This place is GOATED. Dinner and a show with no 2 shows being the same. Ya like Sushi? GO! Ya like a fun atmosphere of comedy? GO! They have a Sake ninja that fills your empty Sake cup. GO! read more

I came into this show completelyyyy blind. I had tasked my husband to plan something really fun for my birthday and guessed that something would be dinner at the unassuming restaurant that Batsu is housed in. WOW did I not know what was coming! The improv was incredible the food was great, and the service was impeccable. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming and it was a great, intimate space. Can't recommend this show enough!! Can't wait to come back with more friends! read more

I can't believe this has been going on for a couple of years in Chicago! They don't advertise so you just have to find out (Did so in Edinburgh at the Fringe last year and then tracked them down at home in Chicago. Also in NYC and London). Basically improv comedy set to a Japanese game show of punishment (Batsu), it's performed on weekends upstairs of Kamehachi restaurant, tickets on Tock. While this version was more tame than the one in Scotland (a tad disappointing), the players were still quick and talented and the games were tough enough that they worked hard to avoid being paint balled, mouse trapped, tasered, etc. High energy. You can eat there but I'd say easy and drink elsewhere before and top off there. Sake ninja is an add on that didn't seem as worth it as we were led to believe but overall, a great time! read more

Second time at Batsu. Highly recommend this show/dinner for first timers. Warning, they do perform the same games. We went with some first timers and were one of the first people to be seated (showed up early) and we put in our order shortly. We waited patiently, an hour, then we asked, then we waited more. We didn't get our food until the show ended. I'm sure it was an off day. I'm sure it's hard to coordinate food for a dinner/show section along with normal dinner downstairs. read more

BATSU! - Comedy Clubs Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

A dear friend of ours bought tickets for my wife and I to come here for our birthdays. I knew nothing about this until we read a bit about it before the show. The online reviews and hype about this place and this show are pretty positive, but I have a different view... This is WAY better than the reviews say (yeah, I know they are all like 4 stars - this is better than that!). The staff is awesome. They are good comedians, personable, friendly, and great at improvisation. The venue is small, but intimate and totally worth it. The food is great, and the drinks are surprisingly reasonably priced. The best thing about this show is the "batsu", meaning that those comedians who don't do the best job get punished. Yes, punished, in the most hilarious ways. They do a lot of somewhat standard improv, but it is also different. They get some audience participation (no, you won't be punished in any seriously bad way if you fail - just take it in stride and there is nothing bad). They incorporate some drinking, some games, some chance, some audience voting and a lot more. This is a great show! Super funny, original, with good foods and drinks. I will definitely be coming back!! Yeah with my tutu... read more

This was probably the most fun I've had in a very long time! The performance was top notch. The dj and host were stellar. Good was excellent. Saki kept rolling in. Laughed so much. You have to do it if you're in Chicago. A definite must. Small intimate setting makes this show perfect. You will love it. Go! For sure. read more

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My friends and I had an absolute blast at the comedy show! The food and service was also great - drinks were strong and some delicious cocktail options. Very unique ambiance and experience, would definitely recommend! read more

Amazing. 10/10 We had the best time. Comedy was on point. Everyone was so quick witted and hilarious. Also, that sushi though. Amazing sushi (my favorite is always the spicy tuna) they even have gluten free soy sauce. My favorite cocktail was the lychee lavender. Also, if you buy one of their headbands (hachimaki) you can get unlimited free sake (and bring it back to any future show!). This was so fun, and such a fun experience for a night out! read more

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Fun! Food is just okay. The drinks were good. I would eat before I go. The service was very good and the show was amazing!

Absolutely loved it! Fun weird and awesome experience! Def check them out! My recommendation is to get this headband for ninja experience with sake! Bring your friends and have fun! read more

BATSU! - Comedy Clubs Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I had SO much fun at Batsu! this weekend! Great food, great Mai Tai for 2, and great entertainment. I will definitely be back.

