Live in Chicago

Ashley Gavin built a massive online following through viral crowd-work clips, but her self-funded debut hour, Live in Chicago, trades spontaneous crowd banter for tightly structured stand-up. Gavin takes the stage with a combative swagger, leaning into her reputation as an angry lesbian comic—a label she tries to escape by jokingly rebranding herself as a 9/11 comedian.\n\nFilmed at the Den Theatre in Chicago and self-released in early 2023, the special highlights Gavin’s transition from a software engineer and cruise-ship entertainer to a theater-filling headliner. Her written material targets subjects like emotional eating, dating, and a detailed takedown of pro-life logic. Rather than relying on the social-media-friendly interactions that filled her touring schedule, she delivers an aggressive, highly structured set designed to show her chops as a traditional joke-writer.