Chicago Reader print issue of April 24, 2025 (Vol. 54, No. 29)
People with sex o ense convictions have nowhere to live
Residency restrictions make it nearly impossible to find housing. Everyone knows it’s a problem, so why isn’t anyone fixing it? by Devyn-Marshall Brown, p. 7
guitarist George Freeman by Neil Tesser, p. 18
03 Editor’s Note Where should people go post incarceration?
03 Reader Letters
04 The To-Do Time to get (the) Real (ID)?
06 Street View Trader Joe’s style
& DRINK
06 Reader Bites | McFadden Salmon nigiri at Parachute HiFi
& POLITICS
07 Cover Story | Brown Many people with sex offense convictions have nowhere to live.
10 Surveillance Aesthetics | Caporale Timothée Chalamet will set you free.
& CULTURE
12 Art of Note Lori Waxman’s latest 60wrd/min columns and a collectors show at the South Side Community Art Center
14 Feature “Act Well Your Part” at Jane Addams Hull-House Museum celebrates Chicago’s theater roots.
16 Openings | Reid Cosmic Underground Theater in Logan Square offers magic and improv.
17 Movies of Note On Swi Horses stumbles before it finds its stride, and Sinners is an awe-inspiring ode to what music means to communities and cultures.
17 Moviegoer Till death
18 Passages Jazz guitarist George Freeman returns to the cosmos.
20 City of Win Hip-hop prodigy Kaicrewsade puts community first.
22 Shows of Note Previews of concerts including Denzel Curry, Niis, and Arnold Dreyblatt
26 Savage Love Is your “don’t ask, don’t tell” situation one-sided?
TO CONTACT ANY READER EMPLOYEE, EMAIL: (FIRST INITIAL)(LAST NAME) @CHICAGOREADER.COM
PUBLISHER AMBER NETTLES
CHIEF OF STAFF ELLEN KAULIG
EDITOR IN CHIEF SALEM COLLO-JULIN
ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR
SAVANNAH RAY HUGUELEY
PRODUCTION MANAGER AND STAFF
PHOTOGRAPHER KIRK WILLIAMSON
SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER AMBER HUFF
GRAPHIC DESIGNER AND PHOTO RESEARCHER SHIRA
FRIEDMAN-PARKS
THEATER AND DANCE EDITOR KERRY REID
MUSIC EDITOR PHILIP MONTORO
CULTURE EDITOR: FILM, MEDIA, FOOD AND DRINK TARYN MCFADDEN
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. CHICAGO READER, READER, AND REVERSED R: REGISTERED TRADEMARKS ®
POETRY CORNER
EDITOR’S NOTE
This week’s cover story explores the kind of complicated issue that the Reader was made to tackle. Where does a registered sex offender live post-incarceration? It’s a challenging question for many people because their automatic reactions emerge from emotion.
When people find out that someone in their community committed a crime, they tend to respond in a few basic ways. “What happened?” “Who is this person?” “Am I in danger by virtue of being anywhere near this person?” Add that to the possibility that the crime was a heinous, violent, or abusive act, and people will stew, worry, and live in active fear.
The history of reporting on crime doesn’t help when it comes to believing in a world in which rehabilitation from criminal behavior is possible. In a 2018 study for her doctoral work, Dr. Becca DiBennardo, now a senior researcher at the nonprofit Vera Institute of Justice, ran a content analysis on 323 Los Angeles Times
Reader Letters m
Re: “Hell in a Handbag’s David Cerda unpacks his personal baggage,” written by Kerry Reid for our April 10 issue (volume 54, number 27)
Thanks so much for writing this comprehensive and thoughtful profile on the living legend David Cerda. [It was] a great contribution to our communal archive; the way future generations of theater artists and scholars will know more about Hell in a Handbag Productions . . . and their contributions to Chicago theater. . . . Theater is so ephemeral so the archival record matters! —Emilio Williams, via Facebook
Find us on socials:
Facebook and Bluesky: chicagoreader
X: Chicago_Reader
Instagram and Threads: chicago_reader
LinkedIn: chicago-reader
The Chicago Reader accepts comments and letters to the editor of less than 400 words for publication consideration.
m letters@chicagoreader.com
articles published between 1990 and 2015 that used the term “sexual predator.”
DiBennardo found that throughout the examined coverage, stories about child victims included more citations of sexual violence and graphic descriptions than stories about adult victims. And, almost universally, articles about child victims used the victims’ stories as a rhetorical tool to emphasize the “predatory nature” of the offenders and justify retribution. Articles about adult victims tended to focus on women and frame them as responsible in some way for their victimization. These results don’t seem surprising given how these kinds of crimes and perpetrators are depicted in media, including TV shows such as Chris Hansen’s To Catch a Predator series and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Reprehensible and horrific crimes have happened and do happen, and survivors of every age need to be heard and believed. However, there are many people convicted of sex o enses that aren’t serial abusers or rapists. Many of us believe that the collective response to these crimes should be justice through accountability. And we need to ask: do we really believe in rehabilitation? And regardless of the answer, do we also believe that everyone has the right to a home?
If there’s any truth to our current collective agreement that what we consider justice includes both rehabilitation and punishment, then we need to consider what happens to people after they’ve served time in prison. If finding housing is an impossibility for those attempting reentry, where do we expect them to go? v
—Salem Collo-Julin, editor in chief m scollojulin@chicagoreader.com
CORRECTIONS
The Reader has updated the online version of the City of Win column published in the February 27 issue (“Renzell grows a hip-hop oasis at Studio Shapes,” written by Joshua Eferighe). The story was amended to reflect that Renzell’s apartment studio was in Pilsen, not Albany Park.
We have also updated the online version of the news article “Destigmatizing abortion rights,” written by Je Balch and published in our April 3 issue. The previous version of this story attributed a quote about care being weaponized in hospitals to Dr. Connie Fei Lu. The comment was actually made by Sarah Garza Resnick. The Reader regrets the errors. v
“What is a Title?”
Do not call me boy
I am not subject to your ego
Do not call me homie
Unless you are homie
There is no room for misnomers wit the gang
Do not call me foe nem
Unless you are also foe, or any of the entourage that is with foe
Do not call me brother
Especially if you are not a brother
Especially if you are not a brother of mine
Especially if you are not my brothers brother
Or a keeper of any of the above
Do not call me yours
Unless
Do not call me shorty
Unless I call you shorty
I don’t ever call people shorty
Do not call me.
By The Third
Call me “those people” to be safe
Call me chosen if you feel like choosing
Call me safety but only if it rolls off naturally
Call me Black people
Call me youngin
Don’t call me young
Call me better than
Call me better than last time
Call me healing
Call me
Call me after
Call me after you’re done
Call me after I’m done
Call me after we’re done
Call me throughout
And then
Call when you need to
Let it be a calling you call
However you like
Call
Call in the way you’ve been taught
Teach me how to call you
Call when you need to
Let it be a calling you call
However you like
Call
Call in the way you’ve been taught
Teach me how to call you
Third is a SouthSide born rapper and teacher with a deep affinity for words. As a lyricist and storyteller, Third is always looking to tell the stories of the underrepresented, challenge the norm, and inspire a higher tier or art.
Poesía en Abril: Dialogo entre Poetas (Evento en español)
Una conversación entre los poetas del festival internacional de poesía en español, Poesía en Abril. Al terminar la conversación se presentara una lectura en español por poetas de Chicago. April 26, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Learn more at PoetryFoundation.org
A weekly series curated by the Chicago Reader and sponsored by the Poetry Foundation.
CITY LIFE
calendar
The To-Do
Is it time for you to get the Real ID? Plus indie bookstores and markets
By SALEM COLLO-JULIN
There’s a Real ID deadline coming up on Wednesday, May 7. But what exactly is a Real ID, and who needs one?
A Real ID is identification that conforms to federal government standards, rather than solely state-specific requirements. In Illinois, the Real ID version of a driver’s license includes a gold star symbol in the upper right corner. Beginning on May 7, any person trying to board a flight within the U.S. or enter a secure federal building will need a Real ID–compliant state-issued driver’s license, state ID, or another acceptable form of identification (like a valid U.S. passport or military ID). Getting a Real ID requires proof of lawful U.S. residency so people without that will have issues obtaining one.
After May 7, you’ll still be able to drive with a standard and valid Illinois driver’s license, and your Illinois-issued state ID will still be acceptable for identification in most scenarios. But if you want to fly, you’ll need a Real ID or passport. Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias’s website has a quiz on its homepage to help you figure out if you need a Real ID and directions for getting an appointment to do so. Many people will find that they won’t actually need a Real ID before May 7, and thankfully, you’ll still be able to get one after that date.
The DMV has opened a walk-in Real ID Supercenter at 191 N. Clark, and a group of DMVs statewide are open Saturdays from 7:30 AM to 5 PM to service the expected overload of people looking to upgrade their existing IDs. More information, including a list of documentation you’ll need to bring, is available at realid.ilsos.gov.
SAT 4/26
If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you love books as much as the Reader does! We celebrate Independent Bookstore Day each year by trying to get to some of the more than 50 independently owned bookstores in Chicagoland and checking out their reading
recommendations. In fact, several Reader staffers will be visiting stores all over Chicago this week to say hi and hand out free Reader bookmarks. Check in with us when you spot us in the wild!
Local Independent Bookstore Day organizers have created a passport challenge for the day. Visit ten participating stores in one day, get your passport (available at the first store you visit) stamped, and get ten percent o at those stores for an entire year.
Store hours and details at chilovebooks.com
AHead: Sat 5/3 and Sun 5/4
The Oddities Flea Market brings together vendors of weird and wonderful things; expect ephemera from the worlds of medical history, taxidermy, unique home decor, and more.
The esoteric and unique are highlighted, and while you’ll find vendors that might have spooky wares (some of Sideshow Gallery’s art, the Glam Witch’s tarot readings), the emphasis is on items that pique curiosity rather than invoke Halloween.
The booths of Chicago faves Insect Asylum
and Bert Green Fine Art are must-visits, and Revolution Tattoo will be selling tattoos (flash art is provided) to brave souls 18 and over. Food and drink will be available from Madame ZuZu’s, Empanadus, Bad Channel, and more.
11 AM–6 PM both days, Morgan Manufacturing, 401 N. Morgan, $25, $50 VIP includes early entry and reentry at limited capacity throughout the day, all ages, theodditiesfleamarket.com v
m scollojulin@chicagoreader.com
Vendors at Oddities (clockwise from le ): Ampersand Curiosities, Feather and Foxglove, Revolution Tattoo
CITY LIFE
Not your average Joe
Trader Joe’s shoppers serve unexpected finds.
By ISA GIALLORENZO
Trader Joe’s remains unchallenged when it comes to intriguing food combinations (apple pie cheddar cheese, chocolate hummus), and its stores are just as remarkable for their patrons’ style. It’s not uncommon to spot savvy dressers patiently navigating the narrow aisles, often unaware of how good they look.
Case in point: Keenyn Perry, 22, aka Garçon Glamour (@garconglam0ur on Instagram).
Buying groceries early in the afternoon at the Lincoln Park Trader Joe’s, Keenyn was somewhat surprised to be approached for a photo.
“I honestly woke up at five this morning. I had to leave right around six, so I just got something put together really quickly,” Perry said apologetically. “I just got settled into my cousin’s studio apartment, so I’m going to go back there, get a cooking setup going, and that’s about it. I’m just in the most relaxed fit I can be.”
Despite his casual vibe, Perry, a Columbia College Chicago alum who studied fashion design, really knew what he was doing. He was wearing a rare pair of Gucci Screeners, Yeezy sweatpants from a recent collection, a thrifted military jacket and scarf, and a hat he bought during a trip to Washington, D.C. Underneath his jacket he revealed a prized Run-D.M.C. T-shirt. “My mom gave me this shirt, and it is probably my favorite ever. I wear it every day,” he said.
Perry’s style is informed by his fond memories of close family members such as his mother and grandmother. He also enjoys the elements of disguise in Michael Jackson’s wardrobe during his last years. “That’s when the world turned against him and he was trying to hide,” Perry explained. “I like eccentric styles and things that aren’t the norm.”