Sooooo much fun! The staff are amazing, food is good, sake menu is great, and the vibes are immaculate. We had so much fun and laughed all night. Great place to go with a group for a birthday or other celebration. read more

This is a must-see show! I laughed all night; it was completely different from any other comedy show on offer in Chicago. The food and drinks were also excellent and reasonably priced. This is an amazing spot for a date or a group night out. read more

The show was amazing and such a great time. Service was excellent and it is a great spot to bring people visiting for enthralling entertainment. read more

The food was great but the show was really weird, they actually inflict pain on the loser and had a volunteer eat a piece of sushi off of this hairy guy and use a straw to suck the soy sauce out of the hairy guy's bellybutton. Made me gag almost threw up. Save your money so many better shows in Chicago. Check out the shows at the IO Theater or the Comedy Club House on Ashland. read more

So much fun! I went with a group for a friend's birthday and the cast was so friendly and accommodating when it came to making her birthday awesome. She was even given the chance to go on stage and participate in one of the competitions--I will say, it was a total SHOCKER (hehe)! We also decided to purchase a Hachimaki headband for her and, while she was only visited by the sake ninja once (I did see others with the headband getting multiple visits so I'm not sure if she was just missed or what), it is nice she's able to bring it back and reuse it for future visits. The show was funny and paced really well. It opens with a dance performance before the actual game show gets started and the total show lasts about 90 minutes. I've only seen it the one time so, while I know the jokes are always changing (it is improv after all), I'm not sure how often the games or punishments change. The crowd will definitely impact the performance too, for better or worse! In terms of food and drink, they offer limited offerings from the Kamehachi menu--the teriyaki chicken skewers and gyoza were particularly yummy and the Migi-tini was delicious and went down super easy! read more

BATSU! - The small stage in the center of the room - Comedy Clubs Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Lychee lavender lemonade is impeccable I love it so much it's phenomenal love love love. First timer at batsu it's a cool vibe def something fun and different. Will be back. read more

BATSU! - Lychee lavender lemonade - Comedy Clubs Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I had some friends that had gone to a show previously and loved it- so my friends and I decided to book tickets in advance for a fun summer group outing. We are so glad we did too! It was a unique night out and definitely very entertaining. Most groups were here for special occasions, but as long as you have a decent sized group it'll be a fun time for all. I did not get the headband, but everyone else at my table did. I had some sushi rolls and wine from Kamehachi though, and these were delicious! read more

Invited by friends and had an absolute blast stuffing ourselves silly with sushi and enjoying the comedy!

Places like this really disappoint me. Upon walking into the venue, it was clear that the owners were using the fetish-sized Asian stereotypes to appeal to an American audience. The act is basically a set of comedians who perform tasks (tasks very similar to those at other sorts of comedy clubs) and whoever loses, gets a physical punishment, not surprisingly, from an Asian female woman. Overall, the performance makes one cringe and has very little entertainment value. The performance concept is quite troubling and very indicative of societies racism problem. DO NOT support this business. read more

If you don't know what a Japanese game show is, go to YouTube but beware you'll probably be watching those videos for hours! Although BATSU! isn't quite as hilarious as those real Japanese game shows, it's funny enough. The challenges they issue are extremely difficult and I was impressed by the actors quick wits! The punishments are absolutely knarly/hilarious and I'm glad I wasn't chosen to participate! We had a pretty funny host and I think he sped it along during dull moments. You are able to order food from the restaurant through out the show (which is around 1.5 hours). At the end, they have a surprise challenge for everyone to participate in if you dare! Worth going once, not sure if I'll be going back. TIP: You can get 50% off tickets on TodayTix! read more

BATSU! - Comedy Clubs Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Horrible experience. The punishments are not advertised well enough. It is a show that includes torture for entertainment. They also do not disclose punishments for anyone they approach to be a volunteer. Punishments include fingers getting snapped by mousetraps, paintball wounds that create welts on skin, eating disgusting unhygienic food, being beaten, electric shock collars. I found the whole show sad and revolting, I walked away feeling horrible. I do not find torture entertaining. It was not fun. read more

