Chicago’s Fresh Comedic Talent

FUNNY LOOKING: Our favorite local funny duo—the guys behind the podcast How to Do Everything (@htde)—help us comb the city for fresh talent

Mike Danforth and Ian Chillag

When they’re not producing the NPR series Wait Wait . . . Don’t Tell Me!, Mike Danforth, 39, and Ian Chillag, 33, give tips on such things as parenting and speaking “British.” In their free time, they catch Liza Treyger’s show. “She’s surprising,” Chillag says. “Her act is like, ‘Nice . . . Nice . . . Oh God, she’s saying that?!? . . . Nice.’ ”

Liza Treyger (@glittercheese), 25, has a Russian-doll face that’s a stark contrast to her raunchy routines about relationships, vaginas, and religion. A three-year vet of the scene, she admires fellow funny lady Megan Gailey. “She takes risks, is superconfident, and wears amazing dresses,” says Treyger.
 

When Megan Gailey (@megangailey), 26, isn’t chatting up crowds about gold diggers and plastic surgery, she sees Marty DeRosa’s shows. “Marty plays with the audience and engages them. He can get people to think.”
 

Indiana native Marty DeRosa (@MartyDeRosa), 35, a member of the six-man collective Comedians You Should Know, isn’t afraid to detail onstage his sexcapades gone wrong. CYSK appears Wednesdays at Timothy O’Toole’s (622 N. Fairbanks Ct.).

RELATED: Mike and Ian on Recovering from a Marathon, Fixing a Drowned iPhone, and More » | Best Comedy Clubs in Chicago »

Illustration: John Kenzie

This article appears in the October 2012 issue of Chicago magazine.

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