Murderers

I saw Murderers at IO on Wednesday night.

The group features Amanda Blake-Davis, John Hartman, Chris Witaske, Lauren Dowden, Tim Stoltenberg, and featured special guest Andy St. Clair on Wednesday. Aidy Bryant was supposed to be in the show but seeing as how she just promoted to ETC, it is very unlikely she'll be in a future show so Andy filled in for her last night.

The show starts by asking the audience to pick a number between 1-6. The next thing the audience is asked for is a location.

The introductory scene was in an elevator shaft and I was laughing so hard and almost fell out of my chair. Chris Witaske's shouting and slaps added to the hilarity of the evening.

Time Out Chicago lists the show as a Critics' Pick. I agree. It was very funny when I went.

Murders, for the time being, performs at 10:30 on Wednesdays in the Del Close Theater at IO, right after Dummy.

Dummy

I saw Dummy on Wednesday night over at IO.

Dummy features both Colleen Doyle and Jason Shotts.

I saw Jason perform back in June 2009 in what was easily one of the most hilarious shows I've ever seen. I believe he was with Whiskey Rebellion at the time. Christian Bale was the suggestion and from there, it got crazy hilarious.

The suggestion on Wednesday was conspiracy theories and the scenes were at a Half-Price Books, a doctor's office, and a date. What if you read a full book and got to the last page to find out that it had all been a dream? All the scenes tied into each other in some way or another.

Dummy performs at 10:30 on Wednesdays in the Del Close Theater at IO.

ETC creating new revue

ETC is starting it up again. Brendan Jennings, Tim Baltz, and Mary Sohn stay on board. Joining them in the cast are Aidy Bryant, Jessica Joy, and Michael Leher.

Time Out profiles Bungeroth

Time Out Chicago profiled Billy Bungeroth, director of both the recent ETC and Mainstage revues at Second City.

Here's this excerpt:

Whether Bungeroth’s initial landing at the Second City was predetermined is debatable, but one thing is for sure: South Side of Heaven, a dark, emotionally charged assault on audience expectation, revels in the idea of destiny. “This is a show about how everything that’s happening is absolutely meant to happen,” says Bungeroth in March while sitting down to discuss the show’s progress toward opening.

When we speak, the eager ensemble—which includes newcomers Edgar Blackmon, Holly Laurent and Katie Rich alongside veterans Timothy Edward Mason, Sam Richardson and Tim Robinson—is about eight weeks into a process that has largely been informed by a tumultuous string of events. In January, Mary Scruggs, the head of the writing and education programs for the Second City Training Center, died suddenly. Several weeks later, longtime producer Joyce Sloane passed away just days after the theater shuttered its doors for the first time in years because of the February 1 blizzard.

It was a dark time at North and Wells, but it inspired the cast to go to edgy places normally reserved for its experimental sibling, the e.t.c. “There’s an expectation here,” says Bungeroth, acknowledging that the Mainstage’s constant nod to its esteemed alumni means audiences enter the theater with preconceived notions. “We’re aware of that and working very hard to set them up a little differently so we can do some of the stuff that we do next door.”

SNL cast members in town

According to Charna, Vanessa Bayer is in Chicago during the SNL hiatus. She will perform with Revolver on Friday night at 10:30 PM.

Paul Brittain is in town, too. At 8 PM tonight, he will perform at The Playground with former IO house team Rattlesnake High School.

Over at IO tonight, Murderers opens up at 10:30 PM with Dummy.

South Side of Heaven

I had the chance to attend last night's opening of South Side of Heaven. I give it two thumbs up. If I had more thumbs, I would give it more. I've seen Red Scare, America: All Better, Taming of the Flu, Spoiler Alert: Everybody Dies, