Steve Hytner, an actor and comedian perhaps best known for his role in “Seinfeld,” is set to perform at the new Comedy Plex Comedy Club in Oak Park this weekend, with two shows each Friday and Saturday night.
Just a few days before the show, Hytner said he is looking forward to supporting a new comedy club and entertaining his crowd.
“Whatever I can do to not only make the audience happy, but also make the audience forget their problems for a little bit and laugh it up,” Hytner said. “Also, when it’s a newish club, I want to help them succeed and help them continue to have a life there.”
Hytner has had a long and successful career, having appeared in a wide number of films and television shows, including “The Prophecy,” “EuroTrip” and “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle.” After a 20-year stint when Hytner focused solely on acting — which he calls “the most collaborative art form there is” — he only returned to stand-up comedy around 10 years ago because of the independence that it offered.
“As I got a little further in my career, I started realizing that I enjoy the full control of stand-up over what can feel like no control at all in pursuing acting,” Hytner said. “I’m enjoying the ‘just me’ part. I’m responsible for the whole thing. That’s what gives me energy now, is just running the whole show.”
During his shows, which will run an hour and a half this coming weekend, Hytner will typically perform 30 minutes of material before mentioning what he calls the “800 pound gorilla.” Seinfeld.
It is sometimes difficult for the actor, he said, to define himself as a comedian outside of his successful appearances in the beloved television franchise “Seinfeld.” However, Hytner said he also appreciates fans of his character, Kenny Bania.
“I want them to sit down and realize, ‘Oh, we’ve got a very talented,’ if I may say so, ‘comedian in front of us’ and enjoy that,” Hytner said. “Then eventually I get around to some of the Seinfeld stuff because a lot of my fans come and they want to hear that.”
While Hytner said some actors are adamant about wanting to be separated from certain characters of their acting past, he prefers to embrace it. “If I walk out my front door, somebody’s going to scream, ‘that’s gold, Jerry, gold.’ I can make that a negative if I want to, but it’s not going to change it,” Hytner said. “I just choose to embrace it. I try to make the best of it, because it’s going to happen anyway.”
Throughout his career, Hytner said, he has learned from impressive mentors, including Clint Eastwood and Betty White, “that they never get lazy, they never get sloppy, they never get full of themselves.” This mentality, as well as his outstanding goal of providing joy for his audiences, have continued to provide motivation for Hytner throughout his long career. Hytner said, for now, he plans to “stay right where I am, doing what I do.”
Fans of Hytner and comedy alike will have the opportunity to attend his show from 7 until 8:30 p.m. or from 9:15 until 10:45 p.m. on Friday or Saturday night at the new Comedy Plex Comedy Club. Tickets are available for sale on the Comedy Plex website.
Hytner is looking forward to coming back to Chicago and entertaining the crowd, he said.
“People may have hard lives, or they have a job that maybe they’re not thrilled about, or there’s something going on in their personal life,” Hytner said. “If I get up there and I’m up there for an hour, and I see those people laughing and smiling and laughing with each other, that is an insane reward. It’s just amazing to watch people let their day go and enjoy the night out.”
Comedy Plex is located at 1128 Lake St. Lower Level. Tickets start at $25 and can be purchased at https://www.comedyplex.com/.
