Podcast Summary: Bellied Up LIVE - Chicago

Hosts: Charlie Berens & Myles the You Betcha Guy
Date: August 21, 2025
Location: Live from Zanies Comedy Club, Chicago

Episode Overview

This special live episode of Bellied Up brings the signature Midwest bar banter and offbeat comedy to Chicago, featuring a rotating cast of audience participants. Charlie and Myles play matchmaker with live speed dating, riff on Midwest culture, share wild first-date stories, and dish out relationship advice. The packed bar crowd gets involved in real time, resulting in hilarious, unexpected moments and a distinctly community-driven flavor.

Key Segments and Highlights

1. Gail's Truly Wild First-Date Story

[00:00–10:47]

• Audience guest: Gail shares her infamous “weirdest first date” story, where her grandma’s friend, Bruno, tragically passes away in the car en route to a Depeche Mode concert.
• The hosts and Gail walk through the bizarre, darkly comic sequence—driving a 1986 "Mothmobile" and doing chest compressions on Bruno while stuck in Midwestern traffic.
  • Memorable Quote:
    “How do you know if it’s a dude moth? …You look for the mothballs!” — Gail (07:32)
  • Another Highlight:
    “Was she happy at that moment? ...Ah, the ground up cherry pits worked.” — Charlie, riffing on shady motives (05:40)
• Religious and medical humor with Catholic school references and onstage hymn singing.
• Audience erupts in applause as Gail nails punchlines and earns the first applause break.
• The story ends with the hosts joking about “Weekend at Bernie’s,” Depeche Mode lyrics, and the lack of expected inheritance for Gail.

2. Relationship Advice: Snip It or Wrap It?

[12:13–20:21]

• Ryan G bellies up to discuss whether to get a vasectomy (“snip it”) or keep relying on condoms (“wrap it”).
  • “I think if you get excited during a vasectomy, things could go wrong.” — Charlie (14:27)
• Ryan’s wife Kelly joins the stage. She’s a lawyer, Ryan’s an industrial robot technician—a dynamic the hosts can’t resist riffing on.
• The pros and cons of getting “snipped”: time off work, self-employment, opportunity (or lack thereof) for intimacy with two small kids.
  • “Kids take first and foremost. You got a one-year-old. There you go.” — Myles (14:49)
• The couple agrees “absolutely” on the vasectomy.
• Audience feedback—other couples chime in on post-vasectomy happiness.
  • “Everything still works? Good? Great.” — Charlie, confirming with another guest (19:32)

3. Midwest Matchmaking: Live Speed Dating

[20:21–41:09]

• The hosts facilitate multiple spontaneous speed dates (“Midwest speed dating”), pulling up single audience members for rounds of fast-paced Q&A.
  • “Welcome to the first Bellied Up Live Speed Dating.” — Myles (21:02)
• Rob and Kristen’s date is full of laughs and dog-person vetting.
  • “I'd much rather be around dogs than kids.” — Rob (21:36)
  • “Give me a pet peeve.” ... “Chewing with your mouth open.” — Kristen (23:35, 23:53)
• Another round features Josh (in a “I got my heart broken at Heartbreakers” stripper T-shirt) and Audrey dissecting what makes a great gentlemen’s club.
  • “You get great table service… It’s like first class treatment.” — Josh (34:12)
• Results are humorously mixed—some “second dates” enthusiastically agreed, others politely decline.
  • “I mean, I don’t think we need to do this because I think it’s pretty assumed they’re going on a second date but …No.” — Taylor (37:40), after a travel/beer-based connection fizzles out.

4. Wrigley Field Tales: “Bricked Up” Nick

[25:19–30:28]

• Nick from Chicago—sporting a “bricked up” shirt—shares stories from his job as a culinary supervisor at Small Cheval in Wrigley Field.
  • “Spite and ignorance.” — Nick, on the secret sauce at Small Cheval (26:19)
• Nick reveals the weirdest thing he’s dealt with at Wrigley: “filling out paperwork for folks having sex in the cooler” (26:45), prompting more jokes about confidence and workplace mishaps.
  • “That’s the last place, with what I’m working with, I want to be doing the deed.” — Myles (26:50)
• The hosts fish for him to offer up his shirt for trade; Nick resists.
• Touching moment: Nick says he “works and waits” for his girlfriend, who's away at college in Michigan (28:53).

5. Wisconsin vs. Illinois: The Serial Killer Throwdown

[41:09–49:17]

• Maggie from Crystal Lake rehashes a prior podcast conversation about “outsider” perceptions—specifically, the friction between Illinoisans (“FIBs”) and Wisconsinites.
• Maggie brings up Wisconsin’s infamous true crime figures (Steven Avery, Slender Man girls, and the comparison between Charlie and Jeffrey Dahmer), to raucous laughter.
  • “Doesn’t Charlie look just like Jeffrey Dahmer?” — Myles (44:47)
  • “When that frickin Netflix special came out, I mean, what am I supposed to do?” — Charlie (45:58)
• The conversation spirals into murder podcasts and Dateline scenarios, as Maggie insists her death would make for a perfect episode.
  • “If I die of, like, weird circumstances, please do a Dateline or 20/20 special on me.” — Maggie (48:50)
• To escape this morbid territory, Charlie pivots to marriage drama—specifically garage organization disputes between Maggie and her husband, leading to more Midwestern domestic comedy.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Gail’s “dude moth” joke gets the first applause break (07:32)
• Charlie’s Standout:
  “I think if you get excited during a vasectomy, things could go wrong.” (14:27)
• Nick’s Secret Sauce:
  “Spite and ignorance.” (26:19)
• Kristen’s Pet Peeve:
  “Chewing with your mouth open.” — A point of audience-wide applause (23:53)
• On Charlie’s resemblance to criminals:
  “That guy looks like Jeffrey Dahmer.” (45:58)
• Marriage Wisdom:
  “I feel you both think each other is gonna murder the other person, and that’s marriage, isn’t it?” — Charlie (49:14)

The Episode’s Spirit and Takeaways

• Tone: Playfully irreverent, fast-paced, with the unique flavor of Midwestern hospitality, morphing from heartfelt to darkly comic on a dime.
• Content Themes: Midwest relationships, family drama, dating woes, local quirks, barroom wisdom, and comically morbid tangents.
• Audience Involvement: Central to the night, with crowd stories, speed-dating success (and failures), and ongoing call-and-response with the hosts.
• Signature Moment: The hosts’ commitment to “solving” problems—relationship, romantic, or mechanical—regardless of how off-the-rails the live event grows.

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Gail’s Story: 00:00 – 10:47
• Snip It or Wrap It: 13:00 – 20:21
• First Speed Date (Rob & Kristen): 20:21 – 24:27
• Wrigley Field Tales (“Bricked Up” Nick): 25:19 – 30:28
• Extended Speed Dating/Matchmaking: 30:29 – 41:09
• Wisconsin/Illinois, Murder Podcast Comedy: 41:09 – 49:17

Final Thoughts

The Chicago live show delivers all the Midwestern charm, rowdiness, dark humor, and genuine warmth that define Bellied Up. Audiences can expect a party atmosphere, unpredictable participation, and the kind of laughs that come only from real stories told at the bar—with a little matchmaking, a dash of descent into true crime, and plenty of raising drinks to old friends and good-natured rivalries.