By: GayCo Productions Ensemble
At: Second City e.t.c., 1608 N. Wells
Phone number: (312) 337-3992; $5
Through: Sept. 24
As part of its 'Unhinged' series, the folks at Second City have employed the fine ensemble talents of GayCo Productions to take on the recently centerstaged world of the GLBT community. Two shows comprise this evening of political- and thought-provocation, ribald humor, and a surprising amount of poignancy. For five measly bucks, Wednesday nights at the Second City e.t.c. space is the best entertainment bargain in town. If you love a bargain, a good laugh, sodomy, or a combination of all three, you'll find more bang for your entertainment buck here than anywhere else.
This two-parter opens with Growing Up Butch, a one-woman piece that showcases the rather remarkable talents of Butch Jerinic, a young Croatian woman with the wholesome face of Mary Tyler Moore, the chameleonic characterization abilities of Lily Tomlin, and the ability to empathetically create whole characters with a few deft strokes that set her in a class by herself. Jerinic, who is the only straight child of Croation parents (she has a lesbian sister and gay brother), brings us a unique perspective on what it's like to grow up as the only straight child in the family. Jerinic effectively channels all the members of her family, from a mother who can't understand why Jerinic would want her gay brother to be one of her bridesmaids at her wedding, to a father whose tough-as-nails exterior belies his compassion, to a sister who's taking her time coming out of the closet, to a brother who is an AIDS survivor.
It is the portrayal of the brother, Michael that stays with us the longest. Sharp-edged and blisteringly funny, Jerinic's portrait takes no prisoners, showing us a chain-smoking, AIDS med-popping brother who takes the tragedy life deals him with equal doses of reality and humor. Jerinic deserves wider recognition for the compassion in her comedy and comedy in her compassion. She's a standout.
The second part of the show, written and performed by the GayCo sketch-comedy ensemble, is more like what one would expect on a Second City stage. GayCo's latest revue is irreverent, cutting, on-target, and just plain hilarious. The show opens with a big production number celebrating the glorious freedom the Supreme Court gave us all when it legalized sodomy. The number includes a giant sphincter, umbrellas opening and closing (you get the analogy, pardon the pun), and a refrain that includes the lovely line, 'Lube it up … stick it in.' From there, we move on to a trio of straight gals who can't sit down at work because the sodomy law being struck down has liberated their mates to travel a back road to ecstasy, to a group of feeble circuit boys in a nursing home (its ending makes an unexpectedly cutting comment on the scene), to a right-on spoof of online connections with m4m4nurturing, to a smart, funny finale that's inspired by the old Laugh-In cocktail party shtick. Come see how GayCo makes it their own.