Sooo fun and funny! I've seen Japanese game shows online and BATSU was just as funny and extreme. The host and ninjas are GREAT and very entertaining. BATSU is held upstairs in a sushi restaurant and the restaurant itself is very lovely. The only bad thing is that they only had two waiters to serve all of us which was about 50? So it took a very, very long time just to get drinks and of course the food. But don't let that take away from the show. If you plan on eating then I recommend eating at the restaurant before the show but I highly recommend attending a show! Great experience read more

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Went to BATSU! for the first time this post weekend and have to say simply - WOW! Probably the most entertaining show I've seen on a stage in Chicago. The whole concept was confusing at first but once the games had truly begun it was fantastic. So ridiculous and fun in all the right ways. I highly recommend going with a group of friends and volunteering for anything they ask of you. Such a great time and will be going again for sure! read more

Go see this show!!! Don't wait. Don't walk. Run. I mean RUN like you are being chased by samurais to the safety of this theater! Here is my email to the GM after the show: Thank you! Thank you! THANK YOU! We had an awesome time last night at the show! I posted a bunch of videos on Instagram at #batsuchicago and all you here is us laughing out butts off. The table location was perfect to see all the action. The cast and crew were extremely funny and the ninja got us in the right state of mind! Win win! Thanks again for all your help. I will definitely tell my friends to go see the show! read more

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A fun introduction to Chicago improv! In our landmark 'First Date After Birth of New Kid', my husband and I had a pretty great time at Batsu! The theme of a Japanese game show is a hilarious and creative way to frame out the show - and was also right up our alley as consumers of anime and other assorted otaku-ish culture. The jokes of course vary based on audience participation, so I would go again if a visitor or someone wanted to. The food left a lot to be desired, but as detailed in other reviews you're there for the entertainment mostly. It is passable. They do a pretty good job of keeping the drinks flowing and seemingly intentionally wait to serve food until the last 30 min. Of the show, so you might want a snack before you go. Or just fill up on alcohol, I think that's the plan :) read more

I cannot recommend this place enough!!! I went for the first time a couple of years ago and have been dying to go back. We went for my friends birthday and it is so fun and interactive. The comedians are amazing and the show is hilarious. Definitely get the headband and have the full experience. The food is also incredible. It is a full fun night and I truly cannot believe how reasonably priced it is to have such a fun experience. Do not snooze on this one. DEFINITELY GO!! I am in the midst of organizing my next Batsu experience and customer service has been so kind and helpful. read more

Dinner and a movie is so early 2000's.... Dinner and BATSU is a way to impress a date. The Improv Comedians are witty, original, not to mention stupid funny!!!!!!!. They took time to make the experience personal and a night to always remember. If you want something unlike anything you could conjure up... this is it. It's adult humor OBVIOUSLY! read more

It's listed as a comedy club. You should not go here to expect amazing service or superior food. Food was good but as other people posted the service is really slow. Expect to have your drink order taken in the beginning and get served one drink during the show. You can buy a head band and get a saki shot every ~30 minutes. The show itself is improv. So you should know what you are getting. Some are hit or miss but the comedians are pretty talented and entertaining. One thing that really bothered me was that the performers kept shushing the crowd and they did it in a very unprofessional manner. They should invest in a better sound system and have the performers use microphones. I think they could have been a lot more professional as a show. If you come expecting a good dinner and great service you will be let down. If you go to dinner before and have a few drinks before this will be a better show as it should meet your expectations. The show is entertaining. The place tries to be too much. read more

If you like seeing sneaky ninjas topping sake glasses of unsuspecting patrons, standard improv comedy, and bad jokes being punished, all while noming maki rolls, then you'll probably like BATSU I was pleased with the quality of performances and host, I would recommend this show for birthdays, date nights, bachelorette parties, or pretty much anything else. Planning to be back with a group of people read more

