OLD JEWS TELLING JOKES Offers Free Valet Parking; 'Guest Jokesters' Set for Feb-March Appearances

Now in its fifth month at the Royal George Theatre, 1641 N. Halsted Street, the hit comedy, OLD JEWS TELLING JOKES continues to make news, by eliminating winter parking woes and offering free valet parking at the theater on weeknights! Patrons need only purchase a full price ticket for performances on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday evenings by phone or at the box office - and use the code word CARS. Tickets are priced at $49 & $59, with a limited number of Premium seats available for every performance, priced at $99. Tickets are now on sale by calling (312) 988-9000; visiting the Royal George Theatre box office, or online at Ticketmaster.com. (This offer is subject to availability and cannot be combined with another offer.)

Plus, in the coming weeks, audiences can experience a series of "guest jokesters," prominent Chicagoans making cameo appearances in the show with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the charity of their choice. Upcoming are:

· Roy Blount, Jr, Wednesday, Feb. 19, to benefit the Authors Guild Foundation. Blount, Jr. is the author of 23 books, most recently Hail, Hail Euphoria: the Marx Brothers in Duck Soup and Alphabetter Juice: The Joy of Text. He is a panelist on NPR's Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me, former president of the Authors Guild and a member of the League of Southern Writers.

· Sara Paretsky, Thursday, Feb.20, to benefit Sisters4Science. Paretsky is the author of some 16 best- selling mystery novels featuring inimitable investigator VI Warshawski, who shares her creator's passion for social justice.

· Chef Laura Frankel, Sunday, Feb. 23 to benefit the Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership. She is the Executive Chef at Wolfgang Puck Kosher Catering at Spertus, and the author of two Jewish cook books.

· Kevin Coval, Wednesday, Feb. 26 to benefit Young Chicago Authors. Coval is the author of numerous poetry collections and chapbooks and founded "Louder Than a Bomb: The Chicago Youth Poetry Festival."

· David Fink, Thursday, March 6 to benefit Harbor Arts. Fink is an owner of the Acorn Theater in Three Oaks, Michigan and former board president of the Chicago Improv Festival.

· Mike Leiderman, Thursday, March 13 to benefit the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago. A broadcaster, producer and speaker, Leiderman has been a part of the Chicago media scene since the late 1970s, and has earned multiple Emmy Awards as a sports anchor at NBC5 and executive producer at WTTW11.

· Lisa Marie Varon, Thursday, March 20 (charity TBD). Lisa Marie Varon is an American professional wrestler, former bodybuilder and fitness competitor, best known for her time in World Wrestling Entertainment under the ring name Victoria. She currently owns the Lincoln Square restaurant, the Squared Circle.

All performances are at 7:30pm, with the exception of the Sunday performance at 5pm.

OLD JEWS TELLING JOKES features a quintet of Chicago favorites: Bob Amaral, Dara Cameron, Alex Goodrich, Renee Matthews and Gene Weygandt.

Created by Peter Gethers and Daniel Okrent, the hit off-Broadway comedy is directed by Marc Bruni (Associate Director, The Book of Mormon Chicago) and showcases the five actors in a comedy that pays tribute to and reinvents classic jokes of the past and present. The show also features comic songs -- brand new and satisfyingly old - as well as tributes to some of the giants of the comedy world and to OldJewsTellingJokes.com, the website created by Sam Hoffman that inspired the show. It is produced by Okrent and Gethers, along with Richard Frankel, Tom Viertel, Steven Baruch and Marc Routh.

OLD JEWS TELLING JOKES is performed at the Royal George Theatre, 1641 N. Halsted Street, Wednesdays at 2 & 7:30pm; Thursdays & Fridays at 7:30pm; Saturdays at 5 & 8pm; and Sundays at 2 & 5pm.

Tickets are priced at $49 & $59, with a limited number of Premium seats available for every performance, priced at $99. Tickets are now on sale by calling (312) 988-9000; visiting the Royal George Theatre box office, or online at Ticketmaster.com. Discounted tickets for groups of 10 or more are available by calling Group Theater Tix at 312-423-6612 or visiting www.grouptheatertix.com.

For more information on OLD JEWS TELLING JOKES in Chicago, visit http://oldjewstellingjokesonstage.com . Follow OLD JEWS TELLING JOKES on Twitter @OldJewsTweeting or on Facebook.

Pictured: Gene Weygandt, Dara Cameron, Alex Goodrich. Photo by Dan Rest.

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