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Nothing ruins a Las Vegas sex party like a phone call from your spouse in which she explains that she’s just discovered a lump in her breast.Sex is messy, complicated; it is true for humans and, it turns out, for puppets too.They have hang-ups. They’ve got saggy bits. They enjoy kinks. When: Jan. 26-31Where: Začek McVay Theatre, The Biograph, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave.Tickets: $49Info: chicagopuppetfest.org “I suppose the message is: penises are OK; we should talk about [sex] more; and everyone’s doing it and it’s all weird,” said Mark Down, the co-writer and co-director of “The Sex Lives of Puppets,” part of the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival (Jan. 21-Feb. 1 at various locations across the city). “Sex Lives” runs Jan. 26-31 at The Biograph’s Začek-McVay Mainstage, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave.This year’s festival brings 80 or so performers to Chicago from across the United States and around the globe.“The ‘Sex Lives’ is very fun, very accessible. … I would challenge anyone who has hesitations to come to any of our shows, and they will see something they have never seen in their lives,” said festival founder, Blair Thomas. Dale Wylde, Isobel Griffiths, Mark Down and Briony O’Callaghan from “The Sex Lives of Puppets.” Blind Summit Theatre was working on other shows and during breaks in rehearsals the puppets would talk about sex, making the puppeteers laugh, then they’d go back to rehearsals and it would be boring.Charlie Lyne What makes “Sex Lives” different than, say, the bawdy puppet sex scene in Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s 2004 film “Team America: World Police,” is that the show is loosely based on the lives of real, ordinary people.It is improvised, but many of the candidly carnal conversations between the puppets originated with a survey of modern-day British attitudes about sex, done by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, including one participant who attended an orgy in Sin City without his spouse.“It’s amazing how rare the sort of husband and wife and three kids is in the survey …,” said Down, chatting with the Chicago Sun-Times from a flat in Vilnius, Lithuania, where his partner is a diplomat on a six-month assignment. “When you go straight in on sex, what comes out really quickly is that [many] people are living with second husbands, second partners. It’s a massively complicated sort of web.” Meryl is one of the puppets speaking candidly about sex in “The Sex Lives of Puppets.” There isn’t actually that much sex in the 1 1/2 -hour show. Much of it is puppet couples talking about sex — like the old-married-couple interludes in the 1989 romantic comedy “When Harry Met Sally,” leading to sweet, often tender moments.Charlie Lyne There isn’t actually that much sex in the 1 1/2 -hour show. Much of it is puppet couples talking about sex — like the old-married-couple interludes in the 1989 romantic comedy “When Harry Met Sally,” leading to sweet, often tender moments, Down said.“There is a couple that have sex, but they are kind of in the middle of an interview when they do it. So it’s like a couple’s therapy that turns into a sex scene,” he said.The puppets aren’t “anatomically complete,” except those in the shadow porno sequence of the show, which Down described as “absolutely juvenile.”Down, who is in his late 50s, has had a long and distinguished career in the puppet world. The artistic director of the London-based Blind Summit Theatre company, Down conceived puppets for the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, for the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles and the Metropolitan Opera, among other venues.It's an unusual life journey for someone who originally completed training to become a medical doctor and worked in an emergency room.“Then I went to drama school,” he said.But why puppets having and talking about sex?It was an idea Blind Summit developed not long after the pandemic ended. The company was working on other shows and during breaks in rehearsals: “The puppets were all talking…

Patrick Finley and Jason Lieser break down another impossibly dramatic Bears game — this time a season-ending loss to the Rams at Soldier Field. New episodes of “Halas Intrigue” will be published regularly with accompanying stories collected on the podcast’s hub page. You can also listen to “Halas Intrigue” wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. Latest on the Bears Bears Bears will have 25th pick in this year's draft Their season-ending loss to the Rams on Sunday night locked in their draft position. [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone] By Patrick Finley read Bears Bears coach Ben Johnson: 'Shame' to waste great defensive performance in 20-17 playoff loss to Rams The Bears held the Rams below their season averages for points and yards and shut down stars Matthew Stafford, Puka Nacua and Davante Adams. [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone] By Jason Lieser read Bears Bears safety Jaquan Brisker, an unrestricted free agent, 'for sure' wants to re-sign Brisker said that’s not entirely up to him, though, and when asked if he’ll be back, he said, “We will see.” [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone] By Jason Lieser read

