This is the first in a series of articles spotlighting some of Chicago’s finest and funniest comedians worth watching.
Though Laura Hugg has always loved comedy, it took many years and overcoming many challenges before she got on stage and began her journey to becoming one of Chicago’s most beloved comics. In her teens, she became addicted to drugs and alcohol, and other vices later emerged before comedy became a lifeline.
Some comics romanticize their demons, treating them as the fuel that drives their art rather than an obstacle to their physical or mental health. Hugg, who recently celebrated 29 years of sobriety, disagrees.
“I was funny before I got hooked on anything, and I continue to be funny,” she says. “Those things didn't make me funny.” She learned that firsthand when signing up for an improv class at the Players Workshop became a key component in her early days of recovery. Launched by Josephine Forsberg in 1971—over a decade before Second City began offering its own improv classes—the Players Workshop provided Hugg an invaluable environment “to use the talents I was born with.”
While she still improvises and performs sketch comedy, entering the world of stand-up about 15 years later allowed her to share her story in a rawer, more vulnerable fashion. Convincing herself to come clean about her skeletons on stage proved intimidating, however.
“I thought people at mics might not find it funny,” she remembers. “I was afraid. I thought every comic was an alcoholic or a drug addict. I think I still think that,” she jokes. Soon enough, she discovered that her unfiltered honesty was welcomed not just by comics but by audiences as well. In October 2021, she launched Keep Coming Back, a monthly revue at the Lincoln Lodge in Logan Square in which comedians facing addictions and struggles and in various stages of recovery cover dark topics with levity. (One sample bit from a comic battling depression hilariously lamented that the calendar never offers an ideal time to commit suicide: “December is Christmas; everyone kills themselves then. I don’t want to be a cliche. January is a new year so I feel like I need to give myself a chance to see if it’s any better. February is so short that you might as well stick it out…”)
“I wanted to do a show of my own,” says Hugg. “I was over ten years into comedy and wanted it recovery-themed but not exclusive. I wanted to draw from the talent pool around me but keep a hopeful theme.” The show even has a timeslot designed with sober people in mind: 5pm on a Saturday.
“Laura is such a fixture in the comedy scene,” says Tyler Fowler, who recently performed a Keep Coming Back set. “Keep Coming Back is such a fun show because people in recovery tend to make a great audience. These are people who really need to laugh and let loose.”
Even after nearly three decades of sobriety, Hugg understands that recovery is an ongoing journey, not a destination. Her weekly routine includes several virtual and in-person groups that connect her with like-minded individuals who help her stay the course.
“I don't wanna hug a toilet any more,” she says. “I wanna be on stage. When you hold onto something bad for you, like an addiction, you have a secret life. Everything becomes a compartment.” Acknowledging her addictions in her act has opened the door for other comics undergoing their own struggles to reach out for Hugg’s help.
There is one area where Hugg still struggles, however: self-doubt sometimes rears its head and keeps her from seizing opportunities. Other comics “see green lights where I see red lights,” she says. “I don't need to know why they see green lights. I need to know why I see red lights.” It’s a challenge she admits is “not funny work. That’s personal work.”
In addition to Keep Coming Back, Hugg regularly performs improv and standup at BABS Comedy Club in Forest Park.
“I still have room to grow in every area of being a comic,” she says. “But I know now that I'm funny and I have fun with it, so that's a big deal.”
Keep Coming Back is held on the second Saturday of every month at 5pm at the Lincoln Lodge.
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