Gapers Block has ceased publication.

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. 

TODAY

Thursday, March 28

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Chicago Improv Festival @ Gorilla Tango Theater

As part of the Chicago Improv Festival, Gorilla Tango Theater (1919 N. Milwaukee Avenue) presents the troupes The Improv Mafia, Neil & Lein, and The Titanic Players. Show starts at 11:30pm, tickets are $12. For info and tickets call 773-598-4549 or visit Gorilla Tango Theater.

Chicago Improv Festival @ Chemically Imbalanced Theater

As part of the Chicago Improv Festival, Chemically Imbalanced Theater (1420 W. Irving Park Rd.) presents 2 Man No Show and Fart City. Tickets are $10, for info and tickets call 773-865-7731 or visit Brown Paper Tickets.

Chicago Improv Festival @ i.O. Comedy Theater

As part of the Chicago Improv Festival, i.O. Comedy Theater (3541 N. Clark St.) presents The Improvised Shakespeare Company at 8pm, tickets are $14. For info and tickets call 773-880-0199 or visit TicketWeb.

Chicago Improv Festival @ Laugh Out Loud

As part of the Chicago Improv Festival, Laugh Out Loud (601 N. Martingale Rd, Schaumburg) presents two shows. At 7:30pm the troupe Mission Improvable takes the stage, followed by Laugh Out Loud. A 9:30pm show opens with Boom Chicago All-Stars, followed again by Laugh Out Loud. Tickets are $18, $12 with student I.D. For information and tickets, call 847-240-0380.

Chicago Improv Festival @ The Second City Skybox

As part of the Chicago Improv Festival, The Second City Skybox (1608 N. Wells, 4th Floor) presents an evening of comedy starting at 7pm with the troupes MacGuffin and Dusk: Improvised Tween Erotica., followed at 8:30 with ImproTop and Thy Will By Done . At 10pm Improsia and Children of a Lesser God take to the stage, and at 11:30pm KISSprov rounds out the evening. Tickets to all shows are $15, except the 11:30 show, which costs $10. For information and tickets call 312-337-3992, tickets will be available at the box office on the day of the show.

Chicago Improv Festival @ The Playground

As part of the Chicago Improv Festival, The Playground (3209 N. Halsted) presents three shows in a row: Rigor Tortoise and Eleanor perform at 7:30, followed by Eux Improv and Rooster at 9pm. The 10:30pm show opens with Boner Petite and closes with Shootin' the Shit with EJ&TJ. Tickets are $15 for the first two shows, and $10 for the third. For info and tickets call 773-871-3793.

Chicago Improv Festival @ The Athenaeum Theatre

As part of the Chicago Improv Festival, the Athenaeum Theatre (2936 N. Southport Ave, 2nd Floor) presents two shows. At 7pm the troupe Improvisation & Co. takes the stage, followed by Jeffrey Sweet's An Improvised Life. . Drum Machine opens the 9pm show, followed by The General Washingtons. Tickets for each show are $15. For info and tickets call 773-935-6860, tickets will be available at the box office on the day of the show.

6 String Social: Primal Songs of the South Pacific

The Old Town School of Folk Music presents the latest in their series of 6 String Socials, weekly one-shot classes where you get to learn a bunch of songs on a specific topic. Tonight's topic is songs of the South Pacific, and `ukulele & hula teacher Lanialoha Lee will be drawing on her considerable performance experience to give attendees a glimpse into several cultures of the South Pacific: Maori, Samoan, Tahitian, and the paniolo Hawaiian cowboy style songs. Class starts at 6:30pm at the Armitage location (909 W. Armitage). Class is a mere $5 at the door.

Free Energy @ Beauty Bar

Free Energy is a band you're gonna want to dance to. You're gonna want to buy a t-shirt. You're gonna want to take one of those free stickers home and put it on your notebook or planner or trash bin (or where ever it is that you put band stickers). Free Energy is one band you're gonna want to see at Pitchfork in July, but before all that happens, see them tonight for Spandexxx at Beauty Bar with DJs Moneypenny and Team Bayside High. $5 at the door. 10pm. 1444 W. Chicago. 21 & up.

Trans Am @ Empty Bottle

Thrill Jockey darlings Trans Am plays tonight at the Empty Bottle. The band just released their latest entitled Thing. Also playing is Nice Nice and Jonas Reinhardt. The show is $15. The Empty Bottle is located at 1035 N. Western Ave, (773) 276-3600.

The Whigs @ Bottom Lounge

The Whigs new album In The Dark is an explosive collection of intense and tuneful songs that have been developed through years of non-stop touring and two critically acclaimed albums - Give 'Em All A Big Fat Lip and Mission Control. Tonight they swing through Chicago playing at Bottom Lounge. Empries and Old Fake also play. Tickets are $15. 8pm. 17 & up. 1375 W. Lake.

