Roy Blount, Janet Davies & Steve Downes to Appear at OLD JEWS TELLING JOKES at the Royal George Theatre

Author, humorist and panelist on National Public Radio's Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me program Roy Blount, Jr., plus Chicago media personalities Janet Davies (ABC7) and Steve Downes (WDRV-FM, The Drive) are the latest not-so-old, not-necessarily-Jewish joke tellers making one-night-only appearances in the hit comedy, OLD JEWS TELLING JOKES at the Royal George Theatre, 1641 N. Halsted Street, to raise funds for the charities of their choice. A popular addition to the hit comedy production since launching in mid-December, celebrities are making a cameo appearance with their own comedic shtick during the OLD JEWS TELLING JOKES show, with a portion of proceeds from that performance donated to the non-profit charity of the celebrity's choice.

Among the latest celebrities currently confirmed to join the cast of OLD JEWS TELLING JOKES are:

· Janet Davies, Wednesday, Jan. 22, to benefit Fund Our Future/St. Benedict Preparatory School. Davies has been with ABC7 since 1984. In addition to her feature and entertainment segments, which appear on ABC7 Eyewitness News, Davies was the host and executive producer of 190 North, a multiple Emmy Award-winning entertainment and lifestyle program.

· Steve Downes, Friday, Jan. 24, to benefit Theater-Hikes Colorado, founded by his daughter. Downes has hosted the On the DRIVE (91.1FM) morning show since the station launched in 2001, and notably, he is also the voice of "Master Chief" from the popular video game series, HALO.

· 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.

Plus, next up at the Royal George will be a special political pairing: Illinois Senate President John Cullerton & State Representative Sara Feigenholtz together, Wednesday, Jan. 8, to benefit Jane Addams Senior Caucus.

Prior Celebrity Cameos for Charity participants have included well received debuts by author Scott Turow, society scribe 'Candid Candace' Jordan, Chef Ina Pinkney and comedian Caryn Bark.

OLD JEWS TELLING JOKES features a quintet of Chicago favorites: Dara Cameron, Alex Goodrich, Tim Kazurinsky, 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, Chicago, through Sunday, March 30, 2014, with the following schedule: Tuesdays - Fridays at 7:30pm; Saturdays at 5 & 8pm; and Sundays at 2 & 5pm. Wednesday matinees at 2pm will alternate with Tuesday evening performances.

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.

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