Playwright: Joe Canale, Ithamar Enriquez, Shelly Gossman, Brad Morris, Amber Ruffin and Emily Wilson. At: Second City mainstage, 1616 N. Wells. Phone: 312-337-3992. Runs through: Open run
Second City ( SC ) aims for what's tried, true and easy to skewer with its 95th mainstage revue. On the cosmic comedic spectrum, even mediocre Second City shows tend to fall well within the range of the amusing—No Country for Old White Men is no exception. But we've come to expect more than your average funny business from a company of SC's intellectual resources and ridiculously deep talent pool.
Written and performed by Joe Canale, Ithamar Enriquez, Shelly Gossman, Brad Morris, ( who was out the night we attended ) Amber Ruffin and Emily Wilson, NCFOWM arrives at a time when the very planet seems to be going out of its way to provide fodder for the comics who dwell upon it. Cougars and earthquakes and emerald bore beetles, oh my! Surely endtimes are upon us—so what better time for Second City to whip off the gloves and unleash its signature strain of brilliantly biting invective? But White Men is strangely toothless; entertaining, but neither especially memorable nor insightful.
Director Jim Carlson molds a series of zip-and-go sketches paced with panache and alacrity. Nobody but nobody does blackouts with the verve of Second City. Rather than bog the evening down, the lights-out transitions allow for witty microbursts from musical director Ruby Streak. That inspired soundscape isn't limited to blackouts: One of the revue's more effective numbers comes in song, as Enriquez and Ruffin gleefully exploit their ( respectively ) dark and darker skin tones to perform a lovely bit of vaudeville shtick that could be titled 'Playin' the Race Card.' It's a wickedly fine line between minstrel show and scabrous satire, but the pair nimbly two-steps and jazz-hands along the satirical edge.
This is Enriquez' third mainstage show with Second City, and he continues to establish himself as a performer whose command of physical comedy elicits the sort of out-of-control laughter that leaves one breaking out in chuckles long after the sketch is over. Watch for Enriquez' ( wondrously non-sequitorial ) spastic interpretation of Jennifer Beals' iconic strip/dance from Flashdance—it's one for the memory banks.
Also returning for the third time and in manically top form is Joe Canale, whose deadpan, pasty-faced nerd persona continues to be a comedic force to be reckoned with. Emily Wilson creates a few fairly indelible gems, among them the leader of a strip-dancing class who helps the sexually out of touch get in touch with both their fallopian tubes and their inner hottie. ( On a quasi-related note, the one truly inspired bit in the performance involves a hula hoop and a modern dance sextet of wriggling spermatozoa. )
But despite the formidable comedic chops of the cast ( and some fine sketches about car maintenance, Bible- ( mis ) quoting seniors, and obnoxious picnickers at Ravinia ) , NCFOWM left us is a shrugging state of 'meh.' We've seen far better on Wells Street.