Meet Da Coach and Support Da Cancer Research

This charity event gives Chicagoans an opportunity to meet legendary NFL player and coach, Mike Ditka, as he attends a fundraising event for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLC). On top of meeting Coach Ditka, guests will participate in raffles and auctions to help raise money for the LLC. The event also supports the recent Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma Survivor and candidate for 'Woman of the Year' for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Rose McDermott Astorina. She hopes to raise money in honor of the LLS boy of the year, Griffin Marks, who is battling Leukemia at the age of four. The event is set to take place at Cork & Kerry located at 10614 S. Western Avenue, Chicago, IL 60655. The cost is $35 per person and all proceeds benefit LLC.

Version Fest Opening Night Party/Concert @ Co-Prosperity Sphere

If you like art or arty music you need to go to this event. This year's Version Fest Kicks off tonight at Co-Prosperity Sphere with a wild party, an art installation, and a slew of great local live music. Tonight, Telefantasy Studios will create a temporary soundstage for performance. Please come in costume as a Sci-Fi/fantasy character to be filmed, photographed, interviewed, and auditioned. Best Costume wins a surprise. Also! Browse the 15 Minute Museum (ephemera, drawings, costumes, and models exhibited by Telefantasy Studios), enjoy a Hornswaggler retrofuturist concoction at Tech Noir Bar (by Image Search LTD and Nick Bahr, with light fixtures by Kevin Rhee), gawk at a new installation of silkscreened sculptural forms and prints by super art duo Seripop, be amazed by Go.Go!, a "Fuck-n-Go" performative installation (by Adam Van Eeckhout and Zihan Loo) and freak out with SWERVE, a dance duo from outer disco space. At 8pm: World Premier of Multinauts (episode 2) (Click here for a trailer for epsiode 1.) Finally, there will be live performances by Chandeliers, Mahjongg, Brilliant Pebbles, Mr666, Extreme Animals and D J+J+J. This event is at Co-Prosperity Sphere (3219-21 S Morgan St) from 8pm to 2am tonight.

Bars Across America Release Party

Author and occasional GB contributor John Greenfield celebrates the release of his new book, Bars Across America: Drinking and Biking from Coast to Coast, with a free party featuring the Blue Line Riders honky tonk band tonight at Cole's, 2338 N. Milwaukee Ave., at 8:30pm. Greenfield will read from the book and performing songs about cycling, alternating with sets by the band.

Living Wage Palooza at DePaul

Living Wage Palooza!
Featuring speakers, music, food and more, all in support of living wages at DePaul.

Friday, April 23
3:30-5:30 PM
V&L Parking Lot, 1022 Belden Ave

The Living Wage Campaign at DePaul is a student movement in support of the contracted workers at DePaul, many of whom are currently not being paid a living wage. You can learn more by watching this video featuring DePaul's campus dining workers:

http://vimeo.com/9659736.

The event is sponsored by the DePaul Committee for Social Justice. For more information, email depaullivingwage@gmail.com

Rock for Kids 8th Annual Music Mixer

Come out to SmartBar tonight to browse and bid on dozens of mixes created by awesome members of Chicago's music community! This silent auction benefits Rock For Kids — an organization that provides music education to kids who can't get it anywhere else. Gapers Block: Transmission will have our annual submissions along with very enticing bonus items for you to bid on. Check out just some of the mixes received already. Buy tickets in advance. RSVP at Facebook. The fun gets started at 6pm and runs till 10pm. SmartBar is located below the Metro at 3730 N. Clark St. 773-549-0203

Lisa Shannon @ Women & Children First Bookstore

This Thursday and Friday, author Lisa Shannon reads from
A Thousand Sisters: My Journey into the Worst Place on Earth to Be a Woman
. The book tells of her 2007 and 2008 trips to the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo, a region in which "rape is the norm. It is a weapon of war," according to the group Human Rights Watch. John Prendergast, co-founder of The Enough Project, says A Thousand Sisters "shines a spotlight on the hope that emanates so stubbornly from this complex country, primarily through [Shannon's] loving portrayal of her Congolese sisters. Instead of victims, these women are determined survivors, three-dimensional human beings who deserve our respect and solidarity." Lisa Shannon is the founder of the fundraising group Run For Congo Women and an ambassador for Women for Women International. She'll be appearing at Barbara's Bookstore, 1218 S. Halsted, on Thursday, April 22 at 7:30 p.m. and at Women & Children First Bookstore, 5233 N. Clark, on Friday, April 23 at 7:30 p.m.

Spanish Language Poetry Festival

Contratiempo literary center, DePaul University and Northeastern Illinois University present Poesía en Abril, (Poetry in April), the 3rd annual Spanish Language Poetry Festival celebrating Poetry Month and the booming Spanish language poetry scene in Chicago. Twenty five local and international poets from as far as Venezuela and the Dominican Republic participate in the festival. The festival takes place April 24-May 1, 2010. $10 donation benefits Contratiempo magazine. Visit the website for a complete festival program, which includes dates and locations.

 

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