When their season ended Sunday night, the Bears were assured of the 25th overall pick in this year’s draft.They got the pick by virtue of having a worse record than the other three teams that lost in the divisional round. The Bears went 11-6, while the Bills, Texans and 49ers all went 12-5.The 25th pick will be the latest Bears first-round pick since 2011, when they drafted tackle Gabe Carimi No. 29. Since 2015, the Bears have either drafted in the top 11 of the first round or not at all. They didn’t have first-round picks in 2022, 2020 or 2019 because of trades for Justin Fields and Khalil Mack, respectively.This year’s draft will be held in Pittsburgh from April 23-25.The Rams ended the Bears’ season with a 20-17 win in overtime Sunday night. It marked the deepest the Bears had gone into the playoffs in 15 years. Had the Bears won, they would have drafted no earlier than 29th. Latest on the Bears Bears Bears will have 25th pick in this year's draft Their season-ending loss to the Rams on Sunday night locked in their draft position. [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone] By Patrick Finley read Bears Bears coach Ben Johnson: 'Shame' to waste great defensive performance in 20-17 playoff loss to Rams The Bears held the Rams below their season averages for points and yards and shut down stars Matthew Stafford, Puka Nacua and Davante Adams. [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone] By Jason Lieser read Bears Bears safety Jaquan Brisker, an unrestricted free agent, 'for sure' wants to re-sign Brisker said that’s not entirely up to him, though, and when asked if he’ll be back, he said, “We will see.” [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone] By Jason Lieser read

The Bears’ defense, a group battered by injuries and unsteady play, delivered arguably its best performance of the season Sunday against the Rams in the divisional round of the NFC playoffs.It wasn’t enough, however, as quarterback Matthew Stafford led a drive for a field goal in overtime to lift the Rams to a 20-17 victory and end the Bears’ season.The defense had struggled to get a consistent pass rush or to stop the run, but it did reasonably well at both against the NFL’s No. 1 offense. The Bears held the Rams below their league-leading averages of 30 points and 394 yards per game in the regular season.“That’s part of the shame of it: Our defense played their tails off,” coach Ben Johnson said. “They really did. [The Rams] have weapons all over the place ... and our guys played hard throughout that game and had us in it the whole time.” Related Bears safety Jaquan Brisker, an unrestricted free agent, ‘for sure’ wants to re-sign The defense was all over Stafford, the favorite to win NFL MVP, from the start. He finished with one of his worst lines of the season at 20-for-42 for 258 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions and a 67.4 passer rating.Defensive end Montez Sweat sacked Stafford and knocked the ball loose in the middle of the second quarter, and safety Jaquan Brisker sacked him on a blitz two plays later. Nickel cornerback Kyler Gordon got Stafford later in the quarter, and defensive end Dominique Robinson sacked him in the third.The four sacks were the second-most by the Bears this season, trailing only their five against the Browns last month.The defense also held its own against Rams running back Kyren Williams, who carried 19 times for 78 yards and two touchdowns but averaged only 4.1 yards per carry. He averaged 4.8 yards per carry, which was eighth in the NFL, during the regular season.The Bears forced a punt on eight of the Rams’ 12 full possessions. Brisker led the team with 14 tackles, followed by linebackers D’Marco Jackson and Tremaine Edmunds with seven each. Latest on the Bears Bears Bears will have 25th pick in this year's draft Their season-ending loss to the Rams on Sunday night locked in their draft position. [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone] By Patrick Finley read Bears Bears coach Ben Johnson: 'Shame' to waste great defensive performance in 20-17 playoff loss to Rams The Bears held the Rams below their season averages for points and yards and shut down stars Matthew Stafford, Puka Nacua and Davante Adams. [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone] By Jason Lieser read Bears Bears safety Jaquan Brisker, an unrestricted free agent, 'for sure' wants to re-sign Brisker said that’s not entirely up to him, though, and when asked if he’ll be back, he said, “We will see.” [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone] By Jason Lieser read