“Great Altercations” 2nd city’s 46th revue

[rating=3]It is great to see that the Second City stages are alive and bringing laughter back to Chicago. The two plus years of no comedy were rough. We need to laugh and for over 50 years, Second City has provided us with the outlet that allows us to , no matter what. There are many more stages now than when they first began and what is great about the show on the ETC ( second floor) stage is that this show is filled with veterans from different companies and shows, making it even stronger.

Altercation is defined as ” a noisy argument or disagreement, especially in public”. The new show, “Great Altercations” tackles some of this, but as incredible as this cast is, some of the segments they have created are too long and drawn out. The cast of diversified performers works well. Alex Bellisle. Mark Campbell, Terrence Carey, Laurel Krabacher, Jordan Savusa and Claudia Martinez make up the cast of six. They are able to take basic thoughts and make them into comic scenes with great ease. All of them have a remarkable ability to work with audience yell-outs and compose new bits into the worked script with no hesitation.

For those of you unaware of what Second City does, they create basic story lines and then , with the aid of the audience and some ability to ad lib, create a different show every night using the basic premise that they have created as a unit. They are NOT 6 performers learning their lines and following director Jerry Minor’s lead! They are 6 funny people who have created a theme based evening of laughs leaving space for the audience to be part of the show. Yes, if you were to return to view the show several weeks after the opening, you would see some basic concepts from the previous performance, but depending on the crowd and its input, many of the scenes, skits or whatever you call them might be different.. Family situations! Love situations! Altercations of all types, all getting a comical look.

The show is just about 2 hours with one intermission. The menu of items to dine on, or should I say snack on , are wonderful. Try the beef sliders and the pretzels. The curly fries are great and they pour a great martini! Again, the show is a great escape from what we read and hear in the news daily. The mother/child scene might have been a little too serious ( and long), but the comic touches of the evening were a delight and I know several families in the audience had a night that will serve as a family memories for many years to come. This is part of what takes place at Second City- the creation of a memory and an escape from reality for at least two hours..

Tickets start at $29 ( a bargain in today’s economy) and can be ordered by calling 312-337-3992 or online at  www.secondcity.com

My biggest problem with all of the stages of The Second City is their sound system. If I wear my hearing aids, I get feedback from the music (Tilliski Ramey) but if I don’t, I find myself missing some of the quick punch lines. Maybe it is time to do what other Chicago stages are doing and mike each and every performer so that we do not lose the clever lines they have written and say just right. It is a shame to waste the effort and work they put in.

Second City Shows run as long as people want to see them and the actors want to do them, but the performances are on a schedule

Thursdays  8 p.m.

Fridays and Saturdays  7 p.m. and 10 p.m.

Sundays  4 p.m.

There is a parking garage next door to the theater, which is located at 230 West North Avenue

Street parking is metered and or zoned.

To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “Great Alterations”