My Chicago Valentine
Produced by Case Blackwell
Public House Theatre, 3914 N. Clark (map)
thru Feb 15 | tickets: $15 | more info
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Sweet natured ode draws laughs from its big heart
Public House Theatre presents
My Chicago Valentine
Review by Clint May
Few holidays (perhaps none) create an emotional schism quite like Valentine’s Day. Hell, back in college I was not only a regular attendee but a one time host of an annual “Anti-Valentine’s Party” for singles. Call us bitter if you want, but it was nice to have something to do on February 14 besides feeling conflicted towards a holiday that shuns the single by definition. Even people in relationships have to warn their mates to either ignore or embrace the day when they first approach it together. If you need to find an alternative to embracing the holiday and celebrating it ironically just to show you care that you don’t care, then the Public House’s goofily endearing tribute to love in the Windy City has what you’re looking for.
This being sketch comedy, there are inevitably ups and downs (and this will likely be worked and reworked throughout its run). A magical avatar of Chicago in the vein of SNL’s Superfans is determined to show a disaffected woman that, yes, you can find love in the Windy City. Alternately scripted and improvised, the ensuing vignettes look at the modern troubles of love that I would venture to say don’t just exist in the big cities anymore (they are just rarefied in one). A policewoman is so desperate she falls for a cannibal in custody, a pirate tells the tale of falling in love with an octopus who forced itself on him, and Romeo becomes Bromeo in a tale of shotgunning beers for Shakespeare when a Cubs fan falls for a Sox fan. One of the funniest bits involves improvising marital vows from audience-submitted Valentine’s cards. Other gags—recurring lovebird rappers, for one—start strong but lose steam in repetition. Running the gamut from ribald to surreal and goofy to slapstick, on a whole these are some quite amusing illustrations of love’s neurotic hold on our cultural consciousness.
Interspersed, each of the six take turns telling true horror stories of Valentine’s with loves past. Well, except for Andy Bolduc, who is single and desperate but a good listener who speaks French. Andy, if you’re reading this, here’s the best advice I ever read from another comedian. I always say you laugh best with people you can cry with, and even if the stories won’t make you sob, you will find yourself more endeared to them after they bare their souls.
These six friends got their start offering up a similar take on love’s tribulations in Chicago Dating Scene. My Chicago Valentine is an inherently hopeful work with mostly gentle jabs and japes with a veneer of Chicago-centric gags overlaid. They still have some missing viewpoints—people who perhaps seek a different view of love than others (I’m thinking of Chicago’s own Laura Kipnis and her scathing critiques of love’s modern institutions). Sure I laughed, but I wouldn’t have minded a bit more smart social criticism mingled within this love of lovefest. Maybe that’s just the single in me…
Rating: ★★★
My Chicago Valentine continues through February 15th at Public House Theatre, 3914 N. Clark (map), with performances Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm. Tickets are $15, and are available by phone (800-650-6449) or online through their website (check for half-price tickets at Goldstar.com). More information at PubHouseTheatre.com. (Running time: 90 minutes, includes an intermission)
artists
cast
Case Blackwell, Andy Bolduc, Anthony Lombard, Sara Gaare, Cassie Ahiers, Nicole Carter
behind the scenes
Case Blackwell (Producer), John Lombard (Musical Director)
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