Upcoming Events

Comedy Writing Workshop Series: Wanna learn how to make people laugh? BABS Comedy Club offers a unique way to learn comedy writing, with every week focusing on different elements, forms, and structures. You can even stay after class and try your new material out in front of an audience at our FREE standup open mic, Thursdays @8. Purchase the class pass for $200 to learn it all AND perform in a showcase the BABS stage, or simply drop-in to the class that interests you for only $25!

Week 1: Generating unlimited material and brainstorming techniques (2/6/25)

Week 2: The anatomy of a joke (2/13/25)

Week 3: Standup writing and performing; crowd work (2/20/25)

Week 4: Sketch writing structure and improvising to create a sketch (2/27/25)

Week 5: Sketch writing formats Part 1 (3/6/25)

Week 6: Sketch Writing formats Part 2 (3/13/25)

Week 7: Writing Desk Pieces and Monologues for TV (3/20/2525)

Week 8: Comedic Song writing (3/27/25)

Week 9: Comedy Showcase Rehearsal- *only included with 10 class package purchase (4/3/25)

Week 10: Student Comedy Showcase on the BABS Stage!- *only included with 10 class package purchase (4/6/25 @6pm)

Watch comedians from novices to experts work out their new material in front of YOU, our live audience.  

* FREE Admission!

* 3-4 minute Standup sets, depending on list length

* Doors Open / Signups at 7:30pm

*List caps at 35 people

Bring the kiddos out to our high-energy, interactive improv comedy show! Watch as our comedians create hilarious scenes and songs based on YOUR suggestions and creating a choose-your-own-comedy-adventure show where your kiddos call the shots! No two shows are the same, so you can come back again and again! And best of all, parents can enjoy the show with an adult libation from our bar featuring beer, wine, ready-to-drink cocktails, and more! Highly recommended for kids ages 3-14. 

Some light is used at this show that may be disruptive to people who are sensitive to light.

The "BABS Babes" are a collection of Chicago's most talented improv comedians and they're banding together to put on the funniest improv show in town! Enjoy a hilarious, high-energy, interactive improv show featuring live piano accompaniment and YOUR suggestions as our inspiration! And because it's totally improvised, we guarantee you'll never see the same show twice!

Run time is approximately 90 minutes with an intermission

Under 18 years of age permitted with parent/guardian

*Getting here: We are located at 7316 Madison St., between Circle Ave. and Marengo. We are 10 miles west of downtown Chicago, off the 290W Harlem exit. We are a .6 mi walk from the Harlem Blue Line Station, and .8 miles from the Harlem/Lake Green Line Station and UP-W Metra Oak Park Station.

*Parking: There is ample metered parking on Madison Street ($1/hour until 8pm) and free street parking in surrounding residential areas. Please be aware of parking signage and permitted areas, and be mindful of our neighbors when entering and exiting the venue.

*Food/Drinks: We serve bottled and canned sodas, sparkling waters, beers, and pre-mixed cocktails, as well as small pre-packaged snacks for purchase. If you’re looking for a full meal, we recommend coming out early and enjoying one of the many delicious local restaurants in Forest Park-- outside food is permitted!

*Accessibility: Please email babscomedyclub@gmail.com or call (773)916-5565 with accessibility questions or requests. Arrangements can be made to accommodate your needs with prior notice.

A hilariously naughty improv improv show à la "Whose Line Is It Anyway," made especially for our Adults-Only crowd! Watch as our cast of hilarious improvisors (aka the BABS Babes) turn your suggestions into hilarious scenes that would only be allowed After Dark! 

Run time is approximately 90 minutes.

Under 18 not admitted without parent or guardian.

Some moviegoing experiences are made for everyone to sit quietly and absorb the film's artistic genius. This is the opposite of that. Come experience a Botch Party, a free-for-all evisceration of a terrible, strange, unbelievable, obscure movie. Carina Magyar, Aaron McDavis, and Adam Kwaselow will make jokes and you're invited to play along! Drinking games, contests, and opportunities for YOU to "enhance" the movie abound. Plus, the movies themselves are entertainingly weird. Spend an evening reveling in all the bizarre ways humanity has invented to amuse each other. 

This month, it’s LOQUEESHA! The movie where the white guy impersonates a black woman in order to get a radio show where he dispenses advice. It's meant to be a comedy, but the idea is so tragic that it's just a car accident for us to gawk at together. Come holler insults with us at the screen as we give away prizes, have drinking games to survive the experience, and do other fun interruptions! As always, the show is completely free. See you there!

Improv comedy is an incredibly useful tool for both comedians and non-performers alike! Through games that tickle the brain and the funny bone, you'll learn to think quickly on your feet, find humor in reality, and expand your overall range and comfort in any occasion. Every week focuses on a different facet of improv, so purchase the class pass for $200 to learn it all AND perform in a showcase, or simply drop-in to whichever class interests you for only $25!

