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<p>« Inside With: Michael Palascak | Main| Pride Comedy Show 4 de Mayo! » Monday May 05 2008  Robin Williams Chills With Chicago Comedians at Lakeshore Theater</p>
<p>Monday, May 5, 2008 at 10:30AM Robin Williams was in town to make an appearance on the special Chicago set of the Ellen Degeneres Show (not "Helen," Mayor Daley), and while he was here he popped into the Lakeshore Theater Friday and Saturday night, where he performed and caught sets by Chicago comics including Hannibal Buress, Carrie Callahan, Cameron Esposito, Jena Friedman, Adam Burke, and Prescott Tolk.</p>
<p>Jena Friedman told us Williams also tagged along to Sunday night's Entertaining Julia show at the Town Hall Pub, where he was "mind-blowing."</p>
<p>Carrie Callahan reported that "I actually barely got to talk to him, but he seemed very gracious and nice. On Saturday he had an incredibly dirty set, and the audience loved it."</p>
<p>Prescott Tolk was impressed with Williams' trademark manic energy: "It was a big thrill to watch a standard showcase night at the Lakeshore Theater transform into a major event. As word got out that he was in the house, the theater went from a quarter full to sold out within 45 minutes. He was friendly and gracious from the moment he walked in the green room. It was great to watch him work. The guy transcends age when he steps on stage. All energy, all the time. I get the feeling that the Lakeshore will be privy to more 'pop-in' performances in the future."</p>
<p>According to Cameron Esposito, Williams had no entourage, hung out like any other comic, snuck behind the curtain to watch Hannibal perform, and "giggled like mad." She confirms that his Saturday set was crowd-pleasingly filthy, and said backstage he was friendly and approachable and asked Chicago's comics about the scene here. "My lovely girlfriend was with me," Esposito went on, "and she said something about a joke he made on stage, and he laughed heartily and said that was the funniest thing he had ever heard. With Robin Williams' approval, I am going to spend more time ripping off jokes from my non-comic girl."</p>
<p>Adam Burke was disappointed to have missed Williams on Friday night but bumped into him Saturday night, almost literally: "He arrived just as I was due to go on stage; I almost knocked him over on my way out of the dressing room. That would have been unfortunate. It was a great night for all the performers as the audience was fairly buzzing with excitement. (Unlike the night before, where apparently half the crowd were completely blindsided by his appearance, I think the cat was largely out of the bag by Saturday.) The place went nuts when he finally came out on stage and he did an electric and utterly filthy set. He confirmed my belief an audience does have to get the references in a joke to find it funny, such as the time he mentioned both Gabby Hayes and Walter Brennan in a bit about John Wayne porno movies. I'm pretty sure 90 percent of the audience had no idea who they are but they all busted a gut anyways. All in all it was a fantastic night."</p>
<p>Edited to add: we just heard from Hannibal on the weekend's excitement: "I actually was in the audience watching the show. I knew that Robin had performed the night before. Jena Friedman was telling him about me. He found out that my name is Hannibal and he couldn't believe that there was a comic named Hannibal and he had to see it. That's how I got to perform on the show. The crowd's energy was excellent and the show was a lot of fun. He was really complimentary and said that he enjoyed my set. It was great to watch him work. I also went to the Town Hall Pub Sunday. Watching him in a small venue like that was really exciting. "</p>
<p>-Elizabeth McQuern</p>
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