“Dirty- Sexy- Funny”

Highly Recommended **** I need to clarify that this is a show in a theater. In fact, in one of our area’s most treasured theater buildings, The Genesee in downtown Waukegan. The title of the show is “Dirty-Sexy-Funny” and it probably should have the word “raunchy” added on as it is very raunchy. The show is introduced as Jenny McCarthy’s and while she is the emcee/host and adds some of her humor to the festivities, it is the group of women comedians that had the crowd in stitches for over two hours. Yes, over two hours of side-splitting laughter that although designed for women was just as funny for men (although there were less of them in the crowd, I have a feeling that more than not got lucky that night). Ms McCarthy, is a dynamite personality who has written a book, done TV and comedy for awhile and even has a reality show with her hubby, Donnie Wahlberg (who she used in her video presentation on video dating) “Donnie loves Jenny”, a show that my wife, Jane , loves very much.

The Genesee Theatre is located in downtown Waukegan on Genesee Street, just south of Route 132/Grand Avenue. It is an old, refurbished building that is glorious inside with comfortable seating and great sight lines. The sound system is pretty solid as well. While the space might be a bit large for this type of performance, it appeared to work. A smaller, more intimate space would have probably been a better way to go, but this is the best venue on The North Shore to host a cast of comics such as these. Tammy Pescatelli, Lynne Koplitz, Paula Bel and opener April Macie who truly got the audience off to a running start, are all dynamite performers knowing how to hit the “G spot” of each audience member. In a smaller space they would have the opportunity to involve the audience even more, but despite the size of The Genesee, these ladies had us in the palm of their hands. What they did with us was up to them.

A smaller venue, comedy club atmosphere would allow the audience members to refresh their drinks faster so they would not miss some of the special comedy bits that were being done. The show is well over two hours and there is no intermission. Of course leaving your seat to get a new drink or to make room for the next one is fine, but when sitting in theater seats, it can become disturbing to other audience members to have a lot of activity heading out and back in. They might want to consider having some breaks worked into the show for that purpose. I must tell you that I found the show to be hysterical, laughing away all the stress of the work week. Others in my area, young and old were laughing just as hard and as often. McCarthy herself was cute but it was the comics, even with all their raunchiness that kept me in stitches. This show is not for prudes, and I pity the Amish who might consider attending ( one of the bits of the evening). If this show comes back, and you enjoy a fun evening, do not miss it!

This was a one night only show, but will be on the road, so you can follow it or check it out for future. Visit www.jennymccarthysdirtysexyfunny.com

The Genesee, a short drive from the North Shore and even Chicago has a full line up of shows coming up. To see what they have in store (Christopher Cross, Jay Leno, Michael Bolton as examples) visit www.Geneseetheatre.com. Genesee- “The spotlight is close than you think”