“Dream Freaks Fall From Space” reviewed by Carol Moore

 Highly Recommended ****  The Second City is doing what they do best, making people laugh, and laugh, and laugh some more, with their 106^th Mainstage Revue, “Dream Freaks Fall From Space”.  From the first snicker to the last guffaw, this revue scored a ten on the hilarity scale.  Get tickets soon, you’ll love it!  4 BIG Spotlights

The Second City formula – a revue filled with snarky commentary on the news of the day, silly sketches, music, audience participation improv, even a little slapstick comedy – has been very successful over the years.

Last year’s disappointing review had all of the above, but most of the humor was election-related and way too angry to be funny.  This is not to say there weren’t some funny bits, but the laughs just couldn’t counterbalance the bitterness.

Nothing is sacred in this year’s revue.  The cast, wearing white jumpsuits, poke fun at everything from babies to nuclear fallout, often against a background of nostalgic rock music.  “Dream Freaks Fall From Space” brings back Kelsey Kinney, with newcomers Ryan Asher, Tyler Davis, Jeffrey Murdoch, Tien Tran, and Nate Varrone.

The funniest moment of the evening was totally unscripted, occurring in a skit about a chase.  One guy ran across the stage.  Another guy, obviously channeling Sherlock Holmes since he was wearing a deerstalker hat and carrying a pipe, announced he was chasing a jewel thief.  He asked a woman in the audience a series of questions about the so-called thief, who kept signaling answers.  Misunderstanding a cue for ‘dark’, she blurted out ‘black’, which had the audience howling!

Some other highlights:

• Tran sending a baby doll crowd surfing at the conclusion of her hilarious serenade to parents everywhere – Maybe Your Baby is Gay
• The entire cast, in oversized masks of Trump (reminiscent of the Thatcher masks in the “Billy Elliot” pantomime), tippy toe dancing to “Send in the Clowns”
• An audience sing-a-long – “Suit in a Backpack”
• A rock singer, wearing sunglasses and playing his guitar, asks the question – “Did you go for Trump?”
• Going through the audience to prove that the theory of six degrees of separation actually works
• Condom San Diego running around the stage

The Second City’s 106^th Mainstage Revue, “Dream Freaks Fall From Space” is in an open run at The Second City Mainstage Theater, 1616 N. Wells Street, Chicago.  ‘Bar-food’ is available – the beignets are to die for, while the hand-cut fries and warm, soft pretzels are also delish!  Parking is VERY pricey.  For my stay of about 2 ½ hours, the garage adjacent to The Second City complex charged me $35.

Running time is one hour, 50 minutes, with an intermission.  Performances are :

Tuesday through Thursday at 8:00 pm

Friday and Saturday at 8:00 and 11:00 pm

Sunday at 7:00 pm.

Tickets range from $29-$46.  FYI (312) 337-3992 or www.secondcity.com.

Second City is located on Wells Street, just North of North Avenue in what is still called “Old Towne”

To see what others are saying, visit http://www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “”Dream Freaks Fall From Space”