Went to the opening of the Second City etc show "Studs
Terkel Not Working" last night.
I was a guest of cast member Andy St. Clair (who I work with in the improvised show, 3033) and being friends with the rest of cast I was particularly excited to see this show.
Using the style and sensibilities of the all-too aptly named
Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What
They Do by Studs Terkel, the sketch show features small stories (scenes) about
specific people in a specific place. "A man prepares dinner for his spouse in
Andersonville," or "A Channel 5 reporter touches up her makeup on Clark Street,"
intones a cast member introducing the next scene. This is, ultimately, a show
about the people of Chicago; not the celebrities or the infamous, but the
actual, working denizens of the Windy City. And if recent media has told us
anything (Blagojevich, Dillinger, Burris, et al.) it's that the working people
get short shrift and little attention and while this show certainly mocks them
for all they're worth, it's a loving portrayal as well.
(cast of the Second City etc: from L. to R., Amanda Blake Davis, Beth Melewski, Andy St. Clair, Christina Anthony, Tim Mason, Tom Flanigan)
If you're a student of improv you might remember the form La Ronde (where a link of characters interact, Persons A & B, Persons B & C, and so on) and that's used to great effect in the first act as, based on audience interaction, we see six improvised characters react to the recession economy. There's also a very long, hilarious audience participation film noir piece. It's unique from other Second City audience interaction pieces I've seen in that it actually gets the person up from their seat and moves them around the room; something every audience member says they dread but they secretly (after the show) love.
This is certainly one of the most Chicago-specific sketch shows in a very long while and it was wonderful for that alone. The trick, I imagine was presenting it in such a way that a tourist audience also gets it and they will. There are some very strong, two-person scenes and that's only fitting since the etc boasts some of Chicago's best improvisers right now. I particularly love the pairing of Tom Flanigan and director Matt Hovde, both founders of the amazing sketch group, The Galileo Players (a science-based troupe, which might explain Tom's great song railing against astrology.)
I usually don't give a stage set, beyond it's functionality, much consideration but this set looks real and not like a set on a stage and I guess that's the best compliment you can give a set, really. It's not some abstract door/window thing, it's a real place.
Studs Terkel: Not Working is a smart, fun sketch show that is about Chicago and Chicagoans. You can laugh because people, in general, are funny or maybe you'll laugh louder because you know that people on the corner of Belmont and Halsted are REALLY funny. The Second City has a great show ABOUT the Second City.
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The show gives wonderful props to Studs Turkel, both in name and style. For those who don't know who he is, the show delivers some fun information him. For more on him IRL, check out this link.
If you would like to see some neat video interviews with the cast, check out this link. (I love that Tim Mason mentions his ole improv team, Deep Schwa, in his bio.)
BTW, Cameron is probably going to mention this, but recently in London, Janeane Garofalo quit her act (10 minutes into her 30 minute set) and walked off-stage. The next act, Ed Byrne, came on stage early and improvised, "Now that I'm doing a longer set, can I have some of Janeane's money?"
Filed under: Second City
Tags: 3033, Deep Schwa, etc, Mason, St. Clair
