Gapers Block published from April 22, 2003 to Jan. 1, 2016. The site will remain up in archive form. Please visit Third Coast Review, a new site by several GB alumni. ✶ Thank you for your readership and contributions. ✶
Hannibal Buress, the Chicago standup comic who's gone on to national fame on such shows as "SNL," "30 Rock" and "Broad City," is coming home on his Comedy Camisado tour for a show at Chicago Theatre on April 9.
Tickets are on sale now via TicketMaster and run $35 to $55 -- but right here, right now, you could win a pair of tickets to the show! Just email contests@gapersblock.com with the subject line "Comedy Comisado" and include your name and phone number. We'll choose a winner at 5pm on Thursday, March 6.
The August Wilson Monologue Competition finals for Chicago high school students is set for 6pm Tuesday, March 10, at the Goodman Theatre. Twenty finalists will compete by performing a 2-3 minute monologue of their choosing from one of the 10 plays in the late playwright's Century Cycle. Three winners will receive cash prizes ($500 for first place, $250 for second and $100 for third) plus expense-paid trips to compete in the national finals in New York on May 5.
Tribeca Films' latest comedy, The Bachelor Weekend, opens this Friday at Facets Cinémathèque, 1517 W. Fullerton Ave. Originally released as The Stag in Ireland, The Bachelor Weekend follows the misadventures of Fionan, a foppish groom-to-be who, after being pressured by his best man, reluctantly agrees to spend a bachelor's weekend camping. When his fiancée insists he bring along her brother, known as "The Machine," Fionan and his friends' well-laid plans for a relaxing trip fall apart.
Gapers Block has two pairs of tickets to The Bachelor Weekend to give away -- one pair for Friday, May 2 and another for Saturday, May 3. Enter to win a pair by emailing contests@gapersblock.com with "Bachelor Weekend" in the subject line and your name and preferred screening. We'll draw winners at 5pm Tuesday, April 29. Good luck! UPDATE: We have our winners! Congrats to Sandy and Kira!
Not coincidentally, Love & Air Sex is also hitting town next weekend. The film, which stars Michael Stahl-David from Cloverfield as lovelorn Stan, who flies to Austin, TX in hopes of running into his ex-girlfriend Cathy. Friends Jeff and Kara are in the middle of a bad breakup when Stan arrives, and the Air Sex World Championships end up being the setting for a battle of the sexes.
Comedian Lewis Black always gets big laughs in Chicago. His acerbic wit and his sardonic political commentary play to Chicagoans' own brand of gallows humor about politics and power, and he's done well here long before his appearances on "The Daily Show."
Black will be back at the Chicago Theatre May 10, 2014 with his latest show, "The Rant is Due." Tickets go on sale this Friday, Nov. 15 at 11am, but we've got a pair to give away right now.
To enter, email contests@gapersblock.com with the subject line "Lewis Black" and your name and phone number in the body. We'll select a winner at noon on Friday, Nov. 15. Good luck! UPDATE: We have a winner! Congratulations to Venkatesh.
Gapers Block is hosting our first annual Valentines Dance-a-Thon on Sunday, February 12 at Quenchers Saloon in Logan Square. We are looking for dancers and refs to take part in the event, and all are welcome to come and spectate.
Our own Steve at the Movies has another opportunity to invite Gapers Block readers to a free advanced screening. The film this time is a twisted Christmas tale from Finland, Rare Exports, which is opening at the Music Box Theatre on Christmas Eve. But you can see it sooner.
Rare Exports will screen on Tuesday, Dec. 14 at the Landmark Century Center Cinema (at Clark and Diversey) at 7pm. Readers may bring one guest. Just send Steve an email with your full name and whether or not you're bringing a guest to steve@steveatthemovies.com by noon on Friday, Dec. 10. He will bounce you an email back to confirm your RSVP. Head over to Ain't It Cool News to read Steve's original review of the film when he saw it back in September.
On Friday, October 22 from 3 to 4pm, Jiang Jun, editor-in-chief of Urban China magazine, takes over the MCA Chicago facebook page and will be answering questions. In anticipation of this online open forum, audiences can also post questions to the MCA Chicago facebook page throughout the week. The three most "vocal fans" will be chosen to meet Jun, take a private tour of the the museum's latest exhibition, Urban China: Informal Cities, and get prime seating at the Informal Cities Colloquium, taking place this Sunday.