Celebrated my birthday here on a Saturday night with all of my best friends and it was the best! We bought our tickets about a month beforehand to reserve the tickets and was lucky enough to be seated all together. Surprisingly great service too from our server cause it's definitely a busy situation. Highly recommend. read more

Went last night with my boyfriend. It was a lot of fun, but the prices weren't very friendly with my wallet. I wouldn't go again, mainly because of the portion and price, but I would highly recommend it. BATSU! Is for the type of person who enjoys dinner and a show, and for the person who is looking to add something to their bucket list. The only terrible thing was the group we were sat with. They were nice, but my bf ended up being their designated photographer the entire time we were there. I understand if they're from out of town and they are enjoying their time in Chicago, but there's a fine line between asking for a few photographs and constantly handing someone your phone and requesting photos every five minutes. Another great thing about BATSU! is the actors, they take their time after the show to thank everyone for coming. I love that some of the actors are local as well, and being a fellow theater student it really helps connecting and listening to where the actors come from and if they are new to Chicago, how they are enjoying their time. The show also has audience participation, but they ask beforehand so there is no pressure or stress. All in all, it was a great experience, and highly recommend it as a show you should see for special occasions, experience, or to check something off of your bucket list. It's definitely not the place to go every weekend for, but it's definitely worth for a once in a while thing to do! read more

I want to give this a positive review, I really do. The actors were enthusiastic/kind and the show had its absolutely hilarious moments and made great use of audience participation. But my rating is for the following. On the show: It's largely performance improv, Whose Line style games that I myself had played before. There were standout moments - the joke-telling game for instance as well as charades, but was overall rather weak to those of us who were not entirely inebriated. On the punishments: I get it, that's the point of the show. However, I've gotta say there's a clear difference between fun/funny, good-natured, moderately-unpleasant punishments, and some of what I saw. PUNISHMENT SPOILER ALERT: The body sushi, chicken egg, and pop the balloon punishments were all hilarious and the highlights of the night. Some of the others, particularly the actually painful ones (rubber band [holy crap those bruises] and shocking for instance) left a bad taste in our mouths and didn't actually draw that many laughs. On the food/service: Decent sashimi, dragon roll was overpriced and no better than from a supermarket. Chicken teriyaki was flavorless and didn't taste grilled. Spring roll nice and fresh. There was either one or two waitstaff, and they were entirely overworked for about an hour, from 20 mins before the show . Hard to get service or even order. It slowed down 30 minutes into the show and was more manageable. Another criticism was that the staff congregated at the bar and during the finale were very loud in their personal conversation. Summary: Very personable actors, but for the price I paid (particularly factoring in mediocre food), I could have had more fun elsewhere. Physical comedy is different from physical pain. read more

Had a great time at Batsu! It's an improv show combined with the wackiness of a Japanese game show. When the improv actors aren't funny, they get punished. It has audience participation including the opportunity to earn drinks and get a Batsu of your own. Lots of fun for a special occasion, like a birthday. As for the restaurant portion, the drinks were great, sushi was very yummy and the staff was attentive without getting in the way of the show. Highly recommended. Enjoy! read more

I went last Friday and had so much fun. It takes what would be a run of the mill competition style improv show to the next level. It's an intimate setting, a great vibe, and they make you feel like you're part of the show. I also love that you can also order off the restaurant menu if you want to make it dinner and a show. I bought two VIP tickets for my boyfriend's birthday, which came with two personal carafes of sake (about two cups each), an order of edamame, and a Batsu headband. If you wear the headband the servers come around and continually fill up your sake cup. I also participated in the charades competition and was given a free ticket to another show, a beer, and an entire pitcher of beer on top of that (for partaking in a particularly gross Batsu...you'll see). The whole cast is awesome. Highly recommend! read more

