Chic-A-Go-Go!

Sing, dance, wear costumes, jump and run.
In other words, play and learn. I love adults who love art and love kids.
I love Chic-​A-​Go-​Go! Bring me more Miss Mia and plenty of Ratso.
It’s always an exciting moment when my little kids first see me in a mask. They think «wait! stranger!!» Then they see again that it is me. Then they slowly discover that it has been me all along. Then the light bulb goes off! Masks and costumes are fun! Then the real fun begins for the rest of their lives.

Chic-​A-​Go-​Go is fun for budding and aging hipsters alike! You get to wear a costume and burn off monkey-​energy to music that kids and grownups both enjoy. Best of all, you can USE YOUR OUTDOOR VOICE INDOORS!
If there is anywhere else in Chicago where you and your family can do all those things at once, I would like to know about it.
My friends and I have taken our small fry to this event since our kids were toddlers. Tapings take place in easily-​digestible segments so we can split if (when!) they get overwhelmed. Plus Miss Mia is hostess with the mostest.
PS: Ratso is my six year old daughter’s secret boyfriend. Even though I just posted it on the Internet, you didn’t hear it from me.

I went here for a taping a few months back and had a pretty good time. I write for a local music blog and we were asked to check out of the days musical guests. It’s very kid friendly (a lot of dancing, singing, etc) and they have the bands «perform» while the kids and adults dance along. Everyone is dressed in silly costumes and they interview the bands as well. Anyone can go and watch a taping for FREE. If your a music lover, or a lover of all things Chicago you just might get a kick out of attending at least once.

I was at the studio for their 800^th episode taping and It was the most fun I’ve had at a television taping! My previous experience has only been with Jenny Jones in 2003 and that was very lackluster compared to this.
My friend’s band were being featured and we all went to support and dance! It’s pretty awesome that just about anyone can get on the show, and it’s even better that they WANT you to dress up! Not only do you get to dress up and boogie, you get to hear some great musical acts.
I would urge anyone seeking their 15 minutes of fame to start from the humble roots of public access television dancing

Who doesn’t love talking rats? I mean, really. Chic-​A-​Go-​Go is a Chicago institution and one I am very pleased to have experienced. Viable Public Access television is going the way of the dinosaur but, somehow, C-​A-​G-​G has managed to tape over 700 episodes and entertain kids young and old throughout the Midwest.
I didn’t quite know what to expect. It seemed way too simple to just show up to a building, pay nothing, smile for the camera, and dance to music. But, that’s exactly what you do. You show up at the appointed tape time (it’s TV; time rules all), you should be dressed in some sort of catchy costume (it’s TV; stand out), get ready to take direction (it’s TV; follow the rules), and show the world what you’ve got (it’s TV; some rapper has to be looking for a rump-​shaker). For my taping, there were monsters, robots, kittens, princesses, wizards, and the little kids dressed up in costume as well. The director said «Action» and the very first refrain I heard was «I whip mah herre back an’ forth!» Dammit! Another Smith has infiltrated something that was good and pure. On cue, all the little ones started bobbing and moving to their braided-​leaders commands. Startled, I began to think ill of my plan until the evil sounds of the littlelest Smith were drowned out by Motown… and then The Jackson 5… and then LIVE, IN-​STUDIO DOO-​WOP! What? What is going on here? Nothing makes sense. This is awesome.
Miss Mia’s job is to interview the musical guests and keep the action moving. She does an excellent job at both. And as pleasant as she is to watch in action, my true attention was trained on Ratso — the puppet rat MC who calls the shots. Perhaps my rapt attention to a talking rat over an attractive, music-​loving female speaks volumes to my current lack of a dating life. I had a fantastic time etching my way into a piece of Chicago broadcast history and I think most everyone would feel the same.

