Playwright: The Company. At: The Second City, 1616 N. Wells St. Tickets: 312-337-3992; www.secondcity.com; $23-$28. Runs through: Open run
It's more of the same for The Second City's 100th comedy revue, and that's good and bad. The cast is sharp, fast and young, and the sell-out audience roars with laughter. The troupe's ability continually to reproduce itself and draw crowds are signs of institutional success (even beyond Chicago in outposts across North America). The Second City remains the Mecca of improvised comedy theater and, through its vast alumni network, the greatest influence on American comedy (theater, movies, TV) in the last half-century. That's all good.
The badand some would not regard it as suchis that there's nothing innovative about this landmark show. It's fast and funny but follows the tried-and-true format of long scenes followed by short blackouts with an occasional song or improvisation thrown in. Most of the scenes and blackouts are scattershot: This is no Harold, the long-form improvisation pioneered by Del Close which The Second City has created successfully on occasion.
Frankly, this one should be a Harold because it's more complex structure shows off not only the comedy chops of the cast, but also their acting chops (which seem to be considerable with the present crew). In a Harold, characters and situations are established to which the company returns several times, creating storylines around a theme. It leaves plenty of room for standalone scenes and blackouts, but it gives the show a spine.
The very title, Who Do We Think We Are? suggests a central idea, and several early scenes appear to be set-ups for later extension, particularly one about scientifically induced amnesia, but the show never goes there again. The thematic title is addressed only sporadically, albeit often effectively as in a scene where a man changes from black to white and back again several times. Two brief scenes of Barrack Obama and Mitt Romney hint at larger opportunities for the cast to develop material pertinent to the title, as the political season heats up.
There are, of course, observable changes across 53 years of Second City history. The company once was five men and two women and now it's three and three, among them African-American and Asian-American performers, making the cast more multicultural than it once was. The ubiquitous piano punctuation of scenes now roars to much greater life through digital keyboards and sampling (Julie B. Nichols, music director). The scenic design by Sarah Ross retains the basic three-door stage plan as always, but is far more stylish and urban-looking with hints of Indiana limestone and frame construction building facades.
The cast of well-matched and gifted comedic actors includes Tim Baltz, Edgar Blackmon, Holly Laurent, Katie Rich, Mary Sohn and Steve Waltier. Remember them. They and sure-handed director Matt Hovde serve each other well.