Recommended *** One of the problems I imagine Second City has come up against, of late, is coming up with new “shtick”. They have been around for a very long time, bringing some of the greatest talents to their small stages, but over the years, with the number of stages growing , I can see it becomes harder for them to maintain the creative juices that were present back in the “old days”. The ETC stage, which is over in what used to be called the “Piper’s Alley” building, is a little smaller venue, allowing the audience to be much closer. The current show is called “Fantastic Super Great Nation Numero Uno” and is written and performed by 7 very energetic and talented young performers; Sayjal Joshi, Katie Klein, Andrew Knox, Alan Linic, Julie Marchiano, Jasbir Singh Vazquez and Tien Tran.
With the exception of Ms Marchaino, these are all fresh newcomers to Chicago and the host of Second City opportunities. Many of you know that they do shows all over the world, but still call Chicago home. This is where it all started and this is where people visiting Chicago feel that they will have a great night of laughter. While, over the years, there have been many delightful experiences at the different venues located at Second City, keeping up with the pace is often hard, and the bar has been set so high, the future has a difficult time keeping up with the past. This show, however, is two hours of fun-filled laughter, filled with current events, a little less improve than in the old days, but some wonderful bits.
It is fun to see how they have blended the Spanish language into the show, with Mr. Vazquez and despite this, it seems that the majority of the audience “got-it”. The skit in the second half, where he is having lunch at a mall food area, and he brings an “amigo” from the audience on stage, as the Immigration “cops” come by, is adorable. The audience member was terrific. The political news about the Cubs winning the World Series being replaced by Trump’s winning of the presidency is very funny and almost everything that has Andrew Knox in is hysterical. He is one of these people who is destined for much bigger things as is Ms Marchiano. They both use their eyes and faces to tell a story and a joke, and do so with just the right PIZZAZ!
Knowing where you are heading, understand that the humor is “adult” and the subject matter is not for prudes. As always, there is material that might make the hair on the nape of your neck stand up a bit, but guess what? The hair on the
back of your neck “should” stand up from time to time. Much happens in our world each day, and most of it is stuff we do not want to hear about…and yet, we must, so the fact that these young performers make it funny and allow us to digest the information in a way that allows us not to kill anyone, makes it fun. We go to places like Second City, Second City Etc, The Up Comedy Club and other spots to forget the problems of our day and laugh at the world around us. For two hours, we have no problems..just good times and laughter!
Directed by Ryan Bernier on a stage designed by Bob Knuth with music by Jacob Shuda, “Fantastic Super Great Nation Numero Uno (which means very little) is an open run that is performed at Second City ETc, located at 1618 N. Wells ( second floor and you can enter on North Avenue as well) with performances as follows:
Thursday 8 p.m.
Friday 8 and 11 p.m.
Saturday 8 and 11 p.m.
Sunday 7 p.m.
Tickets start at $19 and are available by calling 312-664-4032 or online at www.SecondCity.com
The GRAND opening is January 19th at 8 p.m., but based on tonight’s performance, I would say, every show will be a fun experience for people who like laughter and the experience of having a good time.
To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “Fantastic Super Great Nation Numero Uno”
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