Second City troupe brings 'first-rate' laughs


Patrick Siller

Chicago's legendary improvisational comedy troupe had their audience in stitches.

The comedy tour of Second City's "Deface the Nation" arrived Monday evening in Warriner Hall's Plachta Auditorium.

Bay City sophomore Andrew Wright, external public relations chair for Program Board, described the show in one sentence.

"It's a comedy basically bashing politics," he said.

To that expectation, Second City delivered.

The show opened with a satirical monologue about change in America. From there, the troupe proceeded to dish out jokes through comedic sketches, improvisational games and humorous musical numbers.

Pressing the buttons on issues like the presidential election, the war in Iraq, global warming, abortion, gay marriage and the energy crisis, the six performers steered the audience through hot topics with appeasing wit and humor.

Coldwater freshman Melanie Sobeske enjoyed the thorough and accurate perceptiveness of the humor.

"They did a good job portraying the political scene right," she said.

The political skits made up the main body of the evening's show.

Some skits were brief one-liners.

One memorable scene showed a wife and distracted husband going over the bills.

"Honey, what do you think about the abortion bill?" the wife asked.

The man responded with, "Pay it!"

One especially humorous moment occurred during a sketch about an Inspirational Voting Squad. One of the players left the stage and began interacting with the crowd. With the lights dim, he snuck up and yelled, "HEY!", surprising audience member, a Bay City sophomore Josh Gillespie.

"He came up from behind me and scared the crap out of me," Gillespie said. "I think I went a little deaf."

Gillespie laughed recalling the experience, and enjoyed it just as much as the rest of the audience had.

"I thought it was hilarious," he said. "It was well worth the five dollars."

Overall, the evening was a success, both for Second City and for Program Board.

The show sold around 220 tickets, according to Program Board.

Second City came the previous year and was asked back by the CMU Program Board.

"I thought it was great, funny as hell," said Menominee freshman Josh Johnson. "I didn't know what to expect going in, but it was above and beyond, I'd see them again."

lifeline@cm-life.com

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