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"Sketch and comedy, you know, Improv, that’s what I love to do. Short attention span theater, that's what we call it; the stuff you can walk by and just take a look. Or the comic can hit them with a quick one liner. Maybe that's all they have time for, but they still get funny!"

Chicago is a comedy town, and Patrick Zielinski knows that. That's why he is here, to be a funny guy in the town that gave us Second City and the Improv Olympics. But comedy is a competitive gig. There are a lot of funny guys here, and Patrick has figured out how to make a living by being just as funny night and day. He is the Creative Cast Coordinator at Navy Pier, arguably the showplace of the Streeterville neighborhood. The Pier, with its shops and boats and swooping seagulls, is a daily bustle of kids and grandmas and pirates.

Pirates is where Patrick comes in. "I started out here as an actor. I was a pirate, as in "Ho there, me hearty! Mind your P's and Q's or I’ll sink ya in Davey Jones' locker! I would see the same Moms and kids, buggies and nannies, all summer – sometimes all year. Little kids love to watch stuff over and over. Some of the kids I've been seeing for years are now all grown up and still coming around. The grown ups like to watch the same stuff again, too. It’s great!"

Would Streeterville be Streeterville without Navy Pier? Probably not. And would Navy Pier be Navy Pier without Patrick Zielinski? Maybe, but it wouldn't be as much fun. You can see "The Patch and Pickle Show" all afternoon, 5 days a week. Patrick goes to the Pier every day to shepherd the skits, and to see how the audience is responding. And he comes up with all their material, "from conception to production." Are they laughing? Comedy is supposed to keep them laughing!"

At night, especially during the holidays, Patrick gets hip as artistic director, co-creator and performer for Headcheese Fat Boss Productions’ "Hipmas Carol, a Beat Retelling of Charles Dickens' beloved classic, A Christmas Carol." Now in its eighth year, "Hipmas" has its roots in the legendary work of 60's comedienne Lord Buckley and uses beatnik cool and blues guitar to retell the story of Tiny Tim, the ghost of Christmas past, and mean old Scrooge.

The performance is warm and funny. Patrick works the crowd with warmth and a twinkle. Using all his Improv skills. It's not hard to see the old pirate in Patrick's performances. You could easily spend the whole day and evening with Patrick, going from one show of his to another, and he wouldn't mind, because he knows that you would be laughing. And that’s a good thing!