These photos will take you back to Chicago’s nightlife heyday, when stand-up comedy reigned
Lenny Bruce. Richard Pryor. Lily Tomlin. They all honed their craft at the famed Mister Kelly’s, which has been revived in a new exhibition.
These photos will take you back to Chicago’s nightlife heyday, when stand-up comedy reigned
Lenny Bruce. Richard Pryor. Lily Tomlin. They all honed their craft at the famed Mister Kelly’s, which has been revived in a new exhibition.
By Andrew MeriwetherThese days, if you ask a local where to find top-notch entertainment in Chicago, chances are they’ll steer you toward spots like Thalia Hall in Pilsen or the Promontory in Hyde Park. But back in the 1950s and 60s, the place to be in Chicago was Mister Kelly’s nightclub, nestled in the Gold Coast.
Over the years, Ella Fitzgerald and Barbra Streisand performed there, as did comedians Richard Pryor and George Carlin. Legendary stand-up Lenny Bruce was also a regular fixture at the club and even recorded some of his comedy albums there.
The new exhibition “A Night At Mister Kelly’s” recalls the era, whisking visitors away to a time when Rush Street glimmered with vibrant neon lights and marquees touted the city’s finest music, dance, comedy, and cuisine. “It really became the Vegas of the Midwest,” said David Marienthal, whose donation of archival materials forms the backbone of the exhibition.
Marienthal has a personal connection to Mister Kelly’s: His father, George, and his uncle Oscar established the club in 1953. The location of the new exhibition, at the Newberry Library, is particularly apt, situating archival material and ephemera a mere three blocks east of the former site of the iconic nightclub.
“This is really the first time to my recollection that the Newberry has had an exhibit about its own neighborhood,” said the show’s curator, Alison Hinderliter.
The club was ahead of its time in several respects. Visitors to the exhibition will see and hear numerous comedy records that were recorded on Mister Kelly’s Hi-Fi recording system – a rarity for a nightclub at that time. These records were a kind of precursor to the Netflix or HBO comedy special, and played an important role in the development of stand-up as an art form. The stand-up sets were also not your run-of-the-mill comedy fare.
“You know, the Daily Show, Jon Stewart, all this political comedy. This wasn’t being done before [Mister Kelly’s],” says Marienthal, “It was just all about joking about your wife or your in-laws or something like that. And so now to bring politics, the Vietnam War, civil rights movement, this was a new thing.”
This progressive stance extended to the club’s diverse roster of performers and patrons. Mister Kelly’s stood out as one of the few venues on Chicago’s north side where entertainers of color could take the stage, and where one could find an integrated audience.
Marienthal and curator Alison Hinderliter walked WBEZ through six pieces of ephemera from the sprawling show.
Bette Midler
The exhibition includes numerous posters that showcase the star-caliber talent that played at Mister Kelly’s. Here we see a flamboyant photo of the actress and performer Bette Midler, who autographed her outstretched leg on the poster. In a fortunate turn of events, many of these posters had been preserved. “We got a whole collection of large posters and playbills from two waitresses that worked at London House and Mister Kelly’s,” said Marienthal. The posters were stacked in a garage and beginning to show damage. Thankfully, the former staff got in contact with Marienthal, who ultimately acquired the collection.
Tom Williams
Famed Chicago photographer Art Shay captured his photo of the comedian Tom Williams in front of the Marienthal’s third club, The Happy Medium. “George and Oscar built this after they had The London House and Mister Kelly’s, and it was down at Delaware and Rush,” says Marienthal.
The building was designed by the architectural icon, Bertrand Goldberg, but was torn down in 1975; it’s now a Tesla dealership. The Happy Medium was a sketch comedy club with its own illustrious list of alumni, including Jerry and Meara Stiller, “who really got their first steady job there,” said Marienthal. “So, we like to think that we’re part of the genesis of [their son] Ben Stiller as well.”
George Marienthal
This photo shows George standing in front of a wall of signed photographs that hung in his office. George and Oscar Marienthal built a reputation for treating artists well and that became a hallmark of their properties, said David Marienthal. Not only did they welcome performers regardless of race, gender, or political edge, they also made a point of financially supporting them. “They did pay above normal, so artists could support themselves,” said Marienthal. “And that fostered great art because the artists could eat.”
Also on display in the exhibition is a bound volume of Ebony Magazine’s vacation guide, reminiscent of the Green Book, featuring recommendations for venues and clubs hospitable to Black patrons. In Illinois, only two places earned mention: The London House and Mister Kelly’s.
Lily Tomlin
Along with elevating performers of color, Mister Kelly’s and The Happy Medium nurtured female performers, including actor and comedian Lily Tomlin. Tomlin also made a name for herself beyond the stage as a political activist. “She had been contacted by the local chapter of NOW, the National Organization for Women,” said Hinderliter, “because there was still a law on the books in Chicago that a woman could not go into a bar [alone].” It was part of an antiquated anti-prostitution push. Using her clout and popularity, Tomlin and NOW helped overturn the law.
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald was a regular at Mister Kelly’s and even recorded some live records at the club. A small detail in this photo illustrates the personal relationships that Mister Kelly’s formed with its performers. “You can see that she’s wearing a diamond heart necklace, which was given to her by my uncle for having such successful runs at the clubs,” said Marienthal. “My uncle would entertain Ella along with many others at his home in Flossmoor. She wore that diamond pendant necklace religiously, and it’s in some of her other album covers as well.”
Richard Pryor
One of the many great comedians that performed at Mister Kelly’s was a young Richard Pryor. Tragically, his show was on April 4th, 1968 — the night that Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis. “He found out after his show,” says Hinderliter. “He went driving around with his friend and actually saw the carnage of the riots that ensued after the King assassination in Chicago. He was scheduled to perform on the Ed Sullivan show the next day and he said, ‘I just can’t. There’s no way that I can perform.’ ”
In the aftermath, Pryor spent more time with Civil Rights leaders and Black revolutionaries, eventually returning to comedy as the iconoclast we know him as today.
If You Visit: The Newberry, 60 W. Walton St., is open Tuesday-Saturday and admission is free. The exhibition runs through July 20. A list of special events for the exhibition can be found on the Newberry’s website.
Andrew Meriwether is an audio producer and journalist based in Chicago.