When most people hear the phrase “The Second City,” a laundry list of comedians and SNL mainstays is bound to pop into head: Bill Murray, Tina Fey, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, Steve Carrell, Steven Colbert, Mike Myers and so on and so forth. Since 1959, The Second City has been the premiere spot for improvisational comedy.
Though The Second City now has locations in Toronto and Los Angeles, its title is a reference to its home base of Chicago, the windy city and self-proclaimed second fiddle to New York.
Since the 2000s, The Second City has been further extending its influence, temporarily setting up shop in some of this nation’s 48 other states.
First came Phoenix, then Denver, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Boston and finally Baltimore.
Took them long enough.
The seedlings of the Baltimore treatment were planted last year, when The Second City shipped two of their writers from the Midwest to the sort-of South for a week of immersion.
Staff members of Centerstage — the State Theater of Maryland and home to the production — led the duo throughout the city’s several corners, stopping to chat up locals and stuff their faces with crabs and Berger cookies (though hopefully not simultaneously) along the way.
The writers returned to Chicago, with many a comedic idea percolating in their heads, and devised a written frame with musical accompaniments.
A cast and director were recruited from The Second City’s vast ensemble vault, and the whole crew came to Baltimore to put on their first show December 30th, just in time for a New Year’s respite.
The structure of the show is quite varied. It opens with the six actors in a musical number about the “good old days of Baltimore,” the joke of course being that, well, those days never really existed. Perhaps they’re just around the corner.
Short three to five minute skits intersperse “appearances” by recognizable natives: Ray Lewis, Michael Phelps, John Waters and of course, the “piss-flavored” Mr. Boh of National Bohemian.
The majority of the skits are Baltimore related, harping on corrupt mayors, the progressively thinning Baltimore Sun, neighborhood stereotypes (Hipster Hampden, Fratboy riddled Fells Point and the slums of West Baltimore) and the close-knit nature of the city (a man and a woman are accidentally paired up on 11 dates via Match.com, thanks to the size of “Smalltimore”).
Some of the funniest skits, however, are completely random and occasionally without dialogue. For instance, a man prepares an at-home date for a “woman” who is actually a blow-up sex doll.
Of course, it would not be a true Second City show without some improv and audience participation in the mix.
Aside from taking scenario suggestions from the largely elderly crowd (but hey, it was a Sunday matinee), the ensemble cast would wrangle audience members up on stage and involve them in a skit.
A particularly enjoyable instance involved a 60 some odd year-old man, who was called upon to act as a private investigator, or “dick.”
One of the actors narrated as the former spectator filled in the blanks of the scenario, declaring he was going to march down to the “Owl Bar” to find a stolen “Peacock.”
As is the case with much comedy, the funniest moments can come from the unscripted and unexpected.
In fact, the show could afford to trade in a few of the skits that fell flat for more improvisational ventures.
It was surprising to see that there were only about five of the latter in the nearly two-hour performance; a few more would have afforded the comedians more artistic freedom, while involving members of the audience.
Everyone, including the cast, seemed to enjoy themselves more during the unhinged moments of audience participation.
The Second City Does Baltimore is only at Centerstage until February 20th, which means time is of the essence.
Hurry down to catch this charming tribute to your adoptive city before the famed comedy troupe moves on to their next victim.
