BWW Reviews: Chicago's Second City Returns to DC's Woolly Mammoth with AMERICA ALL BETTER

The relationship between Chicago's renowned sketch comedy troupe Second City and DC's socially-relevant and edgy Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company that began in 2008 with a DC production of Barack Stars has been a fruitful and natural one. Followed up with A Girl's Guide to Washington Politics and Spoiler Alert: Everybody Dies and, currently, America All Better, these productions demonstrate the common ground between the two theatrical trendsetters and deliver quality comedic entertainment to the socially-conscious DC theatergoing community and even those who may not always frequent our area's theatres.

While this most recent installment, directed by Ryan Bernier with musical direction by Jacob Shuda, has more than several sketches which don't quite hit the mark - even if they're well-performed by the exquisitely talented six-member cast - it does showcase two of Second City's main strengths. One is its ability to take material from the headlines to expose America's prominent socio, cultural, and political challenges - from guns, immigration and gay marriage to the failure of government and more - in small, bite-size sketches. The other, of course, is the troupe's seemingly unparalleled improvisation skills. The magic occurs when both of these assets are combined to create singular sketches.

The underlying thread is to explore life in America in 2013 - a year where we've overcome the demons and challenges of our past, only....well, not so much. Long and short sketches reveal the changing - yet in some ways enduring - face of the American family, long-standing racial prejudices in our society, and the nature of governmental rule, among other issues. Yes - as far as the latter issue - the current scandals of the day are mentioned from the Internal Revenue Service's current conundrum, Edward Snowden and the practices of our intelligence establishment, and the use of drones for military targeting, to improper activity/policies at a local/state level (with a large focus, given Second City's roots on Chicago/Illinois), along with many others.

With the help of local actor Aaron Bliden, and those with longer, more enduring Second City connections (Martin Garcia, Sayjal Joshi, Scott Morehead, Niccole Thurman, and Claudia Michelle Wallace), these and more situations come to life. Some of the completely planned sketches work - a cute little sketch involving a little Hispanic girl (an endearing Sayjal Joshi) standing along the border of four states only to be swept away by Border Patrol officials in Arizona, for example, and a nice little ditty about the National Rifle Association - while others go on far, far too long.

The most obvious of these being a quite interminable sketch about a father and son having a disagreement (which unfortunately is one of the show's first scenes) and the other being one about a young couple having to deal with a lunatic real estate agent (a funny Martin Garcia). Though, to the creators' credit, they are in on the joke and make specific mention about the latter scene needing to end because the audience likely had enough of the character; yet it isn't so much the character that's the major problem, but the tired yet mundane situation that is played out.

A third sketch had those around me rolling with laughter - I won't give it all away but it involves Jesus addressing members of Congress with Rich Mullins' well-known praise and worship song "Awesome God" playing out the scene - yet it didn't quite hit the mark with me. True, it shines light on some of the ridiculous behavior of our elected representatives, but the joke goes too far and teeters on the edge of blasphemy. Further, it doesn't necessarily reflect a solid understanding of the Biblical text so even if a religious-minded person found some of it funny, it's possible they would be (like me) rolling their eyes at the weak foundations of some of the more Biblically-centered jokes. It's not completely offensive - and I recognize part of the beauty of Second City is being equal opportunity offenders that can expertly use satire to make a point - but it may simply go too far, both in terms of length and content.

Where Second City really shines, however, is with improvisation making ample use of audience participation. A sketch about gay marriage (hilariously involving an unsuspecting audience member in the front row) may go on far too long, but does reveal the actors' extraordinary ability to think on their feet (Sayjal Joshi, like in most of her scenes, is the standout here). Another highlight is the troupe playing out the same situation in an American family over the course of several time periods - in 2013, in the late 1970s, and in 1912 (watch for the whole cast's brilliance here). A third - which could have been even better if the audience had ultimately picked a more focused topic - involved Edward Snowden, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and President Obama in a bathing suit shop. This showcased not only the troupe's wit and quick-thinking skills, but their physical comedy talents as well.

Some hits, a few too many misses - it is still all great fun. It's always a pleasure to have Second City back in town and I look forward to the next installment.

Running Time: 1 hour and 45 minutes with an intermission.

The Second City's America All Better plays at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company - 641 D Street, NW in Washington, DC - through August 4, 2013. For tickets, call the box office at 202-393-3939 or purchase them online.

Photo Credit: Todd Rosenberg (Full Cast Featured)

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