This was one of the most fun things I have done since living in Chicago. I was flipping through tv stations when this weird cable access show caught my attention. I watched through the end and asked my friends about it a few days later. One of my friends had taken his little sister to be on the show, so I immediately signed up for notifications so I, too, could take part in this amazing dance party.
Three of my friends joined me one rainy afternoon. We dressed up like morons, danced for hours, and got to laugh at ourselves on tv when the episodes finally aired. It’s family friendly (except for some weird creepo there who kept commenting our our hip action).
I took a friend to a later taping when she was visiting from out of town. It’s a great time. Do it!

I was a Chic-​a-​go-​go dancer in the heady days of my youth. Now I bring my own children to dance on the show. It’s one of the finest things about Chicago.

Great, nay perhaps the GREATEST thing about Chicago Public Access and life in Chicago overall.
Babies, art schoolers, and the completely socially inept brought together by their love of awkwardly moving to a beat. Fun to watch, even more fun to be a part of.
So what are you waiting for? Dust off that old Halloween costume (I think someone was dressed as a trashcan last time I went), toss on your favorite pair of day-​glo tights and grab your dancing shoes.
PLUS they have free cookies if you show up early enough.

Totally awesome in every way! I went because Neil Hambuger was going to be on and had the best day ever. I had no idea what to expect and I hadn’t slept at all the night before. They were filming both the halloween show and the election special that day so dressing up was encouraged. I put on a mini skirt and some boots, huge glasses and a plastic coat of armour and I was good to go. This was one of the oddest thing I’ve ever been a part of. It was dance magical!

When I first saw an episode I thought, What the !!! It’s a bunch of awkward looking people dancing. Then when I went to a taping I found out, that’s what makes it so great! My friends and I stayed for 3 episodes and had a blast. We were really worn out by the end of it. I think we had more fun than most of the kids :)

I honestly don’t know how to explain this. But it’s awesome. I thought it was a bay area thing since it’s on cable access??? right? I don’t know. but… I guess its chicago hence the chic a go go… hmmmmmm… yeah, but it’s all crazy and people have hair and mustaches.

Just too crazy for this kid!
They actually play some cool music on this program, and the cool kids are… well, cool.
It is like one big United Colors of Benetton commercial– but the actors are all pepped up and become dancing fools– together, as one big group.
It is one of the few shows I know on television that probably appeals to both adults and kids equally, and is definitely something one should check out if you are into watching people dance, or maybe if you want to pick up some new moves.
Me– I’m not much of a dancer so I don’t watch it really too much– but it is worth checking out.

Thank you for making me fall in love with the Public Access Channel. I love the fact the show confuses me. They play some great music, have some really fucked up bands on, and some of the guys dancing look like pedofiles.
It seems to be always Halloween at Chic-​A-​Go-​Go, not a bad thing at all.
The El Train rules, I totally have stolen many dances moves from them, sorry ya’ll.
I wish it was on everyday. It sure makes me giggle!