Urban China: Informal Cities explores the repercussions of urbanism in global cities. The exhibition arrives at a particularly rapt moment, when half of the world's population lives in these continuously evolving environments (either out of necessity or pleasure).
During Sunday's colloquium, audience members are invited to join a discussion about global informal urban development and led by four architecture practitioners or writers. More information about the colloquium is available in Slowdown.
You may have heard David Bianculli on "Fresh Air" today say that the only television show being released this fall worth watching is "Boardwalk Empire." Well, in the spirit of supporting the only television show worth watching this year (according to him), I have news.
In celebration of "Boardwalk Empire", Cornerstone promotions is kicking off a unique month-long speakeasy campaign, and they asked me to tell you about it. Passwords will be distributed weekly to local market influencers, which will allow them to enter some of the most exclusive speakeasies in Chicago and receive complimentary prohibition-era cocktails. Here's a list of those events:
Bar Deville (1958 W. Huron St.) Tues. Sept. 21, 28 & Oct. 5, 7pm - 9pm
In addition to that, "Boardwalk Empire" is giving one of ya'll assorted HBO DVD boxsets ("Sopranos" Season six part two, "Deadwood" season three, and "Rome" season two), a "Boardwalk Empire" hip flask, and a Boardwalk Empire USB drive. To be in the running for these goodies, just comment on this post. Three lucky readers won this one! Thanks for reading!
One winner will randomly be selected this Friday, September 24. Good luck and happy guzzlin'.
Don't forget: Chicago area visual artists are encouraged to submit work today to an art exhibition to kick off Chicago Artists Month that will sponsored by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, the Chicago Arts District and Gapers Block. A panel of three Gapers Block staffers will curate the show, and selected artists will participate in the exhibition on Friday, October 1 from 6-10pm at 2001 S. Halsted Street.
I've started a gallery-- 345 Gallery-- in the Flat Iron Building (1579 N. Milwaukee) along with local artist and Genesis Art Supply employee, Charlie Megna. You can see pictures of our last show on his blog. The gallery doesn't have a website yet, but it will soon. Our first curated show, opening August 27, will focus on color. If you like color, you should absolutely submit jpegs of your color-conscious artwork to me for consideration in the show. I'm not just talking about colorful work; I'd like to see work about color. I'm very exited about this show, and I have a feeling that it'll be a good one, because a lot of people seem to like color as much as I do.
Submit up to five jpegs of your work (any media-- send a URL if you've got a video) to me at kr@gapersblock.com by August 9 for consideration. Please include dimensions and only submit work that you'll be able to personally drop off at the gallery if it's accepted.
A big "thank you" to so many of you who submitted photographs to the Gapers Block and Explore Chicago neighborhood landmarks contest! We reviewed your submissions and selected two winners based on their photographs and descriptions of their favorite neighborhood landmarks. The winners will receive a free Southwest Airlines ticket to fly a friend to Chicago for the weekend.
We received too many entries to display them all! Check out the winners' photographs and descriptions, as well as submissions by runners up, after the jump.
Gapers Block is teaming up with Explore Chicago for a photo contest -- and the winner gets to fly a friend here to Chicago for a weekend!
To enter, take a photo and write one or two paragraphs about a "personal landmark" in your neighborhood -- not necessarily something huge and obvious, like the Bean, but something that helps guide you or your friends through your neighborhood -- like the weird Mr. Potatohead sculpture shown here. Send the photo (or a link to it on flickr or other image hosting service) and your writing to contests@gapersblock.com by midnight on Friday, May 21, with the subject line "landmarks."
All entries will be compiled into a feature posted here in A/C, and two entrants will win a round-trip voucher for a friend to fly into Chicago on Southwest Airlines!
Good luck, and look forward to seeing your neighborhood landmarks!
The fine print: One entry per person. Travel must be completed by July 31. Friend must live in a Southwest market. Not open to Gapers Block or Explore Chicago staff.
Hannibal Buress, the Chicago standup comic who's gone on to national fame on such shows as "SNL," "30 Rock" and "Broad City," is coming home on his Comedy Camisado tour for a show at Chicago Theatre on April 9.
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