Captain Ambivalent’s Every Kind Of Talent Show

YOU (yes, you) have talent worth sharing! You just need a fantastic variety show to share it in. It’s open mic meets vaudeville meets show and tell the THIRD SATURDAY OF EACH MONTH. We’re looking for solo or group musicians, magicians, dancers, filmmakers, actors, comedians, poets, storytellers, Ted-ish talkers, visual artists, crafters, animal trainers… We mean EVERY kind of talent! (Yes, being a good audience member counts as a talent.) Then we’ll put all the pieces together into one phantasmagorical experience.

Pierogi Fest®!

Ready to renew the awesome responsibility of “alternative” accordion hour!

Front Porch Music Festival VII

A beautiful summer day with the talented student and teachers of Front Porch Music, Michael Kelsey, and me!

Gen Con!

Hey, if you’re a Con-goer who likes my sense of humor, check out the tournament by the National Society of Crazed Gamers aka

I’ll be playing at their awards ceremony again.

Cabaret On The Lake

A free, monthly variety show giving singers, storytellers, comedians, performance artists, musicians, dancers, poets, and solo artists of every type a place to develop their work.

Elgin Fringe Festival Concert

Second weekend in September: I’m taking a break from the one-man shows to do a one-time concert. Prepare for an onslaught of satirical/autobiographical/wordplay songs! Details to come…

Halloween Party Open Mic!

Halloween falls on a Thursday this year! At last, the Future is Now!

Captain Ambivalent’s Every Kind Of Talent Show

A great evening with a full house welcoming back Merle Miller (and Suzanne), Joel Brussell, Mike O, and new performer Bonni Schaaf!

Fear The Accordion

Greetings, loyal citizens of Waukegan Sector! In these dark times when our underground complex is increasingly infiltrated by secret mutants from the deadly wasteland outside our armor-plated walls, no weapon is more fearsome than the accordion. And no one wields an accordion more fearsomely than Captain Ambivalent.

In his Computer-mandated effort to explain how we got to this point, he looks to film classics like Metropolis, Star Wars, and Robocop, 1980s fear culture, and a role playing game called “Paranoia,” and discovers he may have had a little hand in The Complex himself.

Report to your re-education pods for sidesplitting musical madness!

Captain Ambivalent’s Every Kind Of Talent Show

Janet Beutner and Mike O returned for an intimate over-the-top evening.

Nobody Listens To Paula Poundstone

Chicago and Pizza

Years ago I stopped by an open mic at Borelli’s Pizza and made a big impression, so host Trisha Ricketts invited me back for an all-star bash.

Captain Ambivalent’s Every Kind Of Talent Show

A wonderful evening with Joel Brussell, Kurt Acton, Janet Beutner, and Mike O. Miss Anthropic was there in her secret identity singing along to all the words.