A real multihyphenate creative, Perry makes music, paints, and designs furniture. “I’ve been doing a whole lot within the world of
art,” he said. “I’ve been working on music for the last three years of my life, so that’s been a very fun thing. And I just put out three albums. They can be found on Tidal, Apple Music, Soundcloud, and Spotify.” Perry described his electronic compositions as a “hyperfusion of things.”
To those looking to be as sartorially proficient as he is, Perry suggested taking it easy. “As corny as it sounds, being you is the best thing that you can do,” he said. “Don’t try too hard to make an uncanny lifestyle of something that isn’t yours. If you find something that’s very niche and you think it’s
cool, go for it. But if it doesn’t look good on you, find something that’s really comfortable in the style that’s most appealing to your body and your stature, the way you breathe, everything.” v
m letters@chicagoreader.com
Keenyn Perry at the Lincoln Park Trader Joe’s ISA GIALLORENZO
FOOD & DRINK
Have you ever taken a bite of something so smooth and scrumptious that it catches you off guard? Your eyes roll back. Your brow furrows. Your head falls slowly and heavily into the TikTok food-influencer head nod. In the low light of Avondale’s Parachute HiFi, while DJ Radio Luna spun upbeat music on vinyl not 20 feet away, I fell into such a trance.
most without thinking. Immediately struck by the mouthful of buttery texture and rich flavors, I chewed for as long as possible before exhaling an involuntary, “Wow.” Each fat mound of fish reflected the light with a shiny shiitake umami glaze and hid a layer of creamy wasabi nestled into the rice.
At this particular dinner, I enjoyed four or five other à la carte dishes, but all the while, a piece of nigiri lingered on the plate, soaking up the glaze, reserved for my final bite of the night. It was a perfect first and last impression, and it’s the reason I’ll be heading back to the cozy Korean bar sometime soon. —TARYN MCFADDEN PARACHUTE HIFI 3500 N. ELSTON, $21, PARACHUTE-HIFI. COM v
The salmon nigiri was the first course: six sizable pieces, each almost big enough to fill the palm of my hand, packed onto a small, round plate. I popped a whole piece into my mouth al-
Reader Bites celebrates dishes, drinks, and atmospheres from the Chicagoland food scene. Have you had a recent food or drink experience that you can’t stop thinking about? Share it with us at fooddrink@ chicagoreader.com.
FOODBALL MONDAY NIGHT
The Reader’s weekly chef popup series, now at Frank and Mary’s Tavern, 2905 N. Elston, Avondale
Follow the chefs, @chicago_reader, and @mikesula on Instagram for weekly menu drops, ordering info, updates, and the stories behind Chicago’s most exciting foodlums.
THE LINEUP
April 28 Cocinero Verde is risen! @cocinero.verde
May 5 Cinco de Mayo with Tacos Las Manitas @tacos_lasmanitas
May 12 The revenge of Logan Oyster Socials @loganoystersocials
May 19 The long-awaited return of Links Taproom @linkstaproom
May 26 Memorial Day West African barbecue with Dozzy’s Grill @dozzysgrill
June 2 Indigenous-inspired fermentation freaks Piñatta Chicago @pinattachicago Head
and
Salmon nigiri at Parachute HiFi
NEWS & POLITICS
INVESTIGATION
Nowhere to go
People with sex offense convictions struggle to find housing in Illinois.
By DEVYN-MARSHALL BROWN (DMB)
All Ed Cetwinski could think was, “God, I’m out of prison. I can live my life a little bit.” He had just been released from Taylorville Correctional Center after five years behind bars. But even though he’s free from his prison cell, he’s still not free.
Most criminal convictions in Illinois include a period of mandatory supervised release (MSR). It’s like parole, but it’s served in addition to a prison sentence rather than in lieu of it. People on MSR must adhere to a litany of conditions, like curfews enforced by electronic monitors. For most people, it lasts from one to three years, but for Cetwinski, it’s not clear how long his MSR term will last.
People convicted of certain sex offenses, like Cetwinski, are required to be on MSR for anywhere from three years to the rest of their lives. But there’s an issue: a permanent address is a requirement for supervised release, and Illinois’s housing banishment laws make it nearly impossible to find housing. Taken together, the period of indefinite supervision compounds a homelessness crisis.
“Just tell me up-front now that [the monitor] is never coming off. This not knowing, this sitting in limbo—it’s worse than sitting in prison,” says Cetwinski. “It a ects my family. They see me, they know I’m out of prison, but they know I can’t do anything.”
Cetwinski cannot legally live within 500 feet of a school, park, or day care. This includes home day cares, which can serve as few as three children and are scattered everywhere, especially in poor or affordable neighborhoods. If a person down the block decides to open their own home day care, legal housing can suddenly become illegal, meaning banishment zones are always in flux. Collectively, whole swaths of the city have been made illegal.
The state’s response to the problem so far has been untenable, according to formerly incarcerated people, advocates, and lawyers
who spoke with the Reader . For years, people unable to find a legal address had to wait out their entire MSR term in prison—in addition to their full prison sentence. Civil rights attorneys sued, and federal courts found the practice violated people’s constitutional rights. Illinois had to release people held behind bars past their prison term and immediately find housing that largely didn’t exist.
In response, IDOC launched the Intensive Community Reintegration Program (ICRP). Under the program, prison o cials pay private landlords directly to rent out entire buildings across Illinois for people convicted of sex offenses during their supervised release period. According to IDOC public information o cer Naomi Puzzello, the state currently pays $9.3 million yearly to landlords across Illinois through the program. Landlords are paid per person per day, according to contracts reviewed by the Reader and interviews with advocates. Per diem rates can vary from $40 to $80 depending on the vendor and whether they provide additional medical or mental health support.
sent back to prison at any time.
The Chicago 400, a grassroots organization of people subject to public conviction registries in Illinois, is pushing for a bill to shrink the size of the housing banishment zone and prevent them from being forced to move if a day care opens nearby. The proposal has yet to be heard in committee, the first step in the legislative session that ends in late May; multiple people involved in negotiations,
problem that they don’t have housing.”
IDOC spokesperson Puzzello told the Reader in a written statement that IDOC “rejects the mischaracterization of our e orts in response to these injunctions. Our compliance with these injunctions was overseen by a federal district court judge all while the legal interests of the individuals were represented by class counsel.”
“The Department provides a broad range of additional volunteer programs, clin-
who are not authorized to speak publicly, say conversations are ongoing.
Placement in the program works similar to participation in other transitional housing settings, such as halfway houses. People are expected to stay for 90 days, during which time they are supposed to find permanent housing and a job, but people often stay for longer or end up homeless due to the di culty of finding legal housing, according to current and former residents and advocates. While living in one of these buildings, people can be
Laurie Jo Reynolds, an advocate working with the Chicago 400, compares IDOC’s stopgap solution to shanty towns. Landlords aren’t reentry providers, she says, and the buildings aren’t halfway houses. People “could be staying with their wife, their sister, their mother, but they’re in a di erent part of the state, in a cluster housing site, and they are put under tremendous stress.”
“It’s not [a] community. It’s not reintegrated,” Reynolds continues. “It’s isolating people in buildings far from their families in a temporary place that does not solve the root
ical services, and re-entry initiatives designed to promote education, skill-building, and successful reintegration into the community.”
Cetwinski says the housing assigned to him through the prison system’s ICRP program seemed promising at first, but it quickly deteriorated into a “pigsty.”
He and other current and former residents who spoke with the Reader describe cramped conditions, a lack of substantive programming like job training, and a constant fear of being sent back to prison.
NEWS & POLITICS
continued from p. 7
Cetwinski says he shared a single bedroom with three other men. The apartment had bedbugs and cockroaches, he says, but he only remembers seeing an exterminator four times in three years. His landlord wasn’t responsive to their concerns, so the men living in the building tried to address it themselves. But the infestation was so bad that Cetwinski says he accidentally brought it back home to his mom and dad’s place.
During his three years there, he searched ruthlessly for other housing and came up empty. He says it’s hard to find somewhere to live unless you leave the city. His boss offered to let him move into an apartment near the office, but it was 72 feet too close to a park. “I’d like to be able to talk to somebody and find out: What have I got to look forward to?” he says. “I got to register for the rest of my life. That’s bad enough. Wherever I go, I still got to be within the parameters.”
Another man, Andres, who asked that only his first name be used for fear of retaliation, tells the Reader that he finished his prison sentence in fall 2024 and ended up in a singlefamily home that housed 32 men. “It’s extremely overcrowded,” he says. “If people are using the showers in the basement or the washing machine, there’s no water pressure upstairs: the sink won’t turn on, the toilet won’t flush.”
Andres says that, upon arrival, he was given goals like signing up for food stamps, securing copies of his birth certificate and social security card, and finding a job and permanent housing, but he says he wasn’t offered any help in doing so. All the while, he lived under the pressure of a 90-day clock.
“It’s like [the landlord] just doesn’t want to spend any money on that. But yet, when he shows up, he shows up in a really nice truck, wearing fur coats and, you know, jewelry and white cap teeth,” Andres says. “And I’m like, you show up here looking like a freaking pimp out of the 90s.”
Figuring out which addresses comply with this 500-foot radius in a city as dense as Chicago is difficult. Andres would find a few addresses that might rent to him, but then had to call CPD to see if they were within housing banishment constraints. “They’re busy, so they’ll say, ‘Hey, I’ll check two or three addresses for you, and that’s it.’ So you get two or three addresses checked if they’re all no good, now you’re stuck, and you can call back the rest of the day, [but] they don’t even
answer the phone.”
He ultimately found housing in Zion, Illinois, after his 90 days in housing provided through the ICRP. He’s in the first year of his three-tolife MSR term and is hopeful the state will let him o when he hits the three-year mark. IDOC did not directly address concerns about living conditions in response to a request for comment.
In a political moment marked by division, multiple federal and state agencies agree that residency restrictions don’t work. Recent research has found housing banishment laws stunt rehabilitation for people released from prison by preventing them from reentering their communities and waste police department resources without preventing sexual assaults from happening.
The federal Sex O ender Registration and Notification Act, for example, does not impose residency restrictions. A 2020 Minnesota Department of Corrections report found that housing banishment laws create a false sense of community safety. In Kansas, the state department of corrections’ website notes, “Housing restrictions appear to be based largely on three myths that are repeatedly propagated by the media: 1) all sex o enders reo end; 2) treatment does not work; and 3) the concept of ‘stranger danger.’” Here in Illinois, a state task force reached similar conclusions, finding in a 2018 report that restrictions limit people convicted of sex offenses from participating fully in society.
According to Madeleine Behr, who until recently led policy and communications at the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation (CAASE), society has a problem with idealizing the sex o ense registry as a means to address sexual harm, reinforcing the myth that rape occurs by strangers lurking in the shadows when, in fact, over 80 percent of survivors know the person who harmed them.
Behr points to research from her organization, the only legal services provider in Illinois solely focused on serving victims of sexual assault, that shows that the sex o ense registry—and the restrictions that come with being on it—pull resources from survivors of sexual assault and inflict lifelong punishments on people who have caused harm and already been held accountable.
“People need to be most concerned about people that they already know: their family members, their friends, faith leaders, the T-ball coaches, the people in their community,” Behr says. “We as a society are really uncomfortable holding the people we know and love accountable for that harm, so we like to point the finger at people who have been previously held accountable that we don’t know.”
Over the past two decades, state lawmakers passed increasingly restrictive laws dictating where people convicted of sex offenses can live, work, and generally exist, says Adele Nicholas, a civil rights lawyer who sued Illinois in federal court over the state’s practice of keeping people in prison into their MSR period. It was an easy way for politicians to demonstrate they had been tough on crime before an election.
The Chicago 400 has been organizing since 2016 for a legislative solution on the table in Springfield right now: to reduce residency
restrictions from 500 feet to 250 feet and prevent people on the registry from being evicted if a daycare opens nearby. The group is also working to abolish fees for all five of the state’s public conviction registries and require that people without a permanent address register
lords through the ICRP program. The Reader asked whether IDOC supports e orts to shrink housing banishment zones and ease residency restrictions, but Puzzello, the IDOC spokesperson, did not respond as of press time.
