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Asperger’s Are Us, Parv & Pudi kick off two weeks of laughs at Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival

Chicago Tribune - 1/10/2020

It’s rare that interviews are non-stop laugh sessions.

Direct questions often yield direct answers.

But not with the comedy troupe Asperger’s Are Us, a group of four Boston-adjacent openly autistic people. You may recall the group’s members Noah Britton, Ethan Finlan, Jack Hanke and New Michael Ingemi after the six-part HBO documentary series “On Tour With Asperger’s Are Us” aired in spring 2019 which showcased their first cross-country tour.

From the time Ingemi, Finlan, and Hanke (Britton was on the West Coast sleeping, per Ingemi) started talking about their upcoming appearance at the 19th Annual Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival this Friday and Saturday, the team bantered jokes that kept the guffaws flowing. The following is edited from our conversation.

Q: How did the team come to the Fest?

Ingemi: I forget if it was carrier pigeon or email. Jack do you remember?

Hanke: It was smoke signals.

Ingemi: I think they forgot that carrier pigeons have a range of 500 miles, so they had to email us instead because the pigeons kept dying in route.

Finlan: Very unprofessional. Actually, one of the pigeons went to my Spam pigeon folder.

Q: Is it hard to keep the rhythm going after 10 years together as a comedy team?

Ingemi: We’re not really friends at all, we’re sort of all nemeses. The spite motivates us to jump in and I think our mutually held malice really encourages us to keep the insults and the anger going. Once our rage and hatred boils out …

Hanke: The beautiful thing about our troupe was 10 years ago, we all started out as really good friends and now 10 years on, we’ve become really good colleagues -- we worked our way up.

Ingemi: That’s all anyone can hope to accomplish really with a friendship (laughing).The friendship has sunk to the bottom of the sea, but the colleague-ship has soared to new highs.

With nearly 120 performances over the course of two weeks, SketchFest kicks off Thursday at Stage 773 with Chicago-area natives and funnymen Parvesh Cheena and Danny Pudi (a two-man show called Parv & Pudi). The duration of the fest, which began in 2002, will showcase international ensembles, comedy veterans, and fresh talent. Other line-up highlights: SketchFest favorites Rehner & Nixon and Off Off Broadzway, Los Angeles-based Billionaire Pity Party, and Comedy Dance Chicago, who use physical comedy and dance to connect with their audience. International acts include Toronto-based The Wow, Latin American-influenced Salsation Theatre Company NFP, and Israeli Wonder.

SketchFest executive producer Jill Valentine says there is something for everyone’s comedic taste.

“SketchFest loves when comedians come home to Chicago after making such a name in the industry,” Valentine said. “Danny Pudi and Parvesh Cheena are great examples of amazing talent that come back to Chicago where audiences absolutely love them. Asperger’s Are Us ... I caught their documentary on HBO and thought I need to get them to Chicago. I thought that bringing this group will not only inspire all different types of comedians but also show Chicago audiences comedy is for everyone. These guys are super refreshing and downright funny.”

As for the guys in Asperger’s Are Us, this is not the first time they will be on a Chicago stage.

When asked what new material can the audience expect, Ingemi said, “All of our material was handed down to us via stone tablets by our ancient ancestors.”

So they’re just repurposing all of the jokes?

“Exactly, it’s all plagiarized,” Ingemi said.

The Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival runs through Jan. 19 at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave.; nightly and festival passes range from $22.50 to $275 at www.stage773.com/cscf-passes.

drockett@chicagotribune.com

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