BRIDGEPORT — Chef Dave Samber is always drumming up new ways to draw a crowd at Polo Cafe, his highly regarded Morgan Street restaurant.
There's the sing-a-long gospel brunch on Sundays, the upstairs bed and breakfast and the showy "Eggs Benedicto XVI procession," a food-delivery ceremony complete with servers carrying candles and a framed photo former Pope Benedict XVI to a diner's table. Once, he hosted an ill-fated jazz night.
Now the veteran chef is bringing sketch comedy to the restaurant's adjacent ballroom stage and the evening stars one the restaurant's very own servers, comedian and actor Adam Eugene Hurst.
The comedy night, which includes a cash bar and an appetizer spread, takes place at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Old Eagle ballroom, 3322 S. Morgan St. Tickets are $5 at the door and parking is free.
"I've seen him perform. These [comedy] guys are unassuming and yet they have great talent. They need an outlet and they'll have it here," Samber said.
Hurst, 33, of Little Italy, said he hopes the performance can jump-start the South Side's comedy scene — if there is one.
"Sketch comedy mostly exists on the North Side of Chicago. We're trying to take a jab at it and maybe get some interest in the neighborhood. We're seeing if sketch comedy can survive on the South Side," he said.
A graduate of Regent University's master of fine arts program and Chicago's iO training program, Hurst is enrolled in Second City's Conservatory, a proving ground for improv comics. He's been a server at Polo Cafe for seven years.
The show, called "C-List Survivors," will be split into two segments: A handful of actors will perform improvised sketch comedy for the first half. Hurst and actor Michael Woods perform together in the second.
It's built on the premise of an apocalyptic fallout and "the people who survived are the normal Joes, the outcasts. They're not the A-List survivors," he said.
The upcoming comedy night is one of several performances scheduled throughout the year — a big music-filled holiday bonanza and more comedy nights are all in the works.
"I still haven't been able to hook the local artists here. We're just far away enough from Maria's to stumble out of and far away enough from Johnny O's for people to stumble out of," Samber said. "We'd love to do more of this. We think we can work with different folks and keep it inexpensive."
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