Went for opening night, yesterday - this is a hilarious show. It takes improv and turns it on its head. I'm not sure there's anything else like it in Chicago. The improvisors are really funny, and when they're not - well - it's actually even better! Without spoiling it too much, Batsu translates to "punishment" in Japanese, so use your imagination. This is hosted in the upstairs private space of Kamehachi in Old Town. Not only is it a comedy show, but you're able to get full dinner service throughout the night. The food is top-notch and really helps enhance the ambiance. There's audience participation, plenty of drinking, and a raucous crowd. It's just plain fun. Personally, I think this is primed to be one of the best comedy experiences in Chicago. And that's saying a lot for a town with some of the best in the business. read more

We loved it! We didn't know what to expect. After dinner downstairs, we nervously climbed the steps upstairs. Our inhibitions left us after the first act, two shots of sake and a Batsu! chant. Go see this folks!! It's hysterical! These guys and girls are genuinely clever and funny. The emcee is a natural performer. Splurge for VIP. read more

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Went to Batsu for the first time this past Friday and LOVED IT!! The Improv Group was so hilarious and witty!! You definitely have to check it out! I promise you won't regret it! ;-) read more

There is an older review by Tarah and it is on point!! So please read hers.. I should've read it before purchasing tickets to this show :/ I would like to begin by saying that I love comedy and I laugh at literally everything!! So it's not hard to please me when it comes to a comedy show.. but holy crap BATSU was horrible. My bf and I wanted to leave half way through the show but we didn't want to be rude. We were visiting from Austin, Tx and when we heard about this show we had to go!! So we purchased tickets online ($25-$50) We got there 40 mins early and went upstairs where BATSU is located in the restaurant. There was assigned seats which I thought was odd because most shows we attend are typically first come first serve. One of the workers walked us to our table.. it was beyond small and against the wall and basically no where near the stage. I felt like it was a little unfair since we arrived early and we sat at a crappy spot. You can order food and drinks before and during the show. They have a special menu for BATSU but you can order anything from the restaurant menu. I ordered salmon sashimi and it was so good! Also, our waiter was very polite :) Ok back to the BATSU... There were stereotypes throughout the show. I wasn't able to enjoy the show because I felt awkward. Other than the stereotypes, the jokes/improv were not funny at all.. I wanted to laugh but I couldn't. It was an all white audience and majority of the people in the show were white except for one Asian lady who played this weird role. The jokes were very below mediocre white jokes, y'all know what I mean. I can't tell if the audience thought it was genuinely funny or they were just drunk. Like whenever the word "douche-bag" or the phrase "f-you" came up people would laugh... I don't find that funny. Keep in mind I am not a prude, I know what is funny and what is not. Maybe I just prefer well thought out jokes, not middle school boy jokes. The punishments was 5/10, jokes/improv was a 2/10, and food & service 10/10 I've seen a lot of comedy shows and this is by far the worst I have ever seen. Again, read the other review below by Tarah because I agree with it 100%. Please do yourself a favor and do not watch this show. Unless you have no sense of humor or a couple drinks in. read more

I was extremely uncomfortable the entire time. The most tense part was the nearly all-white cast performing a Japanese game show for a nearly all-white audience. The host was the only Asian performer, and was made to play into all sorts of problematic Asian female schoolgirl/dominatrix stereotypes. The contestants also played on many Asian stereotypes and dressed up like ninjas. The punishments centered sometimes around pain, but other times around men needing to wear skirts or pop a balloon between their bodies, bringing up more uncomfortable homophobic, transphobic implications that men shouldn't be wearing such things or making contact with one another. Lastly, I did not enjoy watching pain be inflicted upon the contestants, and being made to roar with the rest of the audience to support this infliction of pain - felt cult-y and creepily akin to how crowds of people can groupthink and normalize the infliction of harm upon others. I definitely should have read up more before going - I was certainly not the target audience. But couldn't not say something about how offensive and uncomfortable this show was. (Sushi was delicious though.) read more