Playwright: Randall Colburn. At: InFusion Theatre Company at DCA Storefront Theater, 66 E. Randolph St. Phone: 312-742-8497; $15-$25. Web: www.infusiontheatre.com . Runs through: May 20
Don't be surprised if some members of Chicago's improv community react to InFusion Theatre Company's The Improv Play like a slap to the face. A few characters in Randall Colburn's world-premiere comic drama trash talk some Chicago-area comedy institutions, or slam them by omission.
In particular, the cocky and self-destructive 24-year-old performer Walker (Nick Mikula) expresses a very damning opinion of why he thinks iO Chicago is a money-grubbing pyramid scheme. And when the lovable but also mocked "funny fat guy" Stan (Rob Grabowski) announces that he may move out to Schaumburg for a job promotion, he and his improv team friends crack jokes about IKEA and creative comedy death without once mentioning the successful suburban short-form improv venue Laugh Out Loud Theater located at Woodfield Mall.
The Improv Play largely focuses on Ben (Kevin Crispin), a 33-year-old improv regular who is not only facing the break up of his long-term relationship with Lindsay (Sarah Gitenstein), but a job loss and bubbling-under jealousy when one of his comedy troupe castoffs, Walter Regan (Will Gillespie), is cast on Saturday Night Live.
There's also the much admired improv comedian Ellie, whom Ben, Walker and Walter all pursue despite her overwhelming cynicism and difficult past history. Interspersed throughout, the characters perform improv scenes based upon suggestions from the audience, though some shout-outs are clearly plants from other cast members to further Colburn's plot along.
One gets the impression that Colburn feels it is his duty in The Improv Play to present a pessimistic view of the performers who have ambitions that one day they'll hit it big after honing their craft in Chicago's comedy and theater community. Colburn's very large cast features many characters who start realizing that their years of comedy training and performing aren't going to add up to much.
While this realist perspective is something that many Chicago storefront theater performers have to face up to, you often wish that Colburn's presentation of it wasn't so sprawling and loosely structured in The Improv Play. You also may wish that some of the more interesting and funny supporting characters like Jamie Bragg's Gwen and Frances McKearn's Delilah received more attention, while it feels like a mistake that Colburn actually shows the future SNL performer Walter onstage since it makes audiences question Gillespie's comedy chops and ask, "Really, he got in?"
On the plus side, director Mitch Golob coaxes some very funny performances from the large cast during a string of strong individual scenes in The Improv Play. And though his scattershot perspective is largely one of pessimism, Colburn does shed some revealing light on all those hopefuls striving to hit it big and beyond Chicago's thriving comedy scene.