For some, personal connections can be the deciding factor, as Kristin Clifford — who's been performing in Chicago for six years and plans to relocate to LA in the fall — can attest. In January she opened a show at The Hideout for Cameron Esposito, with whom she'd taken classes at the Lincoln Lodge years ago. Esposito normally travels with her wife, Rhea Butcher, but Butcher was unable to make this show. "Cameron reached out to me and then, at her request, her management reached out to me to set up the show," Clifford said. "I was so excited to see that, with all her success, she was still the same woman who supported other women in comedy and went out of her way to give me an opportunity."