Category — Entertainment

Cupid’s Loveshack Party at The Joynt! from Jen Knoedl on Vimeo.

Whether you are on a date, want a date or footloose-and-fancy-free. ..

Come celebrate ALL the things you LOVE at…

CUPID’S LOVESHACK!!!

Wear RED or PINK and your first cocktail is on CUPID!

PLUS…

$6 SWEETIE-TINIS!

* Appetizers from LA SCAROLA
* Desserts from DESSERT CONCEPTS
* Special guest performance by singer-songwriter DAKOTA
* LIVE JAZZ music by Steve Biossat at The Deep City Band
* DJ BOOGIEMAN
* Sweet RAFFLE PRIZES from ANIKO SALON & SPA, DANA HOTEL, LA SCAROLA, AND DEVON’S SEAFOOD & GRILL!!

The GRAND PRIZE raffle will be:

ANIKO GOLD SPA DAY- (valued at $290) and includes the following: Aniko Massage (90 minute), Stress Solution Spa Facial, Aniko Spa Manicure, Aniko Spa Pedicure and Lunch!!!

The SAUCE: Blue screening our way through Chicago! from Jen Knoedl on Vimeo.

I wish you all a very safe, peaceful and merry Christmas! Here is my “I’m on vacation” version of The SAUCE this week!

Ho-Ho-Ho!
Jen

The SAUCE: Jingle Bell Jam, SAUCEY tweets & Girl’s Night! from Jen Knoedl on Vimeo.

I think I have done better jobs of editing. I was trying to make this video concise but I didn’t really script it that way, so I think there are spots where my face changed before I cut the scene up and I can see it. Every week, I’m trying new things and some old things are getting scrapped. It’s such an evolution.

I wanted to find a way to promote our holiday parties without being too “pushy” and “boring”, so Santa seemed like a good solution. What do you think? In any case, shooting the Santa part was fun and I already have a request to perform another Santa dance at Steve Green’s Christmas Party this year. I am planning a full-on performance with elves and everything!

This week the video was also more personal especially with all of the Halloween parties going on, and me being in all of my pictures. I wasn’t sure if people would be interested in that, but it seems it’s going over pretty well!

Theresa gave me her “TLT pick of the week” and will continue to do so, moving forward, so that’s a new addition… Hmm… What else? Oh! I’m posting late this week because Joe Piscopo was in town and we were working on all kinds of pre-production stuff for The Joynt After Dark. I’m excited about the idea of being the “Girl on the street” doing interviews and all.

Okay, that’s all. I’d love your feedback and I love your guts!

Hi everyone, I’m JenChicago and you’re watching The SAUCE. We had a very full week, last week so let’s get into it, shall we?

Starting Wednesday, Tiffany Junta, Karen Kovach and I hosted the learning of the Thriller dance downstairs in the retro room. We were joined by Steve Green, of course, Angela Woodward, Sarah Vargo John Abels, Chris Mahlmann and Michelle Reed. We practiced until we were sweaty, ate some pizza and then remembered to commemorate the union of fun with a picture. I love you guys for playing with me! Meanwhile, upstairs, Stella Foster of the Sun Times chatted with “I on The Scene’s” Irene Michaels, birthday girl Roni Siegel, and Irina Kaiser. The classy ladies had such a good time listening to Kenny and the Deep City Band, Stella mentioned it in her Sun Times column . Mm-hmm. If you don’t know what you are missing on Wednesday nights, here’s a taste. [video of Kenny singing]

In the words of Stella Foster, on a Wednesday night. “That’s a jam!”

Then, Thursday night, Chef Lloyd and I are discussing the menu when Junta rolls in. Tiffany is one of my many smart and pretty friends and is also the Director of Sales over at Devon-yum!- So once she hears of the impending menu redesign, she whips off her jacket and 4 hours later, we have a new menu called “small bites for late nights” and it even includes dessert. Mmm! I love it. And so will you.

So then, the Halloween celebration started off on Friday and one of the highlights has to be DJ Jack dressed up as Stan. He had the slicked back hair, the draping tie, and even walked around with a snifter of Crown Royal. Only the “die hards” dressed up on Friday, but Saturday was a different story…

First of all, Stan and Paul’s costumes didn’t make it here in time, even though I paid $40 in priority shipping and the site said it would. There was only ONE site that had sheep costumes, which I found rather odd, but anyway, it’s in the past and I have every confidence they will refund ALL of my money, yada-ya, but… in the meantime, I was short 2 black sheep costumes and knew I would have to MAKE costumes! More like “I wanted to” but whatever. So, I come up with a plan that consists of black sweat suits, with socks for ears and black batting all over. Batting is like stuffing for a quilt, so of course, you can’t buy it at your Walgreens or 7-11. No problem. I go to Michaels and buy WHITE batting. Then I beg Stan to buy me some contraband black spray paint with his commercial account. Long story short, I spray painted the batting on Paul’s costume first and shortly realized those guys would be high as a kites with a killer headache if I made them wear spray paint all night. But it would have looked cool. So Stan was a good sport and let me sew some ears and a tail on a hoodie as he took Theresa, Karen and I to Ari’s party. BTW, Ryan and Jack- you guys owe me $5 a piece because anything with ears definitely counts as a costume.

