“This Too Shall Slap”

***** Welcome Back Second City. Although they have never left, the last few years have been a lot less funny than those of the “Old Days”. There are times that I think that the expansion of Second City with all the local stages as well as those in other parts of the world, have reduced the number of funny people, so the shows are not what they were in the days of Avery Schreiber, Jack Burns, Alan Arkin, Dan Aykroyd, Peter Aykroyd, Bill Murray, The Belushi brothers, Dawn Bless and a whole lot of funny performers. Of late, the shows have have had segments that were terrific, others so-so and some parts that were okay depending on the audience and how much they had been drinking.

Their new show, in fact, their 113th Mainstage production, entitled “This Too Shal Slap” is by far the best of their last five years ( or more). The cast of  six amazing performers is dynamic, entertaining and  extremely energetic. From start to finish these six comics hold the audience captive for the entire two hours. During intermission, all I heard were the people around me saying they were ready for act II- they were having “the time of their life”.

I must say, that not only did Jane’s eyes never even get near closing, I heard her laugh out loud several times, and this is a rare moment in theater as she doesn’t let it out. Tonight she truly did! I know that I was pretty close to hysterical most of the show and in particular the last scene/skit of the first act, where they had a class playing “Musical Chairs”
. I must tell you, this segment alone makes it  worth buying a ticket . It is probably one of the funniest segments EVER! Should they put together a “best of Second City”- this should be a part of it! You will also love the Suburu ad spoof ! Very funny!

The six performers ( who also wrote and put together the material under the swift direction of Jen Ellison with music by Ryan Miera), are amazing as they go from character to character, segment to segment changing characters, wigs and grabbing props along the way. This show uses less audience participation, but where it does, it does so with a great comic touch. One has to “Give It Up” for Leila Gorstein, Adonis Holmes, Hannah Ingle, Bill Letz, Jordan Stafford, and Adisa “Di” Williams. What a magnificent ensemble!

For those of you who frequent any of the Second City stages, you know that the stage is pretty bare and that chairs are what they use as their props along with some small items. There is always some choreography ( Adonis Holmes and Adisa Williams) and of course, the sketches themselves are created by the cast and as they work together from the start, they develop into the finished product we see. I do know that as they continue to perform, they will see changes and places to make things better, so one of the beautiful aspects of Second City is that you can go back and might see an even better production as they learn from audience response and  become more of a family.

Their spoof on a TV cooking show is another hysterical sketch where  Hannah Ingle truly gets to shine. Bill Letz is a comic that can bring a laugh just by looking at another performer and when Leila Gorstein does her man at the workout gym, you will find yourself laughing your A__ off! Jordan  calling his  sister on her birthday is a scream and each of the wrong numbers he dials will draw you in even deeper. This is a magical troupe that has blended a show that is perfect for the venue ( and its history)!

As I said earlier, and I will say again, THIS IS THE BEST I HAVE SEEN AT SECOND CITY IN YEARS!

“This Too Shall Slap” will continue at Second City’s Main Stage located at 1616 N. Wells Street, second floor. This is the MAIN STAGE and as always is what they call an “open run” with performances as follows:

Tuesday         8 p.m.

Wednesday   8 p.m.

Thursdays    8 p.m.

Friday            7 p.m. AND 10 p.m.

Saturday       7 p.m. and 10 p.m.

Sunday          7 p.m.

Tickets start at $29 and can be ordered by calling 312-337-3992

or you can visit  www.secondcity.com

To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “This Too Shall Slap”.