Northside Southside

Chicago’s stand-up scene is famously segregated, a split-screen reality where comics often build their reputations entirely on one side of the city or the other. Anthony Bonazzo spent thirteen years doing the opposite. His 2022 special splits his performance into two halves: one set built on material honed for Northside rooms, and another designed for Southside crowds. He does not change his persona or his delivery; instead, he uses the division to highlight the subtle differences in what makes these distinct audiences tick.

Recorded at Zanies Chicago in Old Town, the venue where he performed his first Chicago set, the special plays out like a tribute to the grind of the local comedy ecosystem. Bonazzo, a New Jersey native who became a fixture at both Zanies and the now-closed Southside institution Jokes and Notes, has spent years opening for major touring acts like Michael Che and Vir Das. That journeyman work ethic shows in his writing. He tackles the bizarre local realities of Chicago life, from the absurdly oversized suits of former mayor Lori Lightfoot to the physical hazard of simply walking down Ashland Avenue in freezing weather, a commute that once literally threw his neck out.

Other segments touch on the awkwardness of pandemic-era drive-by birthdays, the midlife realization that he needs a store called “Forever 41” just to sit down and rest, and the stark contrast between how Black and white crowds process the same punchlines. Roy Wood Jr. once noted that you can tell Bonazzo works both sides of Chicago, and the special bears that out.