So, The Graveyard Millionaire Party!! What an amazing concert of coordination and attention to detail! Ari, dressed as Wolverine had multiple bands, multiple rooms, great decorations and EVERYONE was dressed up, which made it incredibly fun! Awesome party, Ari! My birthday is in June.

So, with a good buzz, and Stan as the designated drive, who had apparently had enough of costume-time, we all came back to The Joynt and had a blast with new friends, old friends and some people that we will probably never know the true identity of! Birthday Boy, Bill Zheme came by along with prisoner/CBS news anchor Jim Williams. He doesn’t look sad at all about being captured does he? DJ Architect was sweet enough to play Thriller for 5 girls who practiced for 2 days but apparently couldn’t seem to remember what comes after the third round of head-snaps, so they just made some stuff up at the end. I guess we should have drank while we practiced too. Oh well, it was fun and we looked cute trying, so everyone cut us some slack and clapped anyway. Ahh! What a night! We want to thank everyone who came out, and “double dog” thank you to everyone who dressed up! We all had so much fun looking at each other and taking pictures. I have got to give a huge shout out to Batman characters Zach Cox, Justin Buhmann, Michael Fox and James Helgerson. You guys TOTALLY made our night!

Well, Halloween IS over, and the smell of Thanksgiving turkeys are beginning to waft in the air, and YOU know what the means…
[santa costume]

SCRIPT
• Ho-ho-ho!
• Hi Santa!
• Hello JenChicago!
• What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be getting ready for Christmas?
• Ho-ho-ho, I’m not like you… I don’t wait until the last minute to do everything. [tap on head] Yes, I found time to swing down and deliver to the good people of Chicago an early present. The gift of knowledge.
• Cool.
• Because you know, Jen, many people are beginning to plan their holiday parties without the foggiest idea of where to begin. And since I host my “elf appreciation party” here at The Joynt, every year, I thought it quite Christian of me to share the good news.
• Thanks Santa!
• Now, Mrs. Claus and I always rent out the entire bar, but I’m rich and I can do that… What everyone else may not know is that each of the 4 rooms can be rented out individually for groups of 20 to 200. Parties, fundraisers, game night, toy making… whatever! And for smaller groups, table reservations are available in each room after dinner, or the play or the office party. You can invite everyone in your town of who-ville to come join you for a night of music, dancing, food and cocktails. Everything you need to entertain your group, is already happening in The Joynt!
• Wow, Santa! That’s great! I couldn’t have said it better myself.
• Well… I went to college.
• (confused)
• Okay, well Rudolph is standing in a tow zone outside, so I better go, but remember: Holiday parties. At the Joynt. Any size group for Santa-sized fun. And that’s it! Oh- and BE GOOD! Gotta fly!
• Um… ok… goodbye Santa. Thanks again! (whistfully) I love you.
• I’m Kris Kringle, and you’re watching The SAUCE.

As you can see from my backdrop, last night, we had an open casting call for comics and variety acts for Joe Piscopo’s, upcoming show The Joynt After Dark. There were ALL ranges of talent and skill and we want to thank everyone for their time and for having the… *hand motion* courage(?) to go for a dream. Even Joe hopped up on stage for a bit. We had a lot of fun with ya’ll… right Joe? [get joe to say- you are absolutely right, jen *looks down at paper* BTW, I think Stan and Paul should quadruple your pay.”] Nice. See? Joe knows what’s up.

SAUCE packets: a little taste of everything
• Congratulations to my sweet friend Rebecca Jane Hanson who just started her new job as a commercial litigator… whatever that means.
• Last week, Congressman Danny Davis hosted a successful fundraiser PLUS Angela Orlando and gals were the life of the party while they celebrated her bachelorette party here… What can we say? The Joynt is a great place to have a party! DJ Boogieman, rocked out the Retro Room on Friday night again. It’s like a grown up dance party, down there and there ain’t nothin’ wrong with that!
• Candidate for Lieutenant Governor, Thomas Castillo, is hosting a fundraiser at The Joynt this weekend and here’s the best part… it’s doubling as his birthday party! Yup- This Friday, from 8-10 the little slugger is celebrating his 33rd birthday AND officially filing his nomination petitions. So, for a minimum donation of $20 you can come hang with Mr. Castillo and see if he’s “WINDY” enough to blow out all 33 of those candles! Hmm… What do you think he’ll wish for? [pic of Thomas w caption bubble- I win!]
• Have you been rocking out with KISS for the past 35 years? The Local Tourist pick of the week is “KISS alive 35” tour coming to Chicago this Friday. The concert celebrates KISS’ 35th anniversary. If you make it out to the concert, come tell us all about it afterwards, since I’m sure you’ll keep on shouting… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Env5iMrBjws

