Queer Comedy at Zanies presents Casey Ley!

Known across the country for presenting the best national standup comedians and explicitly featuring LGBTQ acts, February's Queer Comedy at Zanies show features a cabaret style show with standup, sketch, audience games, music and headlined by Stand Out: The National Queer Comedy Search runner up Casey Ley! Queer Comedy at Zanies has been named the Advocate.com‘s “9 LGBT Friendly Comedy Shows You Should Be Supporting,” Timeout Chicago‘s “Critic’s Pick,” The Redeye’s “Do” and included in Chicago Reader’s “The Agenda” and “Culture Vulture” with the praise “More, please.” Comedians who have appeared at Queer Comedy at Zanies have also appeared on Conan, Comedy Central, The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson, Chelsea Lately, BET, TBS Just For Laughs, SXSW, Comedy Bang Bang, A Night At The Apollo, and Last Comic Standing. February’s show will feature comedians identifying as lesbian, gay, straight and bi sexual to continue showing that whether audience members are queer or straight, laughter knows no sexuality. Headlined by Casey Ley. Ley’s comedy is silly. And smart And dirty. And dark. And handsome. It’s a lot like him actually. So it is also self-centered and flakey and relatively promiscuous. He is the creator of the popular San Francisco comedy game show Mayhem Trivia and stand-up show Some People Like Us. He has performed in festivals like SFSketchfest, Bridgetown in Portland, Oregon and the Moontower Festival in Austin, TX and on stage with comics such as Hannibal Burress, Todd Barry, Maria Bamford Doug Benson, Mike Birbiglia and Janeane Garofalo. Casey was voted best comic in San Francisco by SF Weekly in 2012 and his comedy has appeared on NPR, side rooms all over the country and in his mind for three decades. Hosted by Adam Guerino. Guerino has been credited as a “comedian-producer-genius” by Chicago Reader. He is the creator of OutLoud Chicago which has brought queer entertainment to the mainstream for over 2 years in Chicago and Stand Out: The National Queer Comedy Search which partnered with The Advocate Magazine to give queer comedians national exposure. He writes the relationship blog Boyfriend Land and the storyteller blog Before The Story. He has been featured in comedy clubs all across the country and in Timeout Chicago’s Joke of The Week, The Redeye, Gaper’s Block, Huffington Post and Chicago Public Radio. For more info, www.adamguerino.com is a great place to start. Michelle Renee Thompson grew up in Columbus, Ohio, where she received a BFA in Theatre Performance from Otterbein University…you know, one of those degrees that guarantees a fast track to the big bucks! Since moving to Chicago, she’s performed stand up comedy, improv comedy and has appeared in a few independent films and commercials. She has also performed with several different theatre companies, including: Chicago Actors Ensemble, Touchstone Theatre and The Bailiwick Repertory. She is a founding member of Corn Productions, where she has performed, directed, choreographed and written several plays. Michelle can currently be seen as David “Slide” Rothstein in Reality Recap Reunion at the Annoyance Theatre. Featuring Kelsie Huff. Huff is a Chicago based stand-up comedian performing all over the Midwest. She has created three one-woman shows and is working on her fourth, "Ranch Dressing and Other Coping Mechanisms", coming to Chicago this spring. She teaches stand-up and storytelling classes and produces the all female comedy showcase called the kates. Her company Joke Deli is a member of NACA Mid-America. @kelsiehuff www.kelsiehuff.com. Manny Capozzi is loop artist and stand up guitarist. Manny released his first length album "Sometimes It's Funny" in May of 2012 and his single "Let's Get Fat Together" hit #40 on the A/C 200 charts. His upcoming release "Mister E. Machine" is slated for release in May 2014. Manny is the co-host of Sing Your Ass Off, a live band open mic at Jackhammer Night Club every Wednesday at 9pm. Kris McDermott is a digital marketing nerd by day and teller of jokes and stories by night, wherever they’ll let her. Originally from a small town in Ohio, her voice is dry with a blue-collar sensibility. She’s interested in exploring topics like gender, race and class, always with a self-deprecating voice. She’s performed at Zanies Chicago, in Chicago showcases such as The Gogo Show, The Kates and Performance Anxiety Chicago, and performed as part of Cleveland’s Accidental Comedy Fest in 2013. She is a producer of Queer Comedy at Zanies, Chicago’s longest running showcase with a focus on queer inclusion. Her comic interview series, “Hey, Can I Bother You?” has been published by some of Chicago’s biggest media publications. Follow her on Twitter, if you like: @krismcdermott or visit her website and blog at krismcdermott.com. Amy Eisenberg has performed at venues such as Zanies, Second City, Laugh Factory, and many more. She is also the producer of the comedy showcase Just Dickin' Around. Just Dickin' Around show cases are held the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month at Hydrate, the 2nd Thursday of the month at The Parlour in Andersonville, and the third Thursday of the month at Halsted's Bar and Grill. Trannika Rex is a drag queen and master master of ceremonies in Chicago, she is the regular host of Drag Matinee at Berlin nightclub and Trannika’s Most Wanted at Scarlet Bar. Known for her hilarious and scathing sass, boozy and baudy crowd work, the diva brings her comedy styles to the stand up comedy stage for the first time. Tuesday February 25th at 8:30pm, Zanies Comedy Club 1548 N Wells. Tickets are $15 and available at Chicago.zanies.com or at the door. Audience members must be 21/+. Two item minimum.