Most Popular
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How Progressive insurance lost what made it progressive
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An ancient Apollo statue landed in Cleveland and touched off an international outcry
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Joe Cimperman hopes to tear down his former hero, Dennis Kucinich
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Beat Down
Cleveland teachers swap stories of school violence.
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Everybody Hates Mike
The peril of coaching an icon.
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How Progressive insurance lost what made it progressive (27)
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At Indie-Rock Singles Night in Cleveland, an event for hipsters lacks one key ingredient: Hipsters (22)
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$100 Bounty on That Kid (19)
Copley-Fairlawn finds a way to keep the impostors out.
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Dennis Kucinichs brave talk about working and fighting from the safety of the officers tent (10)
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Beat Down (4)
Cleveland teachers swap stories of school violence.
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Rubber-Made
Latex trumps leather at gay-guy garbfest.
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Bernie's Back
Beloved Browns QB moves the Gladiators into their new home.
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Big MAC Attack
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West Side Stories
Middleburg Regal finally screens Cedar Lee-style flicks.
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Car-Studded Event
Superstars' rides join the latest makes and models at the Auto Show.
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SXSW: A garden of sweaty, happy hipsters
09:22AM 03/16/08 -
SXSW: Merge Records, as indie-licious as ever
09:32PM 03/15/08 -
SXSW: Attacking, releasing with the Black Keys
12:10AM 03/15/08 -
Saving Damon Jones' mohawk: A fight worth fighting
12:39PM 03/14/08 -
Picks of the Weekend: Keep running, man. There's beer in your future
12:31PM 03/14/08
What we are writing about
- Black Sabbath
- Bob Dylan
- classic rock
- Cleveland art
- Cleveland dining hotspots
- Cleveland theater
- family films
- foodie media
- Get religion!
- great video games
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- indie rock
- jazz
- legal eagles
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- murder & mayhem
- must-see movies
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- Ohio City
- political clap-trap
- Punk
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- Singer-Songwriter
- sporting life
- urban crime
- weird theater
- white-collar baddies
Recent Articles By Cris Glaser
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West Side Stories
Middleburg Regal finally screens Cedar Lee-style flicks.
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The Pipes Are Calling
The sounds of Erin fill downtown Cleveland for the St. Patrick's Day Parade.
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Wheels on Reels
Cars in the movies are the stars of the show at Autorama.
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Plug Into Austin's Power
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Holy Moses!
New exhibit memorializes late preacher's inspirational art.
National Features
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Phoenix New Times
Canine Crusaders
That drug-sniffing dog up ahead? He may not be your best friend.
By Ray Stern -
Broward-Palm Beach New Times
The Muscle Men
Thanks to a string of Florida "anti-aging clinics," baseball's steroid scandal isn't limited to superstars.
By Michael J. Mooney -
Miami New Times
Picked On
Farm workers earn nada in America's green-bean capital.
By Janine Zeitlin -
Village Voice
"Why I'm No Longer a Brain-Dead Liberal"
An election-season essay from one of America's greatest playwrights.
By David Mamet
Movin' on Up
Local comedians band together, play a swanky club.
By Cris Glaser
Published: June 13, 2007The Irregulars comedy group takes its act to a classier joint tonight. On the third Tuesday of each month, the 11-man troupe ditches open-mic nights at neighborhood shot-and-beer spots in favor of stand-up showcases at the Improv. “Not to sound haughty, but open-mic nights have a stigma of being a bunch of doctors who you think are funny when you’re sitting in their chair and under gas,” says Jeff Blanchard, the company’s co-founder. “It would work if you could bring nitrous oxide into a bar. But since you can’t smoke in a bar anymore, they’re not going to let you gas anyone either.”
Each outing features at least four local comics from the rotating cast. Tonight’s roster includes sets by Mike Baker, Mike Polk, and Bill Squire. Blanchard will also be on board, griping about recycling, the war, and drivers in gas-guzzling vehicles. “When you’re filling up your Hummer, you can’t bitch about gas prices,” he says. “Unless you’re invading Chagrin Falls, there’s no reason for Hummers en masse to go down to Trader Joe’s.”
Blanchard hopes to expand the Improv gig to a bimonthly event in September. He says regional comedians should be in the national spotlight. Forget about old-time Cleveland-bred funnymen like Drew Carey, Bob Hope, and Martin Mull, he says. “How about the Mike Polks, the Mike Bakers, and the Bill Squires? These are the guys you’ll talk about in 10 years.”
Tue., June 19, 7:30 p.m.








