Page 40 - August 2017

STANDUP COPS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 39
“The best stories are the ones that let you laugh along and think; ‘Yeah, that’s hilarious and I would have thought the same way and I’m not even a police officer,’” she ex- plained. “It’s the humanizing factor. They’re humans tasked to do a really, really important job, and to veil all of those emotions. This is one time when you kind of get to peel the layers back a little bit.”
The reality of law enforcement’s mix of personal and professional life was never more apparent than during Chicago Lodge 7 Canine Officer Pat McGrath’s stand-up
when a story he was about to share about the 25th Dis- trict got interrupted by a phone call. His phone rang in his pocket, and even with all eyes on him, he answered, beck- oning the reminder that he, in fact, isn’t an entertainer. He is an officer whose job can never simply be turned off or silenced.
“Hey Keith, sorry, I’m at a cop thing,” McGrath spoke to the DEA agent on the other end of the line, smartphone in one hand and the mic in the other. “I’m serious. I’m at the Funniest Cop. I’m dead serious...Yes, I will find the dog that can help you in about 35 seconds. But first, I have to make these people laugh.” d
2nd Place: Tom McKenna
Return of the champion
“There is a tragedy occurring in our City and I would be remiss if I didn’t speak about it,” stated Tom McKenna in an even tone during the final act of the Funniest Cop show. “Of course, I am talking about the tragedy of serving vegetarian burgers at White Castle.”
The crowd exhaled and giggled to themselves at McKenna’s wit, the same dry, cynical humor that earned 2016 Funniest Cop distinction.
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hrough, as he cracked jokes about his home
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ty, where he worked on the job for 34 years.
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he audience hung on his every word, waiting
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o hear what he had to say next as he brought
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ilarity about a new Whole Foods opening in
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he 7th District and shared stories that involved
His jokes and storytelling from his experi- ences on the job united the crowd.
“As any Chicago Police Officer will tell you,” McKenna jested, “if it doesn’t happen in Chicago, it doesn’t hap- pen.”
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abbi Moshe Wolf and Father Dan Brandt.
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Joe Ahern introduced the reigning champion b
scribing his humor in a single joke.
“His humor is dry,” Ahern prefaced. “Tom makes the
Sahara Desert look like Niagara Falls.”
McKenna’s performance was Chicago through and
b
40 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ AUGUST 2017