Survivors of sexual violence frequently say
once a year. (Currently, unhoused people must register every week.)
Eighty percent of the people made homeless by housing restrictions are Black men from the south and west sides of Chicago, according to the group’s research. This leaves many people who have completed their MSR but are nonetheless unable to find housing homeless and sleeping at a bus stop, on the Blue Line, in their car, or under a viaduct.
“It causes a huge amount of stress, and not just the stress of being homeless, but the stress of being in danger,” Reynolds says. On top of that, “it’s not clear in the law where you can be homeless, so people are paranoid that the police will say you shouldn’t have stayed there.”
Reynolds says the bill would immediately open up new legal housing in the city and would be a far better use of resources than the $9 million per year the state pays private land-
that they don’t want the person who harmed them to go to jail, according to Behr. Instead, she says, they’re already doing the work of empathizing and recognizing that our systems can cause immeasurable harm to people who have caused harm, and they take that into account when they come forward about experiencing abuse. Questions like “How should I get justice?” and “How do I heal?” are rooted in how their actions impact the person who harmed them.
“The reality is survivors are already having to humanize and empathize with the person that harms them, because they already know that person,” Behr says. “Unfortunately, this harm is so common, and people assume it is extraordinary, and it’s frankly not.”
Ultimately, Behr says, CAASE’s approach is about centering survivors, and it’s time lawmakers follow suit. “We have a [state] task force report that tells us all of that; what we need is the political will to enact some of the changes.” v m dmbrown@chicagoreader.com
Let’s Play!
Top:
Chicago neighborhood near a buildling where people on MSR live.
SURVEILLANCE AESTHETICS
Timothée Chalamet will set you free
In
an increasingly surveilled world, makeup is for more than just looks.
By MICCO CAPORALE
At night, I dream of a thousand Timothée Chalamets setting fires in the streets to declare that a country under fascism is one worth destroying.
Every online community has its trends, and since 2020, one way makeup influencers have been proving their prowess is by transforming people into Timothée Chalamet. These videos are as entertaining as they are imaginative, but they also prove the limits of digital surveillance. As facial recognition technology proliferates, understanding how to manipulate one’s image with makeup isn’t just a way to be camera-ready—it can be part of a greater liberatory project.
Contouring, or the art of manipulating light and dark through makeup that makes becoming Chalamet possible, really popped o after everyone’s phone became both a computer and camera. The technique was used for centuries by stage actors before being adopted by Hollywood, then refined and reimagined by drag queens. Kim Kardashian popularized it by revealing her beauty routine on Instagram in 2012, and since then, it’s been the dividing line for digital beauty gurus. Camps either lean way, way, into the unreality of makeup—pushing contouring and other dramatic changes to their limits—or they promote “natural” beauty as a way to wear lots of makeup while making it seem like they’re not wearing any. Appearance is coded. We attach meaning and value to everything from one’s weight to one’s race. Beauty interventions like makeup, hair dye, and plastic surgery are politically neutral; their liberatory potential depends on context. Right now, minimalist makeup is in, which seems like a pivot toward self-confidence as the best accessory. But it’s no coincidence that trends like no-makeup makeup, clean-girl makeup, and status skin (achieving flawless skin through complicated, often expensive skincare rather than makeup) rose in tandem with a radical erosion of state protections for anyone who isn’t white, cis, or able-bodied. Even so-called low-effort looks still demand a lot to project the illusion of biological
advantage (“Maybe she’s born with it. Maybe it’s Maybelline”), and they’re being embraced in a cultural moment when authenticity is hyperregulated and bodily autonomy is hyperrestricted. Nothing flies in the face of naturalism’s false modesty quite like mastering the art of becoming Timothée Chalamet.
My favorite Chalamet transformation video is by Christian Perez, a queer content creator who regularly uses Instagram to demonstrate that the camera is just a window into a picture plane, which can be manipulated like any tableau. Using the same geometric rules and aesthetic ideas at the heart of artificial intelligence (AI) filters, Perez applies makeup to morph into celebrities like Mariah Carey and Taylor Swift. They also embody 2D icons like Sailor Moon and the “Is that hyperpigmentation?” meme.
The day after New Year’s, Perez dropped a video making their friend into the Internet’s favorite soft boy. It shows Chalamet posing seductively against a wall and beckoning with a wine glass before a Christmas tree, the caption reading: “Scholars would never predict we would have Yassified Timothee Chalamet in 2025.” (Using a filter for a glamorous glow-up—maybe one that would elicit a “yas queen!”—has been termed yassification, but Perez’s phrasing treats Chalamet like the fixed object and his friend’s body, clothes, and attitude as the glamorous filter.)
Bombastic makeovers are fun and funny, but they also show how fallible technology is. And that’s important to keep in mind when we’re being recorded at unprecedented levels, whether on the sidewalk outside of a house with a Ring doorbell or using a self-checkout at the grocery store. We have no control over how personal information is stored or shared, which means it often goes to law enforcement regardless of whether it’s associated with a crime.
Law enforcement is having a real love affair with facial recognition technology. For example, in 2023, the Electronic Privacy Information Center reported the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was using it at
checkpoints in at least 25 airports. Earlier this year, Route Fifty reported that number had increased to 80 airports with plans to expand the program to more than 400. And while you technically can (and should) opt out of a TSA face scan, police are constantly collecting our information in ways to which we never consented. This means it’s never been easier for law enforcement to follow someone regardless of whether they’re related to an open investigation or not. Studies show o cers commit domestic violence at higher rates than the average population, and several police have already been caught using license plate readers to stalk exes. What’s to stop them from following people they deem suspicious per their own private logic? What happens when a license plate and face become linked?
Imagine the police are trailing the wrong person; it’s a lot easier for AI to confuse a face than a license plate. Scientific American detailed the problem in a 2023 article titled “Police Facial Recognition Technology Can’t Tell Black People Apart.” The magazine uncovered racial biases in the algorithms that train facial recognition programs, coupled with cops’ own biases and faith in the technology. At least seven people have been wrongly incarcerated due to faulty facial recognition, six of whom were Black. No one is immune, and everyone should be entitled to basic privacy. This is especially true for people exercising their First Amendment right, whether that’s expressing a political opinion like “Free Palestine” online or attending a protest to support trans rights. ( Wired has done tremendous reporting on how police are using facial recognition and other AI surveillance technologies to monitor and suppress leftist political dissent.)
As a growing number of lawmakers seek to ban masks—which has implications for protestors as much as the COVID-conscious—the face is increasingly contested territory. To protect against facial recognition technology, a design student in the United Kingdom named Jing-cai Liu created a wearable face projector, and a Dutch artist named Jip van Leeuwenstein invented a clear plastic mask that added ridges to the face. Social media exploded with advice on CV (computer vision) dazzle, visual techniques applied in specific areas of the face to thwart algorithms. It’s even rumored that Juggalo face paint can confuse AI. There are downsides to more extreme makeup approaches at protests. It’s harder to blend into a crowd, and as facial recognition algorithms become more sophisticated, makeup tricks must also adapt. But what if everyone in the street was Timothée Chalamet? What if every protest was just thousands upon thousands of Timothée Chalamets? What if every time we wanted a sense of privacy we became Timothée Chalamet? If it doesn’t give us more safety or anonymity, at least it gives us more fun. v
Surveillance Aesthetics explores how surveillance influences culture.
m mcaporale@chicagoreader.com
CV dazzle is a form of camoufl age against digital algorithms.
JEFF
1 in every 20 print readers becomes a member.
ARTS & CULTURE
EXHIBITIONS
ROwning art history
South Side Community Art Center’s latest exhibition demystifies art collecting.
The South Side Community Art Center (SSCAC) is the oldest Black art organization in the country. For over 80 years, the famous Bronzeville brownstone has housed artworks, exhibitions, and events all in service of their mission “to conserve, preserve and promote the legacy and future of Black art and artists.” “Beyond Frames: Black Women Collectors Shaping Cultural Heritage in Chicago” is the latest chapter in that story. Featuring an eclectic array of works from 15 local collectors, the exhibition demystifies art collecting and affirms that beauty can—and should—belong to everyone.
Generations of gatekeeping have conditioned people to see art as an elitist pursuit; curators Bethany Hill and rachel dukes challenge that notion. The nearly 40 artworks run the gamut of styles: paintings, drawings, photographs, sculptures, prints, collages; there is literally something for everyone to enjoy. And yet, it’s a relatively simple show: a beautiful mélange of styles connected by a unifying thread of Blackness. The artworks are all utterly approachable in a way that gallery shows and museums sometimes aren’t.
It’s a lovely show, an ideal diversion for a spring a ernoon. But what gives it depth and resonance is the stories from the collectors. At a recent symposium hosted by SSCAC, a panel of collectors shared their journeys as art patrons. Refreshingly, the conversation wasn’t just about buying art, but the meaningful connection in its acquisition. To the collectors present, purchasing a piece of art isn’t just a financial transaction. It’s about building relationships, honoring the artist, validating Black art, and owning art history.
In “Beyond Frames,” the whole is truly greater than
the sum of its parts. Each object stands strong on its own, but together they tell a collective story about community and shared cultural identity. There is far more art in the world than what hangs in traditional galleries and museums. This exhibition reminds us that we can be our own museums—we can house and share the stories that matter to us, the ones that reflect who we are.
—JEN TORWUDZO-STROH “Beyond Frames: Black Women Collectors Shaping Cultural Heritage in Chicago” Through 4/26: Fri–Sat noon–4 PM, South Side Community Art Center, 3831 S. Michigan, sscartcenter.org, free
60 WRD/MIN
In the project 60 wrd/min art critic, writer Lori Waxman explores how art writing can serve an expanded field of artists—including those incarcerated, trying to gain visas, working to establish themselves professionally, or just wanting feedback for a secret hobby. For this iteration, Waxman reviewed work made by Xiaohan Jiang and Muchen Wang.
RXiaohan Jiang’s pastoral landscapes
The Chicago-based painter mines memories of her childhood in northern China.
Does Xiaohan Jiang dream of horses? Her paintings surely do. Wispy and sinuous, they pulse with potent colors and symbols, conjuring wondrous pastoral landscapes traversed by elegant four-legged equines. No riders on those backs. These aren’t scenes Jiang has encountered in Chicago, her home of the past few years, but rather imaginative returns to her childhood
in northern China. Most recently on view in “Just Beyond the Sight,” a group show at Bonian Space in Beijing, were six new pictures that evoked visions both benign and malevolent: human shadows holding hands in a rain of fire, surrealistic abstractions with spiky halos and webbed connections, bright ecologies amid peripheral darkness. Jiang’s brushwork is washy and thin, as if rained on or windswept. The exception is when she sometimes experiments with collaged fabrics, attaching velvet to canvas, then cutting and draping it, as if pulling apart the curtains on daily life to show what lies beyond.
In comics and oil paintings, Muchen Wang shares her enthusiasm for pets—and snacks.
laud
Can a person love hot dogs and also real dogs?
Muchen Wang, a bighearted artist from Zhengzhou, a small city in central China, most certainly does. While based in Chicago for the past decade, she has produced charming oil paintings that share her affection for hamburgers (stacked tall, mysteriously blue), fried eggs (runny yolk, crispy edges), and hot cocoa (lots of mini marshmallows). Her comics explore daily life and relationships with humor and empathy, and they too have a gustatory twist. Titles include Yakult and Raw
Wonton, plus Pita the Puppy, which about says it all. Wang’s generosity toward popular snacks and pets even extends to humans. For Selfie Portrait, which lasted from 2015-18, thousands of people submitted photographs of themselves to the artist, who turned them into adorable hand-drawn portraits. In Ugly Sketch, a reboot, Wang doodles tiny cartoons of folks she meets at zine fests, gi ing them in under a minute, free, on bits of paper saved from printing projects. Delicious.