And now it’s time for some birthdays!
[clip: happy birthday pic w audio]

1. Angie Vasic Tants
2. Anthony B. Abbinante
3. Anthony Coppolillo
4. Ashley Shea
5. Bill Demis
6. Christopher Clark
7. Dave Andrews
8. David Lawrence,
9. Elizabeth Mendez
10. Glenda Watson Hyatt
11. Grant DePorter
12. Jack Killackey
13. Jason Erkes
14. Jennifer Gamberale
15. Jennifer Perucca
16. Kimberly Tremmel
17. Lenny Skorcz
18. Lynda Gears
19. Michelle Alegria
20. Mookie Lee
21. Paula Riggins
22. Ray Doeksen
23. Robert Mudd
24. Ryan Steele
25. Sarah Evans
26. Thomas Castillo

And that’s it for this week’s edition of the SAUCE. Until next week… you stay saucy, Chicago!

Hearing Impaired?  Find the original script here.

This is The SAUCE video for the week beginning October 22, 2009.

Original and unedited script is available here for the hearing impaired.

*The following is my original script with ideas for video.  Many edits have been made.**

Hey Everyone, I’m JenChicago, this is Toto and you’re watching The SAUCE. Maybe you expected the SAUCE yesterday, but we had to toss the SAUCE from yesterday… It just wouldn’t do.  So here it is- a day late, but remade with love and from scratch.  So eat it! 

Weird Al’s video “Eat it?”

*witch cackle*

What a week we had here at the Joynt, Toto! Stan’s long time friend, Joe Piscopo and gal pal, Jess, came in town Saturday night- just in time for Sweetest Day. *aww* The guys are moving forward with Ari Golan and Jimmy the Hat on preproduction of the sweetest variety show to hit Chicago in a very long time.  The Joynt After Dark, hosted by Mr. Piscopo, is creeping forward to shoot in November. *scary growl or evil laugh*

Joe and Jess came into town and a few of us went out for a scrumptious dinner at N9ne Steakhouse. Big thumbs up to Bruno for taking care of us at the table, and of course our buddy, and manager Tim Griffin; who also has the fine taste enough to frequent the Joynt on a regular basis. The surf and turf I ordered was outstanding! And the Ketel martinis straight up with 3 blue cheese olives were so good, I think we made a believer out of Jess. From there we went back to The Joynt, where Joe had the whole crowd singing and swaying as he and Dakota sang “New York, New York”.
 [VIDEO]

Fun right?! I know! There was all kinds of excitement going on Saturday night! Which is why I didn’t catch any of Joe’s comedy on camera… I was in the Grand Bar celebrating DJ Jack’s birthday with a big ol’ cookie cake and then… he played my song and I just had to get my boogie on…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGjC0wbUXzk

*dancing* Now THAT’S a good song, even Napolean Dynamite thinks so! And speaking of good songs, after my dance, I popped back in the Piano room and what do I find?!? Joe!  Rocking out on the drums and doing some cool freelance thing with Zachary on the congos or bongos- I forget which is which. Anyway, it looked like so much fun, I can’t to watch it again right NOW!

[VIDEO]

 Talented guys… Joe was really nice and gracious, too. He took pictures with anyone that asked, which was a lot of pictures- even by my standards. Our buddy and best-selling author Bill Zehme took a break from writing his upcoming book to join us in the fun.  I’m not allowed to say who it’s about *mouth or cough Johnny Carson, or hold up sign* but I know it will be an incredibly interesting read because Bill is an incredibly interesting character.  He may not say much, much when he does, it’s always really cool and smart. *duh* I guess that’s why he sells so many books. 

Okay, back to Saturday- At one point, Brandy and I step outside for some air and the next thing I know, we’re singing “Tyrone” by Erika Badu on the sidewalk at the top of our lungs for anyone that will listen!  Too silly!  Ladies, if you haven’t heard Ms. Badu, here’s a little taste…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VABStIYzepY
Oh snap! *snap fingers* Guys, sorry, we women just shared a little moment there, but everything’s ok… it’s just a song. You can borrow our phone.  But make it fast.

Okay, that was pretty much Saturday night, and then rewinding back to Friday… we had the Meals on Wheels Celebrity Chef Ball at Macy’s.  Pretty ladies peppered the party, like poppies on the way to Oz. Among said beauties were Theresa Carter, Meagan Pulia, Desiree Prieto, and Michelle Molina. Michelle, coincidently, wins a date with Toto here, for being such a great sport and hard-working volunteer.

