Ask someone "What's comedy in Chicago?" and most times they'll recall sitting in a darkened theater shouting out suggestions like "office politics" or "Tuesday" to a troupe of improvisers. Rarely does it mean watching a comedian stand -- and just stand -- on a stage, microphone in hand, as he or she rifles off jokes to a crowd expecting laughs. But stand-up comedy in Chicago does exist. For the last few years the local scene has enjoyed a crop of men and women so laugh-out-loud funny they snagged TV appearances and club dates in New York and Los Angeles and moved out to the coasts.

But as Aristotle once said, "Nature abhors a vacuum." A new scene always emerges. We'll show you where to find the new jokesters and the best rooms and venues for stand-up in the city and suburbs -- who's hot and where's funny.

UPCOMING SHOWS

Christopher Titus is Friday to Saturday and David Alan Grier is March 13 to 15 at The Improv, 5 Woodfield Rd., Schaumburg, 847-240-2001 and improv2.com.

Brendan McGowan / Allison Leber / Prescott Tolk: Tuesday at Beat Kitchen, 2100 W. Belmont Ave., 773-281-4444 and chicagoundergroundcomedy.com.