In any case, Chicago shows.

As you probably know, there's a RIDICULOUS amount of comedy in Chicago. There's no way we could cover everything, but I will (hopefully) start you in the right direction.

If you're looking to just check out shows, you probably can't go wrong at theatres like Second City, Improv Olympic, or WNEP.

For specific groups, there's perennial Chicago favorite "Too Much Light Makes the Baby Grow Blind," which presents 60 plays in 60 minutes. Interesting fun-fact: The Neo-Furturists, who created the show, just opened the second branch of TMLMtBGB in our native Brooklyn! And I still haven't seen it!

Also presenting consistently good quality shows is Fuzzy Gerdes, and his production company, FuzzyCo. They do anything from a two-person improv show, to the Neutrino Project, an adaptation of New York's own Neutrino Video Project.

But on to the important stuff: sketch.

First is Cupid Players, a good friend of Elephant Larry's who perform all musical sketch comedy. They perform regularly around town, and also host the Chicago SketchFest.

Then, I'd recommend you check out Defiant Thomas Brothers, a duo that plays smart, funny racially based comedy that is easily accesible to every race.

Other groups you might want to take a gander at include Schadenfreude, Brick, and Triplette. You should also check out the message boards at Chicago Improv Network to find out about the newest up and coming groups.

I used to have a huge dog collection in high school. Every day, after my last class was over, I'd run to the kennel and buy a pack of dogs.

At first, I just thought it was fun... My brother was into dog collecting, too, so we use to trade dogs all night. But then, I started to really get into it.

Of course, you get the most common dogs all the time. I had, like, thirty Poodles, and sixteen Golden Retrievers. But the more packs you buy, the more likely you are to get the really rare dogs: Bulldogs, Catalan Sheepdogs, South Russian Steppe Hounds.

It got to the point where my collection was out of control. I had four boxes filled to the brim with the more common dogs, and two binders stuffed with one of each. I was running out of money, space, and frankly, interest.

One day, late in December, I walked into the kennel for what I knew would be the last time. I chatted with the owner, and a couple of the customers, before grabbing a pack of dogs from the bottom of the box. I said my goodbyes, and walked out of the store.

I stood on the corner of the street, and carefully opened my pack of dogs. Poodle, Collie, Dalmation... Nothing special. Until I got to the very bottom of the pack. There it was. The one dog that was so rare, there were only four of them in existence. A Holographic Space Dog.

I screamed in giddy excitement, and ran back into the kennel to show off the find. The owner was impressed, and gave me a special plastic case to seal the dog in, free of charge. That way, the dog would never get scratched, or wrinkled, or die.

So that was it for me. I knew I could never top finding the HSD, and my dog collecting days were over.