Sunday, August 20, 2017

Second City was second rate in D.C.


The cast of Second City in Almost Accurate Guide to America: Divided We Stand included Tyler Davis, Ross Taylor, Angela Alise, Chucho Perez, Katie Kershaw, and Ryan Asher/Kennedy Center and Second City

This was a comedy?  

That's the way it was billed in the Kennedy Center promotion, but "hilarious" it was not.

With a song about abortions?  

A skit on "Black Heaven"?  

Please. 

We expected comedy, since we were in "the need for a good laugh!" like the promo promised, and/or certainly politics since the Kennedy Center described Second City's Almost Accurate Guide to America: Divided We Stand, "a show that focuses as much on the people as the politics."

Huh?  

Little to nada, except for the standard, tiresome Trump and Steve Bannon jokes.  (Capitol Steps was sold out.)  

The second act was all improv which didn't fare nearly as well as the first act when the cast used a crutch from the audience in the person of Colin from Arlington, 14 going on 16.

If there was a costume designer, that would have been a surprise since apparel was everyday and mundane. Not much in the way of props, other than chairs, and for lighting: lavendar and pink backdrops on patterned windows.
  
This is not to criticize the ability of the actors. Far from it.  I have been lucky enough to attend two of their performances in Chicago which leaves one marveling at the talent and how they pull it off.
   
But at this show, the improv needed improv.

As my friend, Maureen, said:  "When they have to rely on the F-bomb for every other word, you know they've reached their limit." And as for my smart friend, Catherine, whom we ran into before the show started, she left at intermission!

Not worth $67!

Fifteen minutes until Kim Jong-un's missiles reach the U.S. 
Do what you want to do now! And do it fast.  
Like, head for the exit!
Ross Taylor, center, and other cast members from Second City's Almost Accurate Guide to America: Divided We Stand/Kennedy Center and Second City

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