—LORI WAXMAN 2025-04-14 12:16 PM Muchen Wang uoooart.com v
“Beyond Frames: Black Women Collectors Shaping Cultural Heritage in Chicago” at SSCAC
LENNELL DAVIS
Xiaohan Jiang, Untitled , 2025 COURTESY THE ARTIST
Muchen Wang’s paintings
snack foods. COURTESY THE ARTIST
BY ZORA HOWARD DIRECTED BY LILEANA BLAIN - CRUZ
It’s not only hell that breaks loose in this ground-breaking, form-defying, laugh-out-loud new drama from Pulitzer-Prize finalist playwright Zora Howard.
Retta and Reggie are enjoying a quiet evening on the porch when their neighbor is pulled over by the police. Everything goes as you might expect—until the unexpected happens. A recording of the event goes viral, making everyone question reality in this funny, “daring and experimental” (Atlanta JournalConstitution) new play that explores what can happen when generational rage vanishes into thin air.
NOW THROUGH MAY 18
NOW THROUGH MAY 18 WRITTEN BY SUZAN-LORI PARKS DIRECTED BY STEVE
R“ACT WELL YOUR PART”
Ongoing exhibit: Tue–Fri 10 AM–4:50 PM, Sun noon–4:50 PM, Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, 800 S. Halsted, hullhousemuseum.org/act-well-your-part-there-all-the-honour-lies, free
Uncovering the roots of Chicago’s vibrant theater history
The exhibition and mini festival “Act Well Your Part” connect Hull House Theatre’s history with the present.
By KIMZYN CAMPBELL
“Aimmigrants and the working poor, providing the kind of community care many nonprofit institutions aspire to today. Among the many services they o ered were free childcare, health clinics, youth programming, language classes, employment assistance, and legal aid.
ct Well Your Part, There All The Honour Lies” were the bold words etched on the fire curtain at Hull House Theatre—a quote borrowed from Alexander Pope to inspire actors to connect their art with the civic engagement that Hull House famously wove into every aspect of their outreach. Chicago theatermakers and theater lovers were present on April 14 for the opening of a new festival and exhibit aptly named after that motto at Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, designed to connect today’s performing arts scene with Hull House’s influence.
The festival celebrates this legacy with a deeper look at the impact of Hull House on theater arts. Ross Stanton Jordan, Hull House’s curatorial manager, describes the goal for the festival’s first year. “We want to reach people who are engaged in civic projects around Chicago . . . who are interested in the history of the city of Chicago.” Jordan says
The opening panel discussion featured a who’s who of theater influences, including Mikhail Fiksel (resident composer and sound designer at Albany Park Theater Project), Marti Lyons (artistic director of Remy Bumppo), Wendy Mateo (producing artistic director at Teatro Vista), Gabrielle Randle-Bent (senior artistic producer at Court Theatre), and Malkia Stampley (Bold artistic producer at Goodman Theatre). Guided by questions from moderator and Hull-House associate director Matthew Randle-Bent, they spoke eloquently about the work each of their theaters was doing to ensure that the social impact and activism Hull House Theatre established in Chicago beginning in 1899 continues to have a meaningful impact today.
Hull House, one of the first settlement houses in the United States, was founded by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr in 1889 in a mansion once owned by real estate developer Charles Hull. The organization engaged primarily with
a precedent for social services around the country. They fought for child labor laws, helped establish social work as a profession, fought for women’s su rage, and pushed
to establish labor unions. Thanks to the visionary leadership of Addams and company, Hull House took a holistic approach to community building, focusing on work–life day’s performing arts scene with Hull House’s associate director Matthew Randle-Bent,
Before ceasing operations as a nonprofit in 2012, Hull House helped secure important balance while the forces of industrial expansion and capitalism treated the immigrant population simply as an expendable labor source. By including artistic activities (like arts and crafts, music, and theater) side by side with social services, Hull House became a true cultural hub to the community, rather than merely a service-providing institution.
they often give tours to high school students and senior citizens who are committed to social change and civic engagement, but who often don’t understand
Lakeview’s Hull House theater program, under the direction of the legendary Robert Sickinger from 1963–69, produced local premieres by Edward Albee, Harold Pinter, Athol Fugard, and Amiri Baraka (previously known as Leroi Jones) as well as bold reimaginings of classics. Before being gutted in 2002 to make way for a health club, the venue at Broadway and Belmont provided a home for several Chicago companies at various times, including Steppenwolf, Famous Door, Bailiwick Repertory, and About Face Theatre. The Uptown Hull House Center was home to Stuart Gordon’s highly influential Organic Theater Company, before becoming a home for Black Ensemble Theater, and finally for Pegasus Players (now Pegasus Theatre Chicago). It closed permanently in 2013, despite a last-minute attempt by Gordon and friends to save the building. Randle-Bent notes a trend over the past five years of theatermakers using the performing arts as a bridge to connect their overlapping missions. “I see Teatro Vista partnering with Steppenwolf. I see Wendy Mateo directing at the Goodman next year. [Mateo is slated to direct Marco Antonio Rodriguez’s stage adaptation of Junot Díaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao at the Goodman in winter 2026.] Here are big institutions that are cooperating with midsize or small institutions to make interesting work.”
their lives in service of other people.” But Jordan notes they want to broaden their reach to wider communities as well.
Matthew Randle-Bent credits Hull House as an early adopter in getting theater out of the Loop and into neighborhoods—something we see reflected in the dozens of storefront theaters around town.
Museum director Liesl Olson reflects on additional ways Hull House impacted the enduring Chicago “little theater” movement: “The idea that you can coax really notable, excellent performances out of amateur actors? That was just a working assumption that Jane Addams had. You can have the Greek community performing The Return of Odysseus. . . . And when Bob Sickinger comes in the 60s, he has open casting calls across the city.”
how Chicago’s theater history piece fits into the puzzle. “Those people are like the Jane bridge the Goodman next year. [Mateo is slated to of Oscar Wao additional ways Hull House impacted the enduring Chicago “little theater” movement: nity performing
That same impetus today drives midwest teens and college kids to move to Chicago to conquer the stage, often with grassroots programs where they mingle with actors of all ages from around town. For example, the Berger Park drama program, run by director Eileen Tull, regularly o ers acting and directing classes at low cost and runs camps and shows year-round. They’re about to launch a site-specific world premiere of a show set in the midwest titled The Ostrich, coproduced by the Terror Cottas and featuring all local talent.
That same impetus today drives midwest teens and college kids to move to Chicago all ages from around town. For example, the Eileen Tull, regularly o ers acting and direct-
“You have to have theater in your community. It’s essential.”
Mary Alice Smith performing in In White America for the Hull House touring theater, 1966
The exhibit
The theater exhibit was activated opening night of the festival and will run concurrently with the ongoing exhibit “Radical Craft.” A stroll around the dining hall lets visitors peer at photos, playbills, and colorful re-creations of posters dating back to the theater’s start. Olson says opening the dining hall to the public for the festival and exhibit itself is meaningful, since it has rarely been used as an exhibition space: “It was where the social reformers stopped every day, had a meal, talked about what they were up to and shared ideas.” Circling those hallowed halls surrounded by images from Hull House Theatre enables visitors to virtually time travel back to an earlier era with similar social problems and solutions.
A photo on display shows Viola Spolin and her then-young son Paul Sills onstage with a group of children. Cofounder of Second City and an early pioneer in improvisational theater, Sills was inspired by the theater games his director mother created for the children of Hull House (which are still foundational to improvisational training today). One moving set of images is a series of negatives that document Mary Alice Smith’s performance in In White America for the Hull House touring theater in 1966, a factual play exploring the Black American experience throughout history.
The festival
Candace Bey, social historian and cultural educator at Hull House, connects the dots in an interview between the festival program-
ming and Chicago’s heritage as a great theater town. The upcoming communal arts activation Books and Banners of the People (April 26), led by Court Theatre and Silvia Inés Gonzalez, will draw on the themes in Mickle Maher’s play Berlin (based on the graphic novel by Jason Lutes) of resistance in times of political strife and fascism.
At D-Compressed: Activating the Archives of Black Hull-House Theatre, which took place on April 18, Chicago theater artists Cheryl Lynn Bruce and Ericka Ratcli led a night of meditation and music celebrating the work of Black composers and theater artists, featuring a performance by the Black chamber music collective D-Composed.
Bey mentions recognizing legacies, like the work done by the Experimental Black Actors Guild (a south-side theater company where
“The idea that you can coax really notable, excellent performances out of amateur actors? That was just a working assumption that Jane Addams had.”
actor and filmmaker Robert Townsend worked in the 1970s) and underground Black artists. She says, “It makes me think about that period after theater leaves this site and moves into neighborhoods, and how that neighborhood-specific work continues.”
Subsequent events in the festival will include a conversation about the kinds of work Hull House did in the 1960s featuring Matthew Randle-Bent, Olson, and Chicago theater historian Mark Larson (April 27); two performances by the Neo-Futurists’ eternally morphing show The Infinite Wrench (April 30 and May 1); and a culminating conversation about a century of design called Act Well Your Part, Designing Hull-House Theatre (May 7).
The curation process itself was just the sort of challenge the team at Hull House enjoys, involving a citywide exploration of archives and papers and hours of perusing the special collections at Harold Washington and Newberry libraries and at the University of Illinois Chicago. It involved the sleuthing skills of the entire Hull House team, including Bey, program assistant Cecilia Rossi, intern Ximena Ramirez, and curatorial assistant Fabrizzio Subia, all of whom dug up the scattered gems visitors can now see on display throughout the museum.
Jordan wants the Chicagoans of today to know the elemental message that their deep research has uncovered in the archives— something that people used to understand about the power of theater. “It was as equal and as necessary as clean drinking water and living wages and unions. You have to have theater in your community. It’s essential.” He worries that our culture, leaders, and people have lost sight of that. “We’ve all inherited this history. Even if we don’t know it, we benefit from it, and our job as a museum is trying to just sift through the sand and bring up some of the key things that provide some inspiration.” v
m letters@chicagoreader.com
Cast of The Troll’s Holiday, 1923; photograph by Earl Pierce
Cosmic Underground opens in Logan Square
A new intimate space for magic and improv reflects the values of its owners.
By KERRY REID
restaurants, there’s bars—but there’s not really any venue for entertainment in that area. We felt like it fit very well in terms of a night out where you can hit, within walking distance, a restaurant, a show, and then drinks after.” As of now, the Cosmic Underground doesn’t have a liquor license, but Drescher says, “We want at some point in the near future to o er the BYOB aspect, especially because Chicago has a new ordinance that you can do to-go cocktails. So if the next-door bar is gonna do that, then that’s a perfect opportunity. That makes sense. Grab a cocktail and come over.”
Lampert, a Philadelphia native whose background in improv includes working with the Groundlings in LA, has also performed onstage with several Chicago theater companies and onscreen. Drescher, who grew up in Connecticut, tours her work around the country as Magic in Heels. The current Cosmic Underground lineup focuses on work by the duo and their collaborators, with shows at 8 PM Thursday through Saturday. Lampert and his improv troupe, the Mechanicals, o er Mayhem! on Thursdays. On Fridays, Drescher, whose magic speciality is mind reading, presents her solo show, Think Again! Saturday night at present is for the limited engagement of Magicians! , featuring both Lampert and Drescher (and completing the trifecta of titles ending in exclamation points).
When Reader contributor Marissa Oberlander wrote about taking classes with Harrison Lampert and Kayla Drescher through the Chicago Magic Lounge’s Magic College in 2023, she described them as a “magic power couple.” The pair first met as teenagers at a magic conference in Boston, worked together in Los Angeles’s magic scene for about a decade as adults, and finally relocated to Chicago in fall of 2022. Now they’ve put that personal and professional energy to work by opening their own magic and improv theater and school—the Cosmic Underground in Logan Square.
Located in the building that formerly housed the Acapulco Night Club, the venue opened on April 17 to serve not only as a showcase for the owners, but also as a haven for emerging and more established performers. Their Magic Institute classes, like their classes at the Magic College, emphasize accessibility and diversity. On the Cosmic Underground website, they list among the class requirements “excitement,” “interest in learning this
cool new skill,” and “support for your fellow students.” On the list of things not required are: “strong/large/dexterous hands,” “being able-bodied,” and “being young.” (The classes run in-person for six weeks or online for four weeks; one-day workshops are also available to test the magic waters before making the full commitment.)
