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Billy Kalb
Billy is a CHIRP Radio lifer – he was there the weekend it first came together, and they've been stuck with him ever since, as a board member, erstwhile DJ, and even Music Director for the station's first five years. In his 30 years on this planet, he's owned three iPods, gotten his picture taken with Ludacris, and had a letter published in Yahoo! Internet Life, not necessarily in that order. When he's not striving to make an honest living, he lives with his wife and their two pet rabbits in Humboldt Park, where he cooks, mourns the decline of the modern super hero comic, and tries not to drink his beer so fast.
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Rachel McCartney
Rachel McCartney has performed in way too many bars to still look so out of place in them. Based in Chicago, she is a regular at the Laugh Factory, and recently made her Comedians You Should Know debut opening for Drew Michael at his album recording. She has also performed at the Comedy Exposition, the Green Gravel Comedy Festival, and the Orlando Indie Comedy Festival.
The Chicago Tribune once described her as a "New Year's treat," which probably made more sense when the article was published in early January. In less calendar-sensitive praise, local legend Peter-john Byrnes once called her "Chicago's foremost grammar comedian," and she plans to have that distinction carved into her headstone. -
RJ Eldridge
RJ Eldridge is a multidisciplinary artist, writer and educator. A graduate of the University of South Florida’s graduate program in Africana Studies, where his studies focused on literature and critical theory, Eldridge has engaged widely on the role of the arts in constructing identity, and seeks to help expand the dimensions of contemporary discussion on the intersections between performance, history, race, ontology and myth. His current projects include a collection of lyric essays and visual works that inquire about time, race and yearning in a shifting moment. He lives and works in Chicago.
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Ada Cheng
Ada Cheng is renegade academic and a professor turned storyteller, improviser, and comedian. She is a recent Moth story slam winner, Bughouse Square Debate runner up, and presenter at The National Storytelling Network Conference. In her free time, she loves sleeping (with or without cats) and playing with cats (sleeping or not). Her motto is: Make your life the best story you tell.
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Alicia Swiz
Alicia Swiz is a professor and performer who facilitates conversations about feminism and pop-culture through humor, candid observation and being really smart. She teaches Media & Gender Studies at Harold Washington College and is the creator of SlutTalk, a performance that raises awareness of slut shaming and encourages sex positivity. Sometimes she's funny; sometimes she's not. Find her on the Internet @popgoesalicia
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Elle Quintana
If good stories come from a riotous life, Elle’s background is just the thing. Born in Albuquerque, she traveled her whole life, which involved attending 22 different schools, before landing in Chicago 20 years ago. She’s been a talent buyer (translation: books bands) for 17 years, and loves whiskey, taking naps, bad decisions, and her daughter. In 1980 at Washington Elementary in Kalamazoo, MI, she won student of the month. She considers that the pinnacle of her success.
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Megan Ensley
Megan is a writer, actor, singer, political activist, and aspiring psychologist. She sings with the band, The Mashed Potatoes, has performed in numerous cabarets with Brown Paper Box Co., and has told stories for Story Lab Chicago and TUTA Theatre. She has also been a performer, writer, and director for various sketch comedy shows at The Second City Training Center and Stage 773. When not performing, Megan can be found working on graduate school applications to become a clinical psychologist.