‘Phunny Business: A Black Comedy’ Documentary Screening and Panel Discussion

John Davies, Raymond Lambert, Reid Brody, Brian Kallies & Robert Bied invite you to attend the FREE 15th anniversary screening of the documentary PHUNNY BUSINESS: A Black Comedy the rise and fall of Chicago’s first Black owned comedy club presented by the Chicago History Museum & the Captain Dave’s Foundation for Black History Month.

Saturday, February 21, 12:30 p.m.

McCormick Theater, Chicago History Museum

Q&A TO FOLLOW MODERATED BY JEANNE SPARROW FROM I-HEART RADIO WITH FILMMAKERS JOHN DAVIES & RAY LAMBERT AND COMEDY PROMOTER KNOWLEDGE BECKOM.

PHUNNY BUSINESS: A Black Comedy chronicles the rise and fall of the Chicago based club All Jokes Aside™, which was the preeminent Black Comic showcase in the 1990’s. This mostly unheralded “star factory” impacted U.S. pop culture in a huge way, giving early exposure and early paychecks to major talent. These artists didn’t forget “the best little club no one ever heard of” and sat down in front of the cameras to relive their glory days at All Jokes Aside™. Using stills, archival performance footage and interviews, PHUNNY BUSINESS: A Black Comedy salutes the legendary showcase for its important contribution to comedy history.

Must RSVP for FREE tickets here.

“(one of) the best documentaries of the year.” -Roger Ebert, RogerEbert.com

“Phunny Business, wittily directed by John Davies…isn’t content with mere plaudits; it’s full of history and context and has a sense of humor befitting its subject matter.” -Neil Genzlinger, New York Times

“A wonderfully entertaining documentary about the club where it all began for many of today’s top comic talents. The shared proving ground for a generation of great black comic entertainers is giddily illuminated in Phunny Business: A Black Comedy, a fast-talking, sharp, witted documentary about a black-owned Chicago comedy club of the 1990s.” -Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter

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