The impetus to branch out on their own had been growing for Drescher and Lampert for a while, but the final plans, says Drescher, “all kind of came about very quickly. To be honest, it was through some more negative stu , but, you know, sometimes you gotta go through the negative to get to the positive. About a year ago, we decided that we wanted to make the venture into opening our own space. It’s always been a career goal of mine to have one location where folks can come to me. I mean, I’ve toured, I’ve lived on a tour bus for weeks. I’m good just sleeping at home now.”
The two narrowed their search down to Logan Square pretty quickly. As Lampert notes, “The neighborhood is really wonderful. There’s
Drescher notes that they plan to also make the space available for “classes, workshops, corporate events, and team building.” But it’s also important to her and to Lampert that the Cosmic Underground serves as a stepping stone for newer talent. So they plan to incorporate regular magic open mikes.
“The thing about magic is you have to be bad for a really long time until you get good,” says Drescher. “And we wanna offer a space where it’s OK to come try something weird and wonky that you don’t know is gonna work.”
As Lampert told Oberlander, “One of the biggest things we strive for is making our classes a safe space. Safe to experiment, for things not to work out and know that it’s going to be OK. A big part of that is knowing that the teacher has your back.”
The Cosmic Underground isn’t set up as a nonprofit, but Lampert notes that they hope to focus on a ordability and accessibility. “Having our own space really lets us expand on the programming that we had done previously, making it a lot more accessible. The schedule is more open. We have our main program, but then we’re also providing graduate programming and we’re hoping to look into de-
veloping scholarships and things like that for adults who have always wanted to do it. And it gives them a chance to come by and build a community of people who also wanna do it.”
The two note that they have about 30 students who have followed them over from the Magic College to the Magic Institute.
The space is intimate, seating no more than 40 patrons at a time. That too was by design, in keeping with the “close-up” Chicago style of magic. But Lampert says it also serves the improv side of the Cosmic Underground equation well. “Being in a more intimate environment really allows people to see the more subtle work and the character influences that the style can bring.”
Drescher’s brand of mentalism also works best, she says, with smaller audiences. “PreCOVID, I was in a touring show and we played 2,000- to 5,000-seat houses. And that’s super fun. But it definitely felt like when I would go into the audience and perform, people loved the connection. It didn’t just feel like you were watching a screen. It felt like you were really connecting to somebody. And that’s very much a huge element of why we wanted to do a smaller space—so I can see everyone’s face and they can see me. I want everybody to feel like I am genuinely talking to them and making eye contact.”
Asked how they handle the stress of keeping their relationship, their art, and their new business all going at the same time, Drescher responds, “We have di erent ways of dealing with the insanity of opening a business. And so at separate times we’ll be in panic mode. And so because it’s at opposite times, we’re really good at just, ‘OK. I’m calm today, and then tomorrow I’ll panic and you’re calm.’”
Lampert adds, “This is advice we got from friends who have been doing this for a long time: We each have our own thing that we focus on. And for what we each do, we know everything about that thing. And so we’re not like, on top of each other in terms of each other’s work. We went into this with, ‘These are the things I’m gonna do. These are the things you’re gonna do.’ If we have questions for each other, we can ask. But at the end of the day, we respect each other’s abilities to do the job.”
Knowing each other for over half their lives is also part of the formula for making the magic work. “We’ve also been friends since we were 14,” says Lampert. “We just know each other very well. There’s really no ego in working together and there can’t be.” v
m kreid@chicagoreader.com
Kayla Drescher SARAH ELIZABETH LARSON PHOTOGRAPHY
Funnily enough, it’s been two movies about death—either outrightly or more abstractly—that have helped elevate me out of my several-week-long funk. It’s par for the course with me; I’m drawn to art that explores the darker side of life, though its effect on me doesn’t necessarily mirror the doom and gloom of the material itself.
The first, Michael Roemer’s Pilgrim, Farewell (1980), I saw at Doc Films at the University of Chicago. I’m confessing here to being a bad cinephile and not yet having seen his films Nothing but a Man (1964) and Vengeance Is Mine (1984), both recently restored and screened here in Chicago. (I’m giving myself some homework here.) Pilgrim, Farewell premiered at the Venice Film Festival and was broadcast as part of PBS’s American Playhouse but has since languished in obscurity. Now it’s where it should rightfully be: on a big screen, ready to destroy viewers with its harrowing story of a 39-year-old artist (Kate, played by Elizabeth Huddle Nyberg) contending with terminal cancer. It’s established toward the beginning of the film that there’s no hope for her case; thus, the majority of the story is spent watching Kate as she confronts her impending death surrounded by her partner (Christopher Lloyd), sister, and teenage daughter, the last of whom is dealing with her own struggles with mental illness.
One thing that annoys me about some horror movies, such as the films of Italian horror maestro Dario Argento (don’t get me started on 1987’s Opera), is that sometimes they repeat a bit until its terrifying potency drains away. The opposite is the case for Pilgrim, Farewell; each time Kate lashes out at those around her is more frustrating and heart-wrenching than the last, the emotional momentum of such a situation careening only toward the inevitable. In contrast, David Lynch’s The Straight Story (1999), which I saw on 35 millimeter as part of the David Lynch
A still from The Straight Story (1999)
retrospective at the Music Box Theatre, is more languorous. It is based on the real-life story of Alvin Straight, an elderly laborer who travels from Iowa to Wisconsin on a riding lawn mower to see his brother, Lyle, who has had a stroke.
Lyle’s impending death is more implied than explicated, but nevertheless, one understands the nature of Alvin’s resolve. Along the way, he meets people who help him continue on his trip even in spite of various setbacks. These encounters are both spare and poignant, rife with the potential for sentimentality but under Lynch’s careful direction imbued with a discreetly existentialist bent that contains multitudes about the nature of being. (Notably, this is the only film he directed that he did not write; it was cowritten by John Roach and Mary Sweeney. The latter also edited the film and was briefly married to Lynch.)
Sweeney was in person to discuss the film. She remarked that Lynch considered it to be his most experimental film, and I might agree: Inasmuch as it at times embraces traditional narrative rhythms, there are segments of ethereal imagery and even parts where the sound (the design of which Lynch himself constructed) is as a ecting as whatever’s onscreen, making this what might be the most interesting use of sound I’ve ever heard in a Disney film. (Yes, David Lynch technically made a Disney movie.) The facilitator of the Q&A, the editor of Blue Rose Magazine , remarked that The Straight Story may be Lynch’s best-directed film, and I think I agree with that, too. Sometimes a director’s best film and maybe even their most characteristic, if you really think about it, is the one you might least expect, as can be the surprising nature of auteurism.
Until next time, moviegoers. —KAT SACHS v
The Moviegoer is the diary of a local film bu , collecting the best of what Chicago’s independent and underground film scene has to o er.
Get showtimes and see reviews of everything playing this week at chicagoreader.com/movies
NOW PLAYING
On Swift Horses
Julius, played by the ever-handsome Jacob Elordi, arrives at his brother Lee’s (Will Poulter) midwestern homestead a er a stint in the Korean war. He’s in picture-perfect form—sunbathing shirtless amid the slushy, half-thawed fields—when his brother’s partner, Muriel (Daisy Edgar-Jones), pokes her head out of a second-story window to greet him. Yet there’s something off about the idyllic scene in Bryce Kass’s adaptation of Shannon Pufahl’s novel On Swi Horses, directed by Daniel Minahan. Like Elordi, the film wears a glossy, seductive sheen—one that never quite matches the rougher emotional terrain it wants to traverse.
The first night, a er a welcoming dinner and drinks, Julius and Muriel share a brief, hidden handhold. It isn’t flirtation; it’s a subtler moment of mutual recognition. The film, saturated by overwrought 1950s aesthetics, takes place in an America deafened by the clamor of
page. However, the dimension and grit of the romances are smoothed over by glossy, sun-drenched cinematography and overly polished storytelling. Everything is so carefully choreographed that it dilutes the wistfulness emanating from the actors. Each character is gambling with their life, betting everything on love—but somehow the stakes feel low, if they exist at all.
For a movie whose core metaphor is about gambling, On Swi Horses rarely takes risks, sketching superficial characters that are more ideas than real people. The Hollywood sheen strips away the rawness needed to do justice to the material. —MAXWELL RABB R, 117 min. Wide release in theaters
RSinners
postwar prosperity and conformity. The gesture signals a quiet solidarity between Julius and Muriel, who grapple with their queerness in their own ways but are both forced to lead hidden lives.
Months later, Julius and Muriel have kept up a correspondence. Muriel and Lee married and moved to California, where they work tirelessly to make ends meet, whereas Julius has found himself working as a card player and gigolo in Las Vegas. At her waitressing job, Muriel begins to eavesdrop on the nameless regulars as they speak about horse racing, and she begins to place bets at the racetrack. Julius falls for Henry (Diego Calva), another card-sharp-turned-cheating-spotter, and Muriel is magnetized to Sandra (Sasha Calle), a confident lesbian who hosts all-women parties down the road. Muriel and Julius spend most of their screen time apart yet run along parallel tracks—portaits of queer individuals surviving in a society that works against them.
On Swi Horses bursts out of the gate with too many legs, stumbling before it finds its stride. At first, the story unfolds as though Minahan is trying to li the novel’s intricately woven narratives directly from the
Despite appearances, Sinners is more From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) than Interview With the Vampire (1994). The movie spends its first hour introducing characters, their skills and relationships revealed through interactions with twins Smoke and Stack (both played by Michael B. Jordan). The charismatic twins have returned to their rural Mississippi hometown from Chicago with some money, and they want to build something with and for their people: a hardworking, hard-partying Black community with a Chinese American family that runs the town grocery store. Their talents include cooking, painting, bodyguarding, bartending, and, most importantly, playing music. It’s music that will bring the people to the twins’ new endeavor: a juke joint. A place for people to gather, gamble, drink, love, and dance. The use of music in the film is astounding: one bravura sequence, built on the idea that “music can conjure spirits,” takes the audience on a breathtaking tour through Black and Chinese cultural history.
Up to that point, it’s almost easy to forget this is a fantastical movie, as focused as it’s been on building character and relationships. When the vampires inevitably attempt to invite themselves to the party, the film becomes a densely themed siege movie. Conversations touch on “proper” and “improper” ways of being Black, leaving your community for fame conferred by white society, religion’s place as perhaps equally oppressive and liberatory force, and much more. It’s almost overwhelming.
But writer-director Ryan Coogler largely threads the needle, with some missteps into rote plotting, of blockbuster fun and thoughtful commentary. Yet, it’s none of the incisive lines or cheer-worthy action beats that stay with you a er it’s over; it’s the film’s monumental musical moments. More than anything, Sinners is an awe-inspiring ode to what music means to communities and cultures. —KYLE LOGAN R, 137 min. Wide release in theaters v
Sinners WARNER BROS. PICTURES
George Freeman returns to the cosmos
The youngest of the Freeman brothers leaves behind a legacy of radiant good humor, inspiring idiosyncracy, and inimitable jazz guitar.
By NEIL TESSER
There are 1,001 stories worth telling about George Freeman—guitarist, raconteur, raucous tra c cop at the five corners of jazz, blues, and funk—but I think two do a lot of the heavy lifting.
George died on April 1, after a career that spanned nine decades, so even 1,001 might be a low estimate. But of the two stories I’ve chosen, one is about the way so many people have reacted to hearing George for the first time—for instance, in 1979, at the first Chicago Jazz Festival in Grant Park, in a group led by his elder brother Von.
George had been performing around town since the 1940s, mostly on the south side. He’d recorded with organist Richard “Groove” Holmes several times in the 60s before gaining notoriety with his own Delmark disc Birth Sign , recorded in 1969. That year he began touring with fellow DuSable High alum Gene Ammons, and in the early 70s he straddled the border of jazz and funk with organist Jimmy McGri . But still, whole swaths of the Jazz Fest crowd, especially folks from north of Madison, knew nothing about him but his name, and as he played, I could feel them buzzing: “What the hell was that?”
George’s birthday bash went ahead two weekends ago, if not quite as planned. . . .
George’s guitar rested on a stand at center stage, next to a chair where he would’ve sat.
