The Second City’s Summer
Blockbuster: Now in 4-D!
Directed by Anneliese Toft
at Piper’s Alley, 230 W. North (map)
thru Aug 31 | tickets: $24-$29 | more info
Check for half-price tickets
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Have some super summer fun at sketchfest from the city’s best
UP Comedy Club presents
The Second City’s
Summer Blockbuster: Now in 4-D!
Review by Clint May
Given that my assignments are doled out randomly, it’s purely coincidence that this is one of the best summers for comedy in recent memory. The talented zanies of Second City debut their tongue-in-cheek Summer Blockbuster: Now in 4-D! with all the panache and expert timing we’ve come to expect of one of the best name brands for comedy in the country. This series of sketches mingled with improv seems mostly devoted to very contemporary social neuroses, and it’s those sketches that stand above some other, more dated material.
With the opening clarion call of the THX sound system to set the tone, we get a gag-a-minute introduction to the summer movie blockbusters of Second City. I have a soft spot for that kind of rapid fire riffing, and it remains my favorite aspect. From there we begin with an old problem made modern again when a double date turns awkward as a new couple can’t stop saying “I love you” and their venerable counterparts can’t seem to come to grips with emotional intimacy beyond the tip of a hat and a ‘whomp whomp.’
Some skits feel a little dated and tired. One in particular involving the difference in how women are treated at the auto repair shop versus men goes on too long and feels like it was dusted off from a 1980s comedy club. Others like the “book talk as sexual innuendo”—i.e. “I like a long….table of contents…”—fare better with a new varnish but still aren’t as creative as when this team of six take on contemporary issues. My personal favorite was a boy (Jasbir Singh) with “Attention Surplus Disorder.”
Other skits deal with Chicago summers and the eternal joys and heartbreaks therein. A man searching for Cubs tickets gets called up to the major leagues, two foreign food restaurateurs fall in love at the Taste, and a woman must go ballistic on pigeons at the park who threaten her lunch hour peace. Some even get a little sad as the real reasons for needing 5 Hour Energy are revealed (hint: it’s not for fun, but needing to work two jobs to make ends meet).
Interspersed with the skits are a series of improv exercises, the best being one involving three sets of two who take on audience-suggested relationships and must begin each skit with the last line of the previous skit at the sound of hand clapping. Another sequence entitled “The Archive” goes into the future to turn us all into interactive holograms who must give ideas based on the best and worst features of the 21st century (the bane of selfies will likely be a recurring theme).
Directed by the very talented Anneliese Toft, these six—most of whom are members of The Second City Touring Company—have a well-honed chemistry and whip-smart timing that has you laughing so hard from the last joke you might miss the next. They also bring a lot of heart. When Blair Beeken (one of their best if you, like me, love Melissa McCarthy-style antics) and Chucho Pérez discuss their teenage marriage pact now coming due, there’s just enough emotion to get some empathy in the giggles. For sheer physicality alone, props go to Singh, who throws his entire body into skits such as one involving a half-gargoyle boy going to summer camp. My all around favorite was Whitaker, who found a way to make every one of her roles unique and utterly amusing.
Whether it’s the listening to the sassy lady workers of Chicago or the search for the Song of the Summer, there are few better ways to spend a breezy 90 minutes if you’re looking to start a quintessential Chicago evening (this is ‘R rated’ though so this is not fun for the whole family). Of course some cast members and sketches will vary in performance to performance as the shows full-summer schedule plays out, so your experiences may differ slightly from mine, but I think it’s safe to say you’ll get more than your share of hearty chuckles regardless.
Rating: ★★★
Summer Blockbuster: Now in 4-D! continues through August 31st at UP Comedy Club, Piper’s Alley, 230 W. North (map), with performances Thursdays at 8pm, Fridays and Saturdays 8pm and 11pm, Sundays 7pm. Tickets are $24-$29, and are available by phone (312-337-3992) or online through their website (check for half-price tickets at Goldstar.com). More information at SecondCity.com. (Running time: 90 minutes, includes a brief intermission)
Photos by Kristen Miccoli
artists
cast
Blair Beeken, Kelsey Kinney, John Sabine, Jasbir Singh, Jamison Webb, Casey Whitaker, Chucho Pérez
behind the scenes
Anneliese Toft (director), Laura Hum (stage manager), Tara Trudel (music director), Kristen Miccoli (photos)
14-0733
