WBEZ 91.5 Chicago

If you enjoy the show Curb Your Enthusiasm, I covered it last night for the AV Club.

I was pretty sure I knew where I lost my wallet, and it was not in a dignified manner. Steve and I were playing nine holes at the Frank Govern golf course in Evanston yesterday, and since I was sucking anyway (who would have thought that you had to, like, practice in order to be decent?) I decided to pull out my Droid and be a smart aleck after spotting a bit of very personal trash on the course. My wallet most likely fell out of my bag as I pulled out my phone, and in the grand scheme of things, I probably deserved it, for rudely cell-phoning on the course and also being juvenile.

I didn’t realize that I lost my wallet until several hours later, though.

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Tomorrow night, come see me with the Kates, won't you?

This summer two girlfriends of mine have been very busy doing something that not most of my girlfriends do: perform weddings for other people. Erica Reid Gerdes is a local performer and choreographer who not only officiates weddings but also has choreographed a few first dances in her lifetime. Bex Schwartz is a writer, director and performer in New York who, in addition to performing weddings in the past, this summer worked with a group of people to organize a “pop-up chapel” to marry two dozen same-sex couples in one weekend in Central Park. I just wanted to ask my friends what it’s like to officiate weddings in their free time. 

How did you start performing weddings?

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I apologize if what I’m going to say applies to you and offends you, but it’s for your own good.

Look, I read Born to Run. I know that the whole barefoot running thing works for a lot of people, so much so that every now and then I see people (let me clarify: It’s always men, for some reason) out and about running with no shoes on, which makes me feel odd. At first I feel vaguely annoyed, and then I wonder why it annoys me in the first place, and then I wonder what they do if they run on broken glass or poop or something like that. Several runner friends of mine use FiveFingers or another type of barefoot shoe and they love them and that’s great.

However.

I would like to posit, strongly, that these type of shoes should not be worn in any context other than jogging, or perhaps walking to or from a jogging-like activity. I have seen way too many people out and about this summer wearing barefoot shoes--as regular shoes.

This will not stand.

Normally I can contain my rage when it comes to questionable footwear choices.

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Some of the best typos from Starbucks Spelling:

“Collie” for “Holly”

“Virgin” for “Roshan”

“Kelsy” for “Elizabeth”

“Pork” for “Mark”

“Malon” for “Daisy”

“Camper Noob” for “Micah”

“Gloria” for “Maureen”

“Joshie” for “Joseph”

“An” for “Anne”

“Olga” for “Logan”

“Quine” for “Gwen”

“Keni” for “Kenny”

“Kamel” for “Camille”

“Darren” for “Diana”

“Parge” for “Kate”

“Blibe” for “Blythe”

“Pee” for “Bree”

“Gio” for “Joe”

“Chlob” for “Chloe”

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If you missed Funny Ha-Ha earlier this month, you didn't get to see the following funny short films from Chicago filmmaker Joe Avella. These are NSFW (language) so use your headphones if you're at the office.

The next Funny Ha-Ha is October 19 and features hosts of other great Chicago readings and shows! Mark your calendars for Funny Ha-Ha: Heavenly Hosts.

If you can't wait that long to see me, come check me out this Friday at the Book Cellar as I make my debut with The Kates! This is a seriously funny show at my favorite bookstore in the city so if you can't make it this week, you should mark your calendar for a future show.

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Today I chat with the host of Comedy Bang Bang: The Podcast!. Every Monday, you can hear him interview and perform with folks like Weird Al Yankovic, David Cross, Paul Rudd and Patton Oswalt. This Emmy-nominated writer began his comedy career as a writer and performer on the cultishly beloved sketch series Mr. Show.

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So the Air and Water Show is this weekend, and if you haven’t yet, this week you may start hearing and seeing previews of the show as the planes practice over the lake. This is the part of the summer where a lot of people get annoyed. And complain.

I understand in theory (and in practice) why people don’t like the low-flying planes and screeching sky-noise of the show. It’s scary and threatening and reminiscent of wartime and, worst of all, makes outdoor cellphone conversations hard.

But the Air and Water Show is so awesome.  What I love about it involves being a part of something exciting without doing (or paying) anything at all! I personally hate experiencing thrills and chills. I loathe roller coasters and if I can ride out airplane rides fully unconscious that’s fine by me. But with the Air and Water show, the excitement comes to you, and you don’t even have to do anything or practically go anywhere! Come on, that’s rad--it’s like a fireworks show that conveniently places itself outside your window.

I know I can’t convince many of you that the show is cool, but in that case, I want to know why you stay in town when the show comes.

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