Pershing Hotel in Woodlawn, where George and several other local musicians (including Bruz, the eldest Freeman brother, on drums) accompanied genius bebop cocreator Charlie Parker. On a tune titled “Keen and Peachy,” George played a now notorious solo that beggars description, or at least any description that would fit the era. If you introduce that solo to someone familiar only with George’s late- career work, their eyes will widen, and they might even erupt into laughter as they
realize: He sounded like that from the very beginning.
Within a few years
George had become a Chicago landmark, often heard in the company of Von, a pillar of the “Chicago school” of tenor saxophone and another maverick marvel. Even then, people couldn’t quite believe—or fully identify—what George was doing.
The second story, related to the first, concerns George’s playing on a poorly recorded, often-cited Chicago performance from October 1950, when he was 23 years old. The gig took place in the ballroom of the
“Keen and Peachy” is a high-octane romp based on the harmonic framework of “Fine and Dandy,” a hammy show tune from 1930. Parker obliterates it, skimming above the chords with the quicksilver technique that made other saxophonists either go home to practice or just sell their horns. And then comes George, playing lines almost as fast as Parker’s but . . . wait, where the hell did those come from? George isn’t extrapolating from the tune’s harmonies, certainly: He throws them aside, mere props discarded in a helter-skelter of profligate ri s, tumbling down and clambering up, and unexpected cul-de-sacs that pop in and out like bubbles in time.
That kind of playing is what prompted guitarist and former Chicagoan Frank Portolese— himself no stranger to speedy iconoclasm—to post about George on Facebook when he learned of his passing. “Young music students who insist on knowing the right scale for ev-
George Freeman at the Green Mill for his 90th birthday in 2017
MICHAEL JACKSON
George Freeman and Mike Allemana at the Green Mill on Freeman’s 96th birthday in 2023 MICHAEL JACKSON
erything should be referred to Mr. Freeman,” he wrote. “They wouldn’t know what to play, ask or think after that.” Portolese went on to say that George’s recordings from that period “sound like The Future, like he jumped ahead 50 years and checked everything out, then came back.”
I can’t dispute that George sounds like a time traveler on that track. But time and space are conjoined, and to me it also sounds like he’s just arrived from Mars. I felt that way
Family of Chicago jazz. That mantle now falls to Von’s son, Chico Freeman, who lives in Switzerland but regularly returns to Chicago. At the 2023 Chicago Jazz Festival, Chico played with his uncle George, and their 2015 Southport album, All in the Family, brims with avuncular a ection.
On a tune titled “Keen and Peachy,” George played a now notorious solo that beggars description, or at least any description that would fit the era.
the
first couple dozen times I heard him. (And why wouldn’t I? Among his peers on the city’s south-side jazz scene of the 1950s was Sun Ra, who said he was from Saturn.)
George’s solo on “Keen and Peachy” doesn’t follow the conventions or the developmental logic of bebop, the music of his day. His swingier phrases—combined with the blunt, slightly distorted sound of an amplifier from the electric guitar’s first couple decades— sound like what might’ve happened if exotic hallucinogens had fallen into the hands of jazz guitar pioneer Charlie Christian. It’s a sound out of place as well as time, and no one had heard anything like it before.
George, Bruz, and Von constituted the First
The youngest of the siblings, George died nine days shy of his 98th birthday. He had planned to celebrate onstage at the Green Mill, at the helm of his two-guitar quartet with Mike Allemana, just as he’d done almost every year since 2012 (COVID, you know). Allemana played with brother Von for 15 years before shepherding George through the sunset of his life: In a way, he’s the Fifth Freeman, and his stewardship of the quartet helped make George’s birthday celebration one of the most popular concerts on the Mill calendar.
For that, you can credit the music—Allemana has the sort of technique that makes you wonder if he’s struck a deal with the devil—as well as the pure joy and uninhibited emotion George radiated to the crowd. Fans also loved the chance to see the nonagenarian jazzman, still playing strong lines and rhythm, still peppering his solos with crowd-pleasing set pieces, and still sounding very much like he had from the start. George’s 1999 Southport album carried the title George Burns!, and he did, up until the last few years. When he turned the flame down for a ballad, his rough-and-tumble tone became a velvet breeze—especially on the songs he wrote, such as “Perfume” and
“My Scenery.” They drifted and lolled like ripples from Shangri-la, gentle but candidly seductive and rivaling Duke Ellington saxophonist Johnny Hodges or Marvin Gaye for romantic afterglow.
(I doubt that many in the audience would have realized that, following the death of drummer Roy Haynes last year, George was one of the last four or five living musicians to have shared a stage with Charlie Parker. But that might have counted for something too.)
George’s birthday bash went ahead two weekends ago, if not quite as planned: Allemana led the rest of the quartet, with Pete Benson on organ and Charles Heath on drums, on tunes they would’ve played in any case. George’s guitar rested on a stand at center
seemed that no one knew exactly how to feel. We did the right thing by showing up, but the reality hadn’t fully set in.
That George died on April Fools’ Day resonates with me, and I think it would have tickled him as well. He had an impish jocularity, which you could see in his CinemaScope smile and hear in his hearty invitations to engage the audience in call-and-response: “Say yeah! Say hell yeah!” Only the pruniest grump would even try to resist. I didn’t know him in his youth, but if he played tricks on anyone, I can’t imagine they were ever mean. George’s pranks came in the form of musical tomfoolery: o -the-deep-end melodic runs; quotes of unrelated songs dropped in from out of nowhere; long-held low notes, which his lo-fi guitar amp made sound darker and buzzier than any jazz player’s ever had. And like Shakespeare’s fools, George smuggled plenty of truth and hard-won sagacity into his punning allusions and careening non sequiturs.
George’s usual reaction to such praise would’ve been to chortle my full name, break out his face-filling grin, and remind me how he felt hearing me spin “Birth Sign” on WNUR in the early 70s. He always sounded sincerely grateful,
stage, next to a chair where he would’ve sat. The chair held a photo portrait of George from a recent profile in Guitar Player magazine. The music sailed; the atmosphere sat somewhere between celebration and sadness, not quite fully heated but far from morose. George had been gone only a week and a half, and it
when in fact the gratitude was all mine—for getting to hear him in person for close to five decades, for getting to laugh with him, and for getting to take inspiration from his funky, luminous take on music and life. Hell yeah. v
m letters@chicagoreader.com
George Freeman (seated) in 2019 with nephew Chico Freeman, Billy Branch, Bernard Purdie, Pete Benson, Mike Allemana, and Green Mill owner Dave Jemilo MICHAEL JACKSON
Pete Benson, Charles Heath, and Mike Allemana—the surviving members of George Freeman’s quartet—perform with an empty chair and George’s unattended guitar during his posthumous birthday celebration on Friday, April 11. KIRK WILLIAMSON
CITY OF WIN
Hip-hop prodigy Kaicrewsade puts community first
The Chicago rapper and mental health advocate builds his tracks by connecting musicians and builds safe spaces by connecting his people.
By JOSHUA EFERIGHE
City of Win is a series curated by Isiah “ThoughtPoet” Veney and written by Joshua Eferighe that uses prose and photography to create portraits of Chicago musicians and cultural innovators working to create positive change in their communities.
When I played my friend “Match?” and “Slow Dancing to Liv.e,” the newest singles from Chicago rapper Kaicrewsade, she immediately knew she was hearing something special.
“Match?” opens with smooth string swells spangled with harp runs and driven by a hushed, restrained beat, and its sonic garden grows to add nylon-strong acoustic guitar and touches of brass. “Slow Dancing to Liv.e” delivers a melange of funky key ri s, busy crossstick drumming, and clustered saxophone accents, then fades out on a relaxed outro that begins with the flicking of a lighter: dreamy glockenspiel, enchanting chimes, and a warm, wordless singsong refrain. On both songs, which Kaicrewsade has combined into a single video, his flows lock tight to the rhythms of the instruments to lead your ears through the lush soundscapes.
My friend and I weren’t raging—we’d shared a couple glasses of chardonnay and a joint, nothing more—but the experience was still euphoric. “I don’t know how to describe the feeling of this music,” she said as the video ended, as if waking out of a trance.
I was already a fan of Kaicrewsade, having heard the 22-year-old west-side native’s 2024 single “Chickenscratch!” and his debut mixtape, Yvette, which followed in September of that year. I’d even checked out his 2021 debut EP, Steve’s Demo , which he recorded in his car—and which turned up on Lyrical Lemonade’s year-end top-50 list. But listening to “Match?” and “Slow Dancing to Liv.e,” which came out last month, sealed the deal and
convinced me to pursue Kaicrewsade’s story. What I found is a jazz hip-hop prodigy with a heart for his community.
and he says all his beats are made from scratch. “I wouldn’t call myself a textbook producer,” Kai says. “In a 12-minute session, I’m listening to that bitch, like, five times, and I’m like, all right, bet, but I know exactly what I want. Take this out. Put this in. Put this in. Take this out. I’m gonna call people in to play this part. For my nigga, Perahje—he be playing horns—I’m literally telling this man [makes horn sounds] ‘ba ba ba ba.’ I’m actually sounding out how I want that shit to sound.”
Kai’s grandiose sound, with its kaleidoscopic variety of horns, keyboards, guitars, and percussion, is a byproduct of the ear he developed listening to the jazz and soul records his parents played around the house. By the time he was seven, he was listening to the likes of Herbie Hancock, Roy Ayers, Ronnie Foster, Minnie
composer. All I do is sit and listen to jazz all day. It’s not a hobby. It’s literally something I’ve done with my father, my mother. . . . I grew up just listening to so much music.”
Kai also considers himself a mental health advocate. He graduated high school and left the state for college at the start of the pandemic—which would’ve been a rough time even without the major life change. His struggles with mental health have motivated him to build a space where people can discuss their own issues in an environment of honesty, grace, and empathy.
“On some real, I’ve dealt with depression a lot—still deal with depression. It’s something I’ve been able to be vocal about,” Kai says. “I’ve been able to understand it and deal with it.” During his first year in college, he learned how to cope with his depression with help from a safe space he found on campus—a resource that also laid the blueprint for Kai’s Poetry Club (KPC), a mental health and community initiative Kai launched in 2021.
“If you gonna have some type of clout that come up, then utilize it in a way that, like, we helping,” says Kaicrewsade. THOUGHTPOET FOR CHICAGO READER
“No, I don’t play instruments. I be fuckin’ around, though,” says Kaicrewsade. (Born Makhi Miller, he also goes by “Kai.”) He raps and he can carry a melody, but the complexity that’s a hallmark of his music comes from his arrangements. He builds his tracks by editing, rearranging, and modifying recordings of brief jam sessions by live musicians—nothing is programmed. Kai describes himself as a composer, but he’s also a producer in the oldfashioned sense, providing the vision rather than playing the instruments. He dictates every note on every song, meticulously arranging every line of music. He hates samples,
Riperton, Erykah Badu, and Jack Wilkins. A Tribe Called Quest inspired him to rap. Kai understands chord progressions and music theory. “That comes from church,” he explains. He says that his church background—and being around “old folk” his entire life—gave him his love for music played on real instruments.
“My mother is a singer. She sang in the choir. I was in choir practice growing up. Between my mama and my nana, I stayed in the church. So if I’m not telling the homies how to sing, I trust them that they already got it down,” he says. “I’m a crate-digger and I’m a
“I was off to school—I went to Iowa for a while, and it was kind of tight but I was in the middle of fuck nowhere,” Kai says. “This was a pandemic, so it was a very transitional time in my life.” The enforced shortage of ways to gather with other people didn’t do his mental health any favors.
“Becoming an adult while nobody outside is just so weird,” he continues. “And I would go to these Bible studies, but there weren’t really Bible studies. It was like check-ins. Like, they weren’t really talking about church for real. They was kind of just being more uplifting than anything. And I’m like, we need this shit in the ’Raq—I gotta bring this shit home.”
Kai returned to Chicago to complete his sophomore year online, and on his birthday in 2021, his uncle gave him access to a loft in Pilsen, trying to help Kai’s music career. “He was just like, ‘Hey, look, I’ll let you rent this bitch for free. Whatever you want to do,’” Kai says. “I was like, I ain’t even gonna do no music. I’m gonna just start KPC.”
