I first entered the world of comedy a little over a year ago when my husband (then not-even-fiance) got me stand up comedy classes as a Christmas gift. It was completely unlike anything I’d done before, and I’m not as active about it as I should be. But it’s introduced me to a world that I’ve come to love. It’s warm and welcoming, supportive and fun. And the point is laughter. What’s not to love about that? When I heard that a lot of my friends were going to be on stage at the Chicago Women’s Funny Festival, my husband and I got ourselves day passes for Friday and prepared ourselves for laughs.

First up was Beth Stelling. I was first introduced to her through my standup class. She was in the list of comics who’d gotten their start in Chicago before moving on to bigger things. The show wasn’t entirely stand-up, but the first half with the Putterbaugh Sisterz was good fun nonetheless.

It was really exciting to see one of my fellow stand-up classmates hosting a show! Elizabeth O’Neill always stood out to me for her bold and biting style. It’s great to see her doing so well!

One of the highlights of the night was seeing Kelsie Huff perform. Always a hoot, she holds a special place in my heart as the woman who showed me the ropes of standup comedy. In addition to making people cry their eyes out with laughter, she teaches both levels of Feminine Comique, the very standup classes I took! It was a really great experience, and I highly recommend it. And how could I leave out that she (along with Amy Sumpter) hosts The Kates? It’s a great all female comedy show that I’ve had the honor of doing twice already and will be doing again this October!


Last but not least was Cynthia Shur-Petts. This was a little bit of a surprise, as Cynthia was stepping in for another comic who couldn’t make the show. Cynthia was, as always, very funny. And I can’t resist giving her a shout out for the brilliant Where Are You, Carmen Sanbliego?, a fucking hilarious musical parody of Carmen Sandiego, currently playing at the Chemically Imbalanced Theater.

It was a great night and really good reminder that I should make the effort of seeing more comedy and supporting my fellow comics.