Second City’s new revue, How to Kill a Comedian, finds the legendary sketch comedy institution going strong.
The set is a Danish Modern warren of doors and flats with a projection of a whimsical mega doodle, which may also be a reference to the messy state of the world, a theme that constantly pops up during the show.
Sometimes a revue here may have a snappy topical title but then shy away from any real concerns, but not this time.
The show opens with a song, “Please Don’t Kill Us,” which is all about comedy, free speech and the chilling events at Charlie Hebdo in Paris. Then, the first sketch is about a confused couple trying to negotiate consent for everything they do together, a topic ripped from the headlines of Cosby and Ghomeshi. Only a few minutes in, and already the show is relevant.
A sketch about cultural bias sees friends play a Trivial Pursuit–type card game where the middle-class white male gets all the breaks.
Moments later, a couple argue about whether it’s possible to separate the artist from his or her art, this time making explicit references to Cosby et al. Picking up where the first sketch left off, the piece is a very funny critique of gender and media politics.
I couldn’t quite figure out why the cast created a sketch about competing Schwarzenegger impressions. It would have been dated a decade ago. And the impressions themselves weren’t even that good.
Veteran cast member Ashley Botting did a funny song that wowed the audience. Even better that she can really belt out a tune. But a flu lecture sketch by two Shoppers Drug Mart employees felt forced, even though the actors worked their hearts out and won the audience over.
Maybe this is the time to note that this show really belongs to the women in the cast. The three women, Botting, Leigh Cameron, and especially Kirsten Rasmussen, represent Second City at the top of its game. Perhaps it’s not a big surprise, as women’s contributions to comedy have never been greater than in this age of Fey, Poehler, Silverman, Dunham, etc.
But Rasmussen is the key player in the show, elevating every sketch she’s in. You can’t take your eyes off her, and it wouldn’t surprise me to find her doing Kristin Wiig heavy lifting in a future season of Saturday Night Live.
After intermission there was a sketch about a jester’s audition run by a very cruel queen. The jester’s jokes were sharp, dark and mostly unprintable here.
Late in the show, Rasmussen and Cameron play a couple of BFFs whose friendship is tested when one of them decides to go back to college in Calgary. The character work of both actors is stellar, and I found the piece touching, funny and masterful. It was the sketch that resonated for me during my long taxi ride home.
Only one thing marred my enjoyment of the show. In the last sketch, a coda to the first song, the actors interrupted the ditty to ask why they hadn’t mentioned the prime minister. Then they F-bombed Harper and Bill 51 and went back to the song.
It left a bitter taste in the mind because it was name calling, not satire. If ever a topic were ripe for skewering, it’s Bill 51.
I’m hoping something more pithy will replace the catcall, because this show is more than that, much more.