KPC started as more of an open-mike night, and it’s grown into a nurturing community on Chicago’s south side, providing a space where young adults can be vulnerable. Kai also holds winter coat drives under the KPC umbrella.
MUSIC
Kai’s Poetry Club started as more of an open-mike night, and it’s grown into a nurturing community on Chicago’s south side, providing a space where young adults can be vulnerable.
He credits his family and the previous wave of Chicago musicians as inspirations.
“I don’t come from selfish people. When winter came, my OG was definitely at the soup kitchens. I definitely had a pops who always saw the importance of loving Chicago,” Kai says. “Just coming up seeing, like, Chance [the Rapper] do his shit with SocialWorks, and Noname—you know we grew up with Noname. Her shit is insane. Like, Saba, John Walt. . . . If I have some type of following, why not curate a better opportunity for my people? Like, anybody rap—rapping ain’t hard, nigga. But it’s like, if you gonna have some type of clout that come up, then utilize it in a way that, like, we helping niggas.”
Kaicrewsade is on the rise as a rapper, so he may have that clout soon. His most popular single, “Chickenscratch! (Live),” has more than 270,000 Spotify streams, and he’ll be performing at Lollapalooza for the first time this summer.
He’s gotten cosigns from Chance, Saba, and Noname, and last August he appeared in the freestyle series on Gabe P’s popular channel On the Radar, which has 1.3 million subscribers on YouTube and 1.6 million TikTok followers. In May, he’s going on tour in Europe, playing festivals and headlining gigs.
to listening to Kai’s music, he was blown away. He’s been locked in with Kai ever since.
“I’m always music first. Music first, and then I gotta meet you,” Classick explains. “So it was the other way around. I met him first, and then it was music. And I was like, ‘Yeah, all right, come down. You just need better mixing. Stop recording in your damn car,’” he says, laughing. “We see things the same way when it comes to how we work. I move fast too. I gotta work o how I feel, and I have to catch it.”
Classick is also impressed by Kai’s work ethic. “He started coming to the studio, where he would record and then shoot a video the next day,” he says. “[Kai would] tell me, ‘Hey, I’m about to drop this two weeks from now.’ I’m like, ‘Hey, run it.’”
Kai’s Poetry Club met most recently in February, and Kaicrewsade says he’s already planning the next date. He’ll finish his four-year degree later in 2025, and he hopes to have his next coat drive in early 2026. He’s focused on touring and festival bookings for now, but he doesn’t want to finish the year without dropping more music. When he does, be sure to share it with your friends— and let them know that something amazing is about to happen to their ears. v
Kai is booked by Earth Agency and managed by Chris Classick and Juliana Miller at Classicks Never Die. Classick, who also manages Smino, is best known as the producer and engineer who founded Classick Studios, but earlier this year he branched out into artist development. He says he was impressed with Kai when they first met in 2021, and when he got around
m letters@chicagoreader.com
Photos by ThoughtPoet of Unsocial Aesthetics (UAES), a digital creative studio and resource collective designed to elevate communitydriven storytelling and social activism in Chicago and beyond
Kaicrewsade THOUGHTPOET FOR CHICAGO READER
Recommended and notable shows with critics’ insights for the week of April 24
MUSIC
Denzel Curry combines forward-thinking rap with old-school nostalgia on King of the Mischievous South Vol. 2
DENZEL CURRY, KENNY MASON, 454, CLIP Fri 4/25, 7 PM, Salt Shed, 1357 N. Elston, $42.50–$136. b
DENZEL CURRY HAS BEEN a rap juggernaut since underground hip-hop artist SpaceGhostPurrp featured his first mixtape on his social media in 2011. Hailing from Miami Gardens, Florida, Curry has become a prolific rapper, singer, and songwriter and earned acclaim for his adventurous style, incredible collaborations, and consistency, along with his odes to his southern roots.
Curry initially marketed his July 2024 project, King of the Mischievous South Vol. 2, as a mixtape, but a few months later he reissued it as an album—a move that makes so much sense considering it features a dizzying array of popular and influential rappers, including Juicy J and Project Pat, TiaCorine, A$AP Rocky, Sauce Walka, 2 Chainz, and Bktherula. Memphis rap legend Kingpin Skinny Pimp adds a beautiful cherry on top; he narrates the whole album, adding the sort of classic
mixtape feel that’s having a renaissance on rap records. Among my personal favorite tracks is “Set It,” an ominous, trap-inspired banger with a haunting bass line, horror-movie synths, and a fantastic guest verse from Houston rapper Maxo Kream.
On album single “Got Me Geeked,” a less aggressive track, Curry’s flow is reminiscent of prime Bone Thugs-N-Harmony; he fesses up to a lust for women and drank, and the video is set in a colorful sex-fueled club. Curry isn’t just recognized for his great discography—he’s also a top-tier live performer, with a tornado-like stage presence that can inspire wild mosh pits. This Salt Shed show is part of his Mischievous South Tour, which features support from alt-hip-hop artist Kenny Mason, psychedelic rapper 454, and rising talent Clip. The night promises to be a sweaty, beautiful mess, so grab a ticket and get ready to rage. —CRISTALLE BOWEN
FRIDAY25
Denzel Curry See Pick of the Week at le . Kenny Mason, 454, and Clip open. 7 PM, Salt Shed, 1357 N. Elston, $42.50–$136. b
Niis Pollyanna and Peel open. 6:30 PM, Subterranean, 2011 W. North, $18. b
If you’ve ever shopped the flippantly playful clothing line Fashion Brand Company, you’ll probably recognize Mimi Doe. She’s one of the company’s most frequently featured models—the redhead with the Crass tattoo—and she’s also the front person for Los Angeles punk band Niis. Doe continues punk’s historic relationship between counterculture musicians and designers, established when first-wave icons such as Siouxsie Sioux and Sid Vicious functioned as early brand ambassadors for Vivienne Westwood and her store Seditionaries. Just as Fashion Brand Company is a popular fashion brand, Niis are a band that’s “nice”—they’re exactly what they say they are, and then some.
On March 28, Niis released their first full-length, Niis World (Get Better). Their smattering of early singles and EPs looked outward at misogyny, animal abuse, and other issues, but their latest material is less overtly political, gazing inward at rage and heartbreak. The band’s sound draws from classic LA punk scenes, sometimes veering more hardcore and sometimes embracing pop. The occasional scream or riff even feels borrowed straight from the grungy muck of a 90s L7 record. It’s not groundbreaking, but it’s confident and enjoyably referential.
Niis’s reverence for their lineage has allowed them to share stages with pioneering hardcore bands such as Fear and the Circle Jerks. In 2023, they opened for GBH on a tour that stopped at Metro. This is Niis’s first headlining performance in Chicago, and it should be nice, energetic, irreverent, and fun—exactly as punk was meant to be. —MICCO CAPORALE
MONDAY28
Bob Vylan DoFlame open. 7:30 PM, Beat Kitchen, 2100 W. Belmont, $20. b
Bobby and Bobbie Vylan aren’t siblings, but as the duo Bob Vylan, these London artists hammer together punk, hip-hop, and drum ’n’ bass to make music that could soundtrack a radical brotherhood. The title track of last year’s Humble as the Sun (released on their Ghost Theatre imprint) combines an easy-listening groove with an increasingly emphatic narrative that moves between personal and political. “I replaced the noose with gold chains, just wanting to be free / I accomplished all my dreams and invited my friends to see,” raps guitarist and vocalist Bobby. “Now watch me as I fight back for every reggae artist that never got their rights back.” Bob Vylan aren’t just interested in their own come-up, but in racial and social justice for everyone.
The duo played their first show just two weeks after Bobby and Bobbie met in a London bar in 2017, and they self-released their sharp, moody,
GIOVANNI MOURIN
MUSIC
Niis JAMES DURAN
Bob Vylan KI PRICE
MUSIC
continued from p. 23
electronics- steeped debut EP, Vylan , later that year. They broke out with the powerful 2020 EP We Live Here, even a er PR representatives, labels, and other industry folks told them that its themes of racism, classism, and police brutality made it too extreme to release. As the Black Lives Matter discourse peaked following the May 2020 murder of George Floyd, their single “We Live Here,” which depicts the racially motivated 1993 murder of 18-year-old Black Londoner Stephen Lawrence as he waited for the bus, resonated with listeners at home and abroad.
Bob Vylan have since made a splash on the festival circuit (they played their Chicago set at Riot Fest in 2022, and this month they appeared at Coachella), and no matter how big the venue, they maintain a commanding stage presence. Bobbie, who alternates between live drums and DJing, keeps the beat going, and Bobby keeps the crowd focused on his words. They’re also known to amp up the sense of collectivity by inviting folks to join them onstage and sing along, especially for the Humble track “He’s a Man.”
—SALEM COLLO-JULIN
TUESDAY29
Yesness Mute Duo open. 8 PM, Schubas, 3159 N. Southport, $22, $20 in advance. 18+
Have you ever had two friends you’re sure would hit it off famously if only they ever met? Bassist and pianist Kristian Dunn is half of prolific postrock duo El Ten Eleven, and drummer Damon Che is best known from explosive math-rock outfit Don Caballero. Karl Hofstetter, founder of Indiana indie label Joyful Noise, knew both of them, though they didn’t know each other. A er Dunn told him he had more musical ideas than could fit into El Ten Eleven, Hofstetter introduced him to Che via email in 2023. Che had been growing restless during a creative hiatus, and he and Dunn clicked. They birthed the new duo Yesness, and their debut album together, November’s See You at the Solipsist Convention, breathes fresh air into instrumental postrock. Though the songs were born out of cross-country collaboration, mainly via text and email (Dunn is based in California, while Che lives in Pennsylvania), they fluidly
combine Dunn’s upli ing atmospheres and imaginative eight-string bass playing with Che’s thunderous polyrhythmic prowess. Both musicians are old pros at this, and they work together so well that upon meeting in person for the first time, they recorded See You in a single short string of sessions. Dunn and Che also have a shared knack for irreverent titles (“Your Reverb Is Showing,” “Occasional Grape?”), which lends their wordless tunes extra playfulness. The album’s high points include collaborations with two Joyful Noise labelmates: Kishi Bashi adds swoops and dips of lyrical violin to the soaring “Nice Walrus,” and Macie Stewart (of Chicago band Finom) adds vivid layers of strings to “Fire, When It’s Broken” and “Horror Snuggle.” —JAMIE LUDWIG
WEDNESDAY30
Arnold Dreyblatt 8:30 PM, Constellation, 3111 N. Western, $25. 18+
When you visit Arnold Dreyblatt’s website, you’re confronted with a choice—artist or composer. Whichever you choose, you’ll be drawn into a world that challenges your senses. The American-born
polymath, based in Berlin since 1984, has created visual works such as Memory Lost, Last Europeans?, and Inmates whose images and text manifest hidden stories or tantalize the viewer with layered texts that transcends what they could do on their own. His music, informed by early encounters with composer La Monte Young, light artist Marian Zazeela, and video artist and musician Tony Conrad, puts minimalist means to ecstatic ends. On “Nodal Excitation,” which he debuted in 1979, he rhythmically bounces a bow on the strings of a double bass that’s been restrung with unwound piano wire and tuned in just intonation, creating complex clouds of overtones that swirl around an insistent cadence. He’s explored variations on this core idea with invented and mechanized instruments, as well as with musicians who straddle rock and experimental aesthetics. On the 2023 LP Resolve (Drag City), he’s joined by a small combo billed as the Orchestra of Excited Strings—it consists of Oren Ambarchi and Joachim Schütz on electric guitars, plus Konrad Sprenger (who also produced the record) on percussion and a self-designed computer-controlled guitar. For his first Chicago appearance since 2017, Dreyblatt will perform two solo pieces: an updated “Nodal Excitation” and “Transmission,” which turns the bass into a sine-wave generator. —BILL MEYER v
Yesness: Damon Che and Kristian Dunn ROBERTO CAMPOS
Arnold Dreyblatt COURTESY THE ARTIST
SAVAGE LOVE
SEX AND RELATIONSHIPS
Arrangements
Does your “don’t ask, don’t tell” agreement work for both of you? Plus, what’s this discharge?
