Pete Holmes/Photo: McKenna Pitcavage

Pete Holmes has made quite a splash in the comedy world since getting his start at the city’s legendary Lyons Den open mic back in 2003. He’s starred in two HBO specials, had his own three-season HBO sitcom “Crashing,” wrote a best-selling memoir called “Comedy Sex God,” created a wildly popular podcast called “You Made It Weird” and debuted “I Am Not For Everyone” in October as his first Netflix special.

He’s back on the road for “The Feelin’ It Tour,” his first since pre-pandemic times, and is performing an entirely new hour at the Den Theatre May 23-25. As he prepares to take the stage, he spoke with much love about his favorite comedy city.

“Chicago is a great comedy town. People are pretty discerning, because they want it, they want it fast and they want it good, and they want it loud,” he says. “So it’s always a great place to go to see if you’re actually funny, or if you’ve been deluding yourself.

“I was at the Den about a year-and-a-half ago. And boy, if there isn’t a more perfect stage. That place is incredible, with perfect sound, perfect lights and the crowd is right on top of you. Those were some of the best shows of the last tour. I’m really excited to be going back.”

The Den’s name also holds special appeal to Holmes, as he got his start at the legendary Monday open mics at the late great Lyons Den bar in Irving Park-North Center. He wound up there for the first time after struggling with improv at the Second City Training Center, and found that stand-up gave a way to stand out with a unique voice at a time when “every audition was 300 people trying for the same one slot” at the famed theater.

After seeing a full slate of burgeoning comics who ran wild with creativity, Holmes signed up to perform the very next week in a night that changed the course of his life.

“The first week [future Oscar nominee] Kumail Nanjiani was there, plus T.J. Miller, Hannibal Buress and [eventual “Star Search” champion] John Roy, so this open mic had some heat to it,” he recalls. “Everybody that was doing it was just trying to be really good at stand-up. And there was a purity to that scene that I think really helped things. We were really trying to impress one another. And as a result, I think the comics got really, really strong really, really fast.”

Holmes infuses much of his comedy work with tales of his spiritual journey from a “very literal-minded evangelical Christian” to searching for God “as a mystery of the universe” with spiritual gurus including Eckhart Tolle and his late guru Ram Dass. He still labels himself “Christ-leaning,” and his latest viral video is creating a buzz with his take on believers versus atheists—showing that the two seemingly opposing sides have major commonalities.

While he considers his memoir and podcast to be “eighty percent God stuff, and twenty percent silly,” he maintains a “ninety-five percent silly, five percent God stuff” ration in his stand-up act. That standard will be in full effect at the Den Theatre shows.

“There’s stuff about being a dad, being a husband and getting older,” he says. “It’s pretty relatable, and I hope there’s always, as you know, a little bit about faith in God and that sort of stuff, which I always enjoy delving into as well. The pandemic gave me plenty of time to really work and rework jokes to a real shine, and I love showing that.”

Pete Holmes performs May 23-25 at the Den Theatre, 1331 North Milwaukee. Call (773)697-3830 or visit thedentheatre.com.