Comedy night at Sidetrack has become a tradition on Halsted Street. Everyone knows that Thursday nights is Comedy night you can count on seeing the best in funny clips, spoofs and satirical parodies at Sidetrack. I have always been a big fan of comedy and wanted to find out more about comedy night at Sidetrack and thought you might want to know more about it too. So I talked to Chuck, the manager at Sidetrack and this is what he had to say. How did Comedy Night at Sidetrack come about? Comedy Night began when we were also doing specially-themed benefits for Open Hand Groceryland almost 11-12 years ago. It was usually just once a month, but as the popularity of the format grew, we added it as a weekly event. Comedy fits into all our formats, but we play it exclusively on Thursdays. What deems a video funny enough for Comedy Night at Sidetrack? Comedy is a strange bird, kind of like an albatross in sequins. What we find funny, you find funny and the crowd finds funny are sometimes very different things. It's tough. We look for things that certainly relate to our community, but also humor is everywhere. For us, things need to bear some repeat viewing and the crowds can be talkative, so visual pieces seem to work well. Content needs to be somewhat appropriate and it's hard to draw that line, however, just the right touch of inappropriate material, or edgy material has an impact. Raunchy is not funny. Also remember, we are telling jokes with jokes, stringing themes, visuals, moods, and music together to create an experience. It's all done live, and we work with and lead the crowd through it all. It is all timing, material, delivery and the audience as factors. Have you thought about having live comedians or open mic comedy at Sidetrack? We've toyed with the idea a few times and have had several comedians come in for special events, notably Margaret Cho, Pudgy, Shann Carr, Jason Stuart and GayCo. Live comedy is sometimes a difficult thing. We can use cameras for these events so everyone can see and hear someone, but trying to give everyone in the club a similar experience is challenged because the club is made up of many rooms, although, some people prefer watching events on the monitors because they are used to it as the norm. We'd love to do more and probably will. What are the customer's reactions to your Comedy Night? Our crowd is the best. They react in so many ways, its comedy sometimes in its own way. Also, whether someone's out by themselves or in a group, everyone likes to laugh. Sharing a laugh with a stranger or a friend is what our night is all about. The world is rough enough and here you can drop your problems for a few hours and sit back and giggle. Does Sidetrack have exclusive comedy videos that others don't, if so what are they? As far as exclusives, we have an extensive library and a lot of custom edited pieces. Pepe, Boom and Mike C. are uniquely gifted when it comes to this department. It also helps to have a warped sense of humor. I mean that in the best way. They have the ability to, and to paraphrase Bette Midler, "turn a lot of chicken shit into chicken salad". We are on the lookout for new material all the time and you never know where you're going to find it. That is an exhausting daily ritual just to find and edit things to put up on the screen. Where is Comedy Night heading in the future at Sidetrack? Hopefully to new heights and bigger heels, which reminds me, we will always have a president, so we will always have new material there, but I'd rather laugh with a supportive president than laugh at a bumbling intolerant one. George W. has however, kept the crowd in stitches. I hope the future will be brighter as comedy remains timeless. What else do you want our readers to know? Just know that the sexiest thing on a man or a woman is a smile.