By DAN SAVAGE
Q : My wife and I are socially monogamous but have a “don’t ask, don’t tell” (DADT) arrangement that applies if we’re not in our home city. My wife would prefer that I divulge details to her but I don’t want to hear her details, so we defaulted to DADT based on my preferences. We aren’t out to friends about being open so I don’t have anyone I can talk to about this. Thus, I am writing to you.
I just had an outstanding weekend getaway with a new friend. Nothing in particular was over the top about our itinerary—saunas and cold plunges followed by fancy meals—but time flew by while also seeming to stand still. The sex was WOW and our conversations about serious subjects were spiced with tongue-in-cheek teasing about this fantasy world we were playing in. She is poly and can share details with her partners, but she enjoys the secrecy aspect of my arrangement. We’ve been messaging each other about just how hot our getaway was and have already scheduled our next trip together in a few months. Messaging someone else from “home base” may constitute a rule violation within my arrangement.
Here is my question: How do I sustain the erotic tension with this new friend with so much time between now and our next date?
We are planning to introduce shibari (erotic rope bondage) into our play next time, with me tying her. I was thinking of sending some
self-tie photos or photos of the ties I plan on doing to sustain the erotic tension. But taking photos at “home base” would count as another possible rules violation. Context for the two “rule violations” I’ve cited: there is an implied agreement between my wife and I to suspend engagement with play partners while at “home base.” This is probably more my rule than my wife’s.
—BENDING RULES IN EROTIC FRENZY
a : Let’s get the question you asked out of the way first. Will sending your new friend photos of shibari knots
sustain the erotic tension in the long run-up to your next meeting? Maybe. Maybe not. What works for one person doesn’t necessarily work for another person. Hearing about your sexual adventures turns your wife on, apparently, while hearing about hers turns you off. That’s why you defaulted to DADT. So, yeah, sending knotty photos is obviously gonna work for you—that’s why you want to do it—but only your new friend knows whether they’re going to work for her. You need to ask your new friend what she wants. Dirty pics? Dirty texts? Dirty stories? Or would she prefer to
you have with your wife is way too vague. You mentioned one basic rule in addition to no asking and no telling: no engaging with other partners from home base. But that rule seems to have been implied or inferred somehow, not agreed upon.
So are you allowed to text a play partner when you’re back home? Are sext messages worse than casual checkins? Is radio silence required between visits or just no physical contact?
And here’s the biggie: Are these “rules” actually rules, or are they just your preferences that your wife is honoring (or mirroring) without question . . . because that’s what you needed? And if these unwritten and unverbalized rules were defaulted into for your comfort, BRIEF, and they’re not working for you anymore, why haven’t you talked to your wife about changing them? If it’s because you have a hard time talking about this (if opening your marriage was fraught with anxiety or stress), that’s understandable. If it’s because you want to be free to sext up a storm with your side pieces but don’t want your wife doing the same: that’s not an “arrangement,” BRIEF, that’s a shitty and manipulative double standard.
reconnect, via text, shortly before your next planned meeting? She could be busy with other partners and, as much as she’s looking forward to connecting with you again, texting with you on a daily or even weekly basis might be too distracting. Or it could be a welcome distraction—again, you’re going to have to communicate with her about this, BRIEF, not me. (Even if she wants to swap sexts for the next three months, BRIEF, show a little restraint: you want to build erotic tension, not burn through it.)
Speaking of communication, the DADT agreement
Q : I’m a lesbian in my early 20s who just started experimenting with anal with my girlfriend. It’s been great fun!
However, I have discovered that my ass gets wet. It seems to produce sizeable quantities of slightly yellow slippery discharge—enough that a bit sometimes squirts out when I fart!
Everything I have read says that the rectum should be fairly dry. What could be the root of my selflubricating asshole?!?
—WE’RE EXPLORING THIS ANAL STUFF SERIOUSLY
a : Oh, I love a good, oldfashioned sex question! If you’re using as much lube as you should as an anal newbie (and, by the way, you should be using a lot and then adding more), some of that lube is gonna get so far up inside you, WETASS, that you’re not gonna be able to crap it all out when you’re done. Which means some residual and/or leftover lube is going to work its way down and out over the next 12 hours or so.
Nonmonogamous relationships require more communication, not less. Well, at least the ethically nonmonogamous relationships do. While it’s great that you found someone you click with and you’re excited to see again, you owe it to your wife to have a real conversation about the terms of your DADT agreement. You need settings, not default settings. You need agreements and not assumptions. And if you’re allowed to do something (or if you’ve already given yourself permission to do something), your wife should be allowed to do that same thing.
So, if you’ve only noticed your ass producing slightly yellow slippery discharge on the days you’ve done butt stuff, that’s probably just lube leaking out of you. The technical term for this substance is santorum, as we defined in this column in 2003.
But if you’re noticing discharge even on days when your girlfriend hasn’t been plowing your ass, that could be a sign of a sexually transmitted infection, WETASS, and you’re going to need to talk to a doctor about that, not an advice columnist. v
Got problems? Yes, you do! Record a question for the Savage Lovecast at the URL savage.love/askdan, where you can also read the full version of this column, archives, and more. m mailbox@savage.love
Messaging someone else from “home base” might be a rule violation. MARCOS PAULO PRADO/UNSPLASH
CLASSIFIEDS
JOBS
Accountant
Prepare month-end accounting journal entries, account reconciliation, financial and operational reports, payroll, tax & govt. reporting, investigate outstanding issues, cashflow management, and retail auditing for a company with multiple locations. Bachelor’s in Accounting required. Offered Salary: $57,262.00. Mail resume:
A & B Wireless Inc., Attn: B. Razzaq, 5617 W. Montrose Ave., Chicago, IL 60634.
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago seeks Registered Dietitians for Chicago, IL location. Bachelor’s in Nutrition/related field + 1yr exp req’d. Req’d: Req’d: 1yr of clinical exp as a Registered Dietitian; Registered Dietitian issued by the Commission on Dietetic Registration; IL licensure as LDN OR RD w/ IL LDN license pending. Background check & drug screen req’d. $65,520/ yr-$107,120/yr. Apply online: https://careers. luriechildren.org REF: JR2025-1373 https:// careers.luriechildren.org
Cnsltnt, Sustnablity, Energy & Clmate Chng(Chicago, IL), WSP USA, Inc.: Devlp & maintain data mgmt. systms & biz intellignc tools. Salary $86,362. Stnd corp benfts. Reqs: Bach’s (or frgn equiv) in Envrnmntl Engg, Envrnmntl Science or a rltd fld; 1 month exp as Clmate Chng Cnsltnt, Sustnablity Cnsltnt or rltd role. Email resume to jobs@wsp.com, Ref: 8639.
Health Care Service Corporation seeks Sr Mgr Digital Product Delivery (Chicago, IL) to provide end-to-end delivery of Technology programs & projects to ensure successful execution &
alignment with business needs. REQS: Bach & 5 yrs exp. Telecommuting: Flex role (3 days in office/2 days remote). Pay:$126,755$220,800/yr. Benefits: https://careers.hcsc. com/totalrewards. Email resume to hrciapp@ bcbsil.com, ref R0041702
Islamic Community Center of Illinois (Chicago, IL) seeks Imam to direct & coordinate religious activities as outlined by ICCI Executive Committee. Must be licensed in Intonation (Tajweed) & Readings. Must be willing to occ. travel w/in the U.S. Sbm. resumes to jamaljarad@ aol.com, ref. Job ID: Imam2025 in the sbj. line
Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC seeks Director, HR - M&C/H&D to work in Chicago, IL & be accountable for driving all people initiatives across the related function. Degree & commensurate exp. req’d. For pay scale & benefits and to apply online search keyword R-92017 at careers.kraftheinz.com
Marketing Attribution, LLC seeks Analytics Consultants for various & unanticipated worksites throughout the U.S. (HQ: Evanston, IL) to work on data acquisition, sculpting client data into Marketing Attribution’s tools using Python. Master’s in Applied Statistics/ Applied Mathematics/ Data Analytics +2yrs exp req’d. Req’d skills: Data wrangling (Python, NumPy), Data visualization (R Shiny, matplotlib), Machine learning, Parallel computing (e.g., PySpark), Version control (Git), Unit testing, Network modeling, Regression analysis, Monte Carlo methods, Model selection, Bootstrap, A/B testing, financial modeling, Bayesian stats methodology. Telecommuting permitted.
$94,000/yr.-$125,000/ yr. Apply to: jobs@ marketingattribution. com REF: YP
Midwestern Career College seeks an International Admissions Counselor in
Chicago. Duties: Recruit international students using various marketing channels, creating marketing materials, assist prospective students through the admissions process, manage student records, and participate in student services. Requirements: Associate degree required in marketing or related field, ability to communicate effectively, excellent customer service skills. At least 1 year of experience in sales/customer service/ marketing that used CRM systems. Email resume to: HR@mccollege.edu
Project Estimator sought in Elk Grove Village, IL. Prepare cost estimates and proposals for HVAC equipment projects. Read and understand contract documents, communicate with sales personnel and customers, and provide technical assistance. Maintain organized project files and identify project risks and opportunities. Communicate with vendors and understand product capabilities and limitations. Requirements: Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering plus one year of experience in the job offered or as an Engineer. Also requires 1 year of experience in the following (which may have been gained concurrently) - Product Preceding Technology (PPT), Value Package Introduction (VPI), Current Product Support (CPS), Engineering Standard Work (ESW), iDFMEA, and Failure Incident Review Group (FIRG). Please send resumes to HR Dept., Job Code: 001, Mercury Partners 90 Bi, Inc. dba - Brucker Co., 1200 Greenleaf Ave. Elk Grove Village, IL 60007.
Recruit Tek Systems Analyst. Analyze user requirements, procedures, development and integration of serverbased applications. Identify problems, test and implement scripts. Continually monitor routing, switching, and operational issues. Requires BS in Computer Science,24 months experience
in job offered. Email resume misterikhan@ gmail.com. Work Area: Hanover Park, IL
Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated seeks Investment Banker - Vice President in Chicago, IL to structure/execute Invstmnt Bnkig transctns. Reqs. dmstc & int’l travel up to 10%. Apply at jobpostingtoday. com/ Ref # 35677.
Senior LIMS Developer position at Silliker Inc. Position located in Chicago, IL. Responsible for investigating, developing, testing, and recommending new software solutions for existing or proposed processes. Salary: $135,905.50. Benefits: Med., Dent. Vis., 401(k). Position requires Bachelor’s degree (3 or 4-year degree accepted) in Comp. Sci., Comp. Info Sys. or rltd field (or foreign equiv) & 3 yrs. relevant exp. Position allows for telecommuting within commuting distance of reporting office in Chicago, IL. Position requires domestic travel less than 5% of time to attend meetings at other company sites. Apply via the company website: https://mxns.csod.com/ ux/ats/career site/5/home/ requisition/7176?c=mxns
Solar sales https://byldshowcase. com/ 708 217 5214
HOUSING
Southport Corridor Unit Available! Spacious 1 Bed 1Bath Available in Southport Corridor! Only $1750 per month with a minimal move in fee. You will Love this Unit and the Location! Kerry 773-892-6933
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Microfiction Judges & Contestants Wanted 100 words or less. Lokhuza.com
SERVICES
CHESTNUT
ORGANIZING AND CLEANING SERVICES: especially for people who need an organizing service because of depression, elderly, physical or mental challenges or other causes for your home’s clutter, disorganization, dysfunction, etc. We can organize for the downsizing of your current possessions to more easily move into a smaller home. With your help, we can help to organize your move. We can organize and clean for the deceased in lieu of having the bereaved needing to do the preparation to sell or rent the deceased’s home. We are absolutely not judgmental; we’ve seen and done “worse” than your job assignment. With your help, can we please help you? Chestnut Cleaning Service: 312-332-5575. www.ChestnutCleaning. com www. ChestnutCleaning.com
Cello lessons in the Fine Arts Building. All ages, beginner to early advanced Free intro consultation. Saturdays. heatherdunncello.com