Week 1: Improv Basics (2/5/25)

Week 2: Finding the Game of the Scene (2/12/25)

**OFF WEEK OF 2/19 FOR PRIVATE EVENT**

Week 3: Building Characters (2/26/25)

Week 4: Relationship Scenes (3/5/25)

Week 5: Physical Movement/Object work/Scene building (3/12/25)

Week 6: Genres, Emotional exploration (3/19/25)

Week 7: Short form games, One-liner games, X-factor (3/26/25)

Week 8: Music improv (4/2/25)

Week 9: Improv Showcase Rehearsal- *only included with 8 class package purchase (4/9/25)

Week 10: Improv Showcase- *only included with 8 class package purchase (4/13/25 @6pm)

Join us every Wednesday at 8pm for a FREE open improv comedy jam! A BABS house team player will lead the room in short-form and long-form improv comedy games so you can have a blast while refining your skills! All skill/experience levels are welcome and it's also free to watch if you're looking for a fun, informal night of laughter. Plus the bar is open and serving tasty beers, wines, ready-to-drink cocktails, sodas, and more!

Every week, catch a different lineup of your favorite comedians from all over Chicago, Chicagoland, and beyond! Enjoy a night of laughter while you watch the most iconic rising stars of comedy right in your neighborhood! 

Calling all Stoners, Takers, and California Sobers! Come celebrate our favorite bud at the 4/20 Dope Show, a comedy show featuring standup, improv, games, and much more, all about that good broccoli! Head to Parkway Dispensary at 7432 Madison to get your pre-party goodies AND a discount ticket to our 4/20 show! We'll have trippy visuals before and after the comedy, a DJ on the 1's and 2's, a comfy Lounge outside to get a breath of "fresh" air, and raffles/prized provided by Parkway Dispensary! Show starts at 4pm, but let's be honest...knowing y'all burnouts, we'll probably get started closer to 4:20 ;)

Improv comedy is an incredibly useful tool for both comedians and non-performers alike! Through games that tickle the brain and the funny bone, you'll learn to think quickly on your feet, find humor in reality, and expand your overall range and comfort in any occasion. Every week focuses on a different facet of improv, and the entire series culminates in a student showcase on the BABS stage!

Wanna learn how to make people laugh? BABS Comedy Club offers a unique way to learn comedy writing, with every week focusing on different elements, forms, and structures. You can even stay after class and try your new material out in front of an audience at our FREE standup open mic, Thursdays @8. Best of all, the entire series culminates in a student showcase where your best writing is performed on the BABS stage! *Minimum 8 students registered by May 3rd for classes to begin*

Week 1: Generating unlimited material and brainstorming techniques (5/8/25)

Week 2: The anatomy of a joke (5/15/25)

Week 3: Standup writing and performing; crowd work (5/22/25)

Week 4: Sketch writing structure and improvising to create a sketch (5/29/25)

Week 5: Sketch writing formats Part 1 (6/5/25)

Week 6: Sketch Writing formats Part 2 (6/12/25)

Week 7: Writing Desk Pieces and Monologues for TV (6/19/2525)

Week 8: Comedic Song writing (6/26/25)

Week 9: Comedy Showcase Rehearsal (7/3/25)

Week 10: Student Comedy Showcase on the BABS Stage! (7/6/25 @6pm)

An improv workshop just for the kiddos, taught by professional improv comedians who also have decades of experience in child education! We'll lead the classes in fun exercises and games straight from the short-form improv comedy world to help them build skills such as confidence, active listening, healthy voice projection, reading body language cues, strengthening your collaborative spirit, creativity, physicality, and comedy performance– all in a fun, supportive, and silly environment!

(5) 2-hour workshops that culminate in a combined showcase on the BABS stage! Parents, get those camera's ready! ;) 

An improv workshop just for the kiddos, taught by professional improv comedians who also have decades of experience in child education! We'll lead the classes in fun exercises and games straight from the short-form improv comedy world to help them build skills such as confidence, active listening, healthy voice projection, reading body language cues, strengthening your collaborative spirit, creativity, physicality, and comedy performance– all in a fun, supportive, and silly environment!

(5) 2-hour workshops that culminate in a combined showcase on the BABS stage! Parents, get those camera's ready! ;) 

An improv workshop just for the teens, taught by professional improv comedians who also have decades of experience in child education! We'll lead the classes in fun exercises and games straight from the short-form improv comedy world to help them build skills such as confidence, active listening, healthy voice projection, reading body language cues, strengthening your collaborative spirit, creativity, physicality, and comedy performance– all in a fun, supportive, and silly environment!

(5) 2-hour workshops that culminate in a combined showcase on the BABS stage! Parents, get those camera's ready! ;) 

After an action-packed week full of learning and laughing, our improv workshop students will join together to perform in a showcase on the beautiful BABS stage and show off their newly-acquired comedy chops for friends and family! Parents, get those cameras ready to capture your budding comedy star!