There are half a dozen exceptionally talented individuals in the new Second City e.t.c. revue, Great Altercations. But that turns out to be a problem: they remain individuals rather than forming an ensemble. Nor is this inability to cohere merely a lack of performance rhythm: as the creation of sketch comedy requires collaboration during improvisation, […]
Tag: Second City e.t.c.
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Susan Nussbaum, 1953-2022
Editor’s note: Chicago playwright, novelist, actor, director, and disability rights activist Susan Nussbaum died April 28 of pneumonia at 68. Playwright Mike Ervin, who collaborated with Nussbaum as cowriter on the comedy revue The Plucky and Spunky Show and whose 1999 play, The History of Bowling, was directed by Nussbaum, remembers his friend and mentor. […]
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Grinning From Fear to Fear at Second City E.T.C. doesn’t get funny till hour two
Until then, it relies too heavily on stale old jokes.
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Second City E.T.C.’s Gaslight District examines the perils of living in the age of alternative facts
But you can’t escape the zone of truth.
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Forget Trump—Second City E.T.C. reminds us of the ‘humor in humanity’
The latest E.T.C. show, Fantastic Super Great Nation Numero Uno, focuses more on the people than the politics.
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2016 in theater was wildly convulsive on- and offstage
Controversies over abuse, alleged druggings, and “whitewashing” roiled even as Shakespeare 400 Chicago soared.
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The conversation breaks down in Second City’s The Winner . . . of Our Discontent
A poor casting choice damages the theater’s new main-stage revue.
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Second City: The Next Generation
The latest E.T.C. show, A Red Line Runs Through It, shows that even the oldest sketch institutions can make progress.
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Second City E.T.C. brings us the happiest measles outbreak on earth
The Second E.T.C. revue Soul Brother, Where Art Thou? has plenty of poignance and pointed commentary to go with the yuks.
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Second City E.T.C.’s latest sketch show gives us the apes of laughs
Dark and dystopic it ain’t, but there are plenty of isolated marvels in Second City E.T.C.’s Apes of Wrath.
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We’re All in This Room Together, Second City
The new revue at Second City E.T.C.
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The new Second City E.T.C. show: Cartoonish, classic
A review of the 35th Second City E.T.C. revue, Sky’s the Limit (Weather Permitting).
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The Rhythm Is Right
Second City E.T.C.’s stellar new sketch show, The Absolute Best Friggin’ Time of Your Life