I had to use internet smarts to find this rubric in Unilocal.The reviews of things like this are buried under «/c/{city-name}/localflavor/».
I believe the true tale of how I discovered «Chic-​A-​Go-​Go!» has never been committed to print (or electrons). I have _​told_​a few people about it.
Back in late spring 1998, when there was mostly one computer accessing the internet, and it was my father’s in the front room, and it had a modem connection [which it still does]; I did not go onto the internet until after 9:00 pm.
On a Tuesday night here, I was watching Chicago cable television. I generally viewed the block of the two internet shows (one was «The Internet Café») which were sandwiched around some off-​beat travel show (I don’t think it was Rick Bayless’) in the 7:00 — 8:30 pm time slot *on channel 20*.
On one fateful Tuesday, when these shows ended, I hit the «Down» button on my remote controller, landing on channel 19.
Some strange-​looking show comes on with lots of dancers of various ages. It is playing music which caused me to ask, «Has somebody swiped some of my records?» It was mind-​boggling. When it ended this show with a Parliament-​Funkadelic song; I had to learn who thought of the concept of playing P-​Funk on a TV show. (I thought I was the oddball caucasian guy who bought P-​Funk LPs, because they were in the cheap cut-​out racks at the stores where I shopped in the late 1970s, and because their artwork was probably worth the 33 or 50 cents they were costing.)
I wrote to the address on the screen. [It was that^.] I got back an E-​Mail thanking me for the letter and telling me that the next taping of the show was a Saturday afternoon in late July.
I went to that. I remember it because it was the *last* show hosted by the female who _​preceded_​Miss Mia. (Miss Mia was a [mere?] dancer that afternoon.)
That’s really it.
I enjoy the show. The musical selections are decidedly eccentric. I’ll appear on as many of them as they let me. If the taping is on a Sunday at 12:00 noon; that’s when I might not appear [because I’m strung out from the previous night, especially if I don’t get back home until 4:00 am.].
I have previous experience working with live television. Some of our other dancers might tell you that I am the one making them feel less tense about being on TV. This was perhaps most recently observed when they had their 4^th-​ever *live show* [29 April 2008]. Yes, that was me up on a riser wearing a circa-​1988 Chicago STING uniform (top and bottom). Miss Mia told me to get up on the riser; and since we were live — somebody had to do it.
Essentially, Chic-​A-​Go-​Go! is a really fun show; regardless of which side of the camera you are on. You should visit
, click through to the show, and sign up for the E-​Mailing list.
Here’s the weird twist: In October 1998, _​we pulled the plug on cable_​and switched over to Dish Network dbs. So I do not get to view myself on television anymore.
Transit details: The Chicago Access Network studio is at 322 S. Green St. [not this address on E. 53^rd St.]. Take the Blue Line «L» to the UIC-​Halsted station. Use either the Halsted or the Peoria exit. Green St. is west of Halsted and east of Peoria. Walk two blocks north.

I have been watching Chic-​a-​go-​go for as long as I can remember. Mia and Ratso make such a fun pair. Nowhere else on earth can you catch some great underground music and a very wide variety of fun people just dancing up a storm.
This might be the greatest dance party of all time… move over Don Cornelius, your Soul Train has been derailed… Mia and the EL Train is chuggin’ up!

OH MY GOD! I miss cable for this public access channel alone! (Well, that and Sasha and Noob, I enjoyed that one too… oh, and I like the one about stepping, but anyhow…)
I swear, everytime I hear that one Gwen Stefani song, «The Sweet Escape», I think of Chic-​A-​Go-​Go and smile… ah, memories of losing $ 61 a month to Comcast…

Let me start by saying that I love Ch. 19 for the Public Access programming. So many crazies (with mad tech skills), so little time.
But I love love love Chic-​A-​Go-​Go! This is how I want every party I ever attend for the rest of my life to be like. All sorts of people dancing, classic dance hits, puppets telling jokes, and maybe even a live act or two.
Seeing this pop up on the boob tube always brings a smile to my face. I can’t recommend it highly enough!

Amazing for the theme song alone…
I wish I had cable!

I love Chic-​A-​Go-​Go!
I, too, wish to dance on this program.
Next Unilocal Event!!!
:hint hint:

Chic-​A-​Go-​Go is many things: underground music showcase, children’s public access TV show, and probably most importantly, CARAZY (sober) DANCE PARTY!
First, you’ve got to come up with some sort of costume. Banana, Russian soccer player, evergreen forest – whatever you want, it doesn’t have to make sense. Bonus points for bright colors! Then, you head over to the studio and dance alongside children, college students, older folks and other friendly types, all while local bands lip-​sync to their songs in front of you.
Oh, and there’s a talking rat named RATSO that tells jokes. Best part: it’s FREE! And they usually set out free snacks. Sometimes there are special celebrity guests. THE Paul Frank was featured one time.
I enjoy going with my friends for something different to do. And believe me, it is VERY different. Sometimes it smells a little in the studio, like the smell of not having regular shower access, but it’s part of the charm. And FUN!
Tapings are normally Saturday or Sunday afternoons, but they vary. Email
for up-​to-​date info.