“Oh, the Places you’ll GLOW!”: Second City’s e.t.c. 47th revue

*** Old Town is known for the comedy of Second City which is in my opinion, the “king of comedy clubs” and venues. Going back to its start and one of my Goodman Theatre School buddies, Avery Schreiber, who with partner Jack Burns truly made Chicago comedy known, it was the place. Over the years, we have seen this theater grow to many stages and lots of students who come here to learn and master the art of comedy and improv. While today’s shows are scripted, they leave many openings for using the live audience for ideas and subject matter to play off. That is “improv” pure and simple.

The show that is on the stage now at their e.t.c. stage ( this is the 230 West North Avenue entrance), on the 2nd floor is called “Oh,the Places You’ll GLOW!” and to be honest, with the exception of them using light bars and other light items, the title doesn’t mean much. I did think that the second act had a lot more glow and spunk to it and if the first hour was as strong as the second, the rating for this production would have been ****.

The six performers in this particular production are quite talented and for those of you who are unfamiliar with Second City productions, it is in fact the performers who are responsible for the actual show we are seeing. They work out the specific materials they are going to present, The director ( Jeff Griggs) is responsible for making their skits and segments fit and work. John Love has created the original music and sound design and I would think had some input into the skits themselves. Hey, sports fans! They do get into “Da Bears” (why not? Everyone else has!).

Improv is situational and can change with the audience and in some cases current events. If you do political humor that can change daily. In many cases, in one of the Second City shows, the audience gets involved. Tonight a lady from Maine said her hobby was knitting and we were handed 25 minutes of Knitting jokes. On other nights these jokes will have to be altered to fit what is tossed by the audience. By the way- this lady and her guests were up for some extra stuff in the second act with some slapping and punching bits that were hysterical. They helped make the evening a stitch. John Love handled the sound as if this had been a part of the piece.

The choreography by Carisa Barreca is fun and fitting to the action that these 6 performers/writers/comics bring to the stage: Meghan Babbe is a newbie to the Second City stage and is hysterical as a nun and in particular as  a mother in a TJ Maxx dressing room with her teen-age daughter played by Leila Gorstein, who is a veteran of doing Second City work. Claudia Martinez who is a veteran of e.t.c. productions is one funny performer who is able to play all genders and does so with a flair. Her mobster from Chicago was not only funny it was realistic ( Babbe worked with her on that one as they roamed the audience).

Brittani Yawn is anything but a yawner ( ha ha, couldn’t resist). She can hold her own when it comes to comic characters and truly knows how to hold an audience. The other two players are Tim Metzler who has the ability to use his agility to bend his body in ways that one cannot even imagine and seems to be able to go offstage and reappear within seconds. Is it magic? Or is he twins? and last , but certainly not least is Jordan Savusa. We have seen him in a few mainstage productions and once you see him, you will never forget this mountain of comedy.

As the weeks go on, I have a feeling that this talented troupe will make some changes to sharpen this show and fine tune it. As I said, the second act is powerful so all they need to do is find a few changes in the first act to make this show an experience to remember. Let’s face it, we all need to laugh. We all need to get away from the craziness of the political world around us and we all want to have two hours without thinking of business, economic pressures, politics, inflation and war torn countries. At e.t.c.’s ” Oh, the Places You’ll GLOW!”, you will find that this and some tasty vittles and great drinks will make your evening bright.

“oh,the Places You’ll GLOW! will continue at Second City’s e.t.c. on an open run