A church, a barbershop and The House.

What do those three things have in common? Gag Reflex, a six-person comedy group, has performed at them all.

The group, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, will kick off its Reflexology tour at 10 p.m. Saturday at The House, 263 E. Lincoln Highway.

This performance will mark the fourth time Gag Reflex has played The House.

-“It’s a good starting off point for us,” said Steve Lord, 47, co-founder of the group and the only original member left. “It’s a great place, a good restaurant. We have fun there.”

Gag Reflex had its debut at the Copley Theater in Aurora in 1993 with the show “Jurassic Pork (or Man, Is My Dino Sore!)”

Since then, the group has played all over the Midwest, including numerous locations in Chicago and as far north as Madison, Wis.

When co-founder Dale Roe moved to Austin a few years ago he started a second group that now has seven members and performs in the Texas capital.

Lord said later this year the two groups are going to try to get together for a reunion tour. They also plan to reunite former members to come back to perform in a few shows.

One former member now lives in Los Angeles and works in radio and television, including ocassional appearances with Drew Carey, Lord said.

Eric Schwartz, Gag Reflex Chicago director and member, said the group’s style would be best described as R-rated.

“It’s an adult-oriented show, but we tone it down a bit for The House because younger kids can get in,” Schwartz said.

Lord agreed. “You’re not going to see anything you won’t see on MTV or Comedy Central,” he added. “We vary the show for different venues … We had a show at a church once, and that had to be squeaky clean.”

The show he referred to placed the group at the alter of the church with “the crucifix looming over us.” But, Lord added that the show went well and received a large ovation from the audience.

He added that the group once performed in a barbershop, too. He said the owner asked them to perform and moved around the chairs to act as stadium seats.

“It was fun,” Lord added. “We gave away a free haircut at intermission. The winner got to get his haircut while watching the second act.”

Saturday’s performance at The House will draw from many of those past experiences, sketches and songs. The group also will perform a few sketches from its New Year’s Eve show it performed in Chicago.

The House owner Sven Hanson said he is glad to have Gag Reflex coming back to perform.

“They are kind of like ‘Kids in the Hall,'” he said. “It’s good they are coming back. They’re pretty funny.”Courtesy photo

Area comedy group Gag Reflex will perform at 10 p.m. at The House, 263 E. Lincoln Highway.