. (773) 880-0199.
A seasonal shot of 'Drinking and Writing.' Neo-Futurists Sean Benjamin and Steve Mosqueda perform the holiday version of their ongoing "Drinking & Writing" series, "Drinking & Writing IV: The 12 Steps of Christmas" to the Victory Gardens Biograph Theater's bar beginning today.
The duo explores the symbiotic relationship between creativity and inebriation through holiday-themed writing by the likes of Hemingway, Capote, Kerouac and others.
The show runs at 10:30 p.m. Fridays through Dec. 21. Tickets are $15 and are available at the box office, by phone (773) 871-3000 or online at www.victorygardens.org.
Global Rhythms. The Chicago Human Rhythm Project's latest show, Global Rhythms 3, marks the North American debut of TAO, a Japanese company whose drumming/dance/music performances have been compared to "Riverdance."
Performances are at 8 p.m. today; 3 and 8 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Millennium Park, 205 E. Randolph St., Chicago. Tickets range from $15 to $57 and are available by phone at (312) 334-7777 or online at www.chicagotap.org.
Bears about town. Not sure how much of a secret it is, but Playboy Playmate Jennifer Walcott is throwing a surprise 30th birthday party for boyfriend and Chicago Bears safety Adam Archuleta from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. today at Y Bar, 224 W. Ontario St., Chicago. The cover is $20, free before 11 p.m. if you RSVP to www.globaladrenaline.net.
• Bears kicker Robbie Gould meets and greets fans from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Thursday at Finn McCool's. Gould will sign autographs and pose for pictures at the pub at 72 N. Williams St., Crystal Lake. (815) 356-1155 or www.finnmccoolschicago.com.