Then, we followed the yellow brick road all the way back to the Joynt and kept the party going. Oh, yeah- you don’t have to go to the movies to see “Where the Wild Things Are”. Just pop in here on the weekend!

Ari Golan from Atomic (not to be confused with Ari Gold from Entourage) is throwing a HUGE party on Halloween, aptly titled Graveyard Millionaire! And if you’re anything like me, you’ll go to this party AND the JOYNT party on Halloween!  Ari’s fundraiser benefits Adaptive Adventures and includes spirits, dancing, hors’ dourves and prizes. Get the full 411 at AtomicImaging.com or search Graveyard millionaire on FB.

Last night, River North belly laughed as comics performed one after the other for a very good looking crowd.  Stand Up Against Cancer Benefitting Imerman Angels was standing room only as Vince Carone, Brian Neufang, Mike Maxwell, Prash-anth Venkat-Arama-Nujam Andrew Woodhull and Prescott Tolk from Premium Blend on COMEDY CENTRAL kept us in stitches all night long. Kira Soltanovich headlined the show last night and here’s a little taste, if you missed it. 
I also had the chance to chat with Kira after the show and “yes” she’s just as funny in a chair as she is on stage.  You can find the rest of our interview along with all of the comedic performances on our YouTube Channel or Facebook Page. 

Why did the dancing skeleton go to The Joynt? To see DJ BoogieMan. *drum beat for joke* That’s right, starting this Friday, and just in time for Halloween, we have DJ BoogieMan mashing up beats, so all you ghouls can shake your groove bone! And if you want even more Groove… the ladies of Groove Dynasty will be performing in the Piano Room once again this Friday.

[VIDEO]

*dancing* They always pack the room- so get here early and get some food from Lloyd, in the kitchen! The Spicy Grilled Shrimp is my personal favorite! *slurp*

NBC’s Art Norman may be retired, but that hasn’t slowed him down one bit.  Thanks for dropping in, Art.  We miss seeing you on the air.

I think it’s time for some more October birthdays!

Happy Birthday to…

Michael Essany (age 27)
Christina Foster
Carlos ChiiCity Lopez
Elizabeth Jackson age 27),
Kurt Scholle,(
Ann Marie Belcore (age 39),
Sandra Smith-Doghmi (age 68)
Angelo Eliades,
Bernardo Rodarte (age 28),
Susan Schatz,
Tom Cooper (age 55)24 -
Brad Serot,
James Wilson,
Saya Hillman (age 31)
Jaime Vela (age 24),
Lisa Boren Gordon,
Pam Adair
Mark Beringer,
Thom Ward
Jo Blitz A. Escotal,
Matt Redding (age 38),
Sasha Techet
Charles Whitlock (age 45),
Chef Jeff Goldfarb (age 40),

 As you can probably surmise, the fun never here at The Joynt and we would love for you to be a part of it! As Phillip Speciale author of *Mia Cuchina Pazzo” says about the Joynt, “If you don’t appreciate style and class, then this is not the place for you.” Touche, Mr Speciale. We agree.

*tug on neck* Whew!  What a surprising spurt of warm weather we are having, ay? But alas it shall become cold and rainy, once again this weekend. But we will not let the weather ride in on her broomstick to spoil our fun!  Nope, we’ll click your heels together 3 times and remember… *whistfully* …everything we’ve ever really wanted is in our own backyard of downtown Chicago.  And there’s no place like the Joynt. Right, Toto?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YKn53vWIHA (heels click)

A lot of you have been asking about the SAUCE and it gave me a brilliant idea!  You are invited to the shooting of the SAUCE next Tuesday October 27 at noon.  Watch us shoot, while you eat and network on your lunch break.  RSVP to jen@jenchicago.com and I’ll even feed you.

JenChicago, NBC Chicago Street Team

There’s something funny going on in River North on Tuesday, October 20^th. Sarah Vargo of Maven and Fred Farris of Key Management have teamed up with The Joynt to host Stand Up Against Cancer which benefits local charity Imerman Angels. The party and the awareness are going down at 650 N. Dearborn (@ Erie) and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate all the good things that are happening under Johnny Imerman’s inspiration!

The show starts at 6:30 and features a laundry list of talented comedians along with headliner Kira Soltanovich, from Girls Behaving Badly and The Phony Phone Booth on The Jay Leno Show. Have you seen this bit? It’s hilarious! What WON’T people do for a free picture?!?! You can find the clips here or check it out in this week’s edition of The SAUCE, hosted by Yours Truly, below. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door with limited seating.

*PRESS RELEASE*

**Hugs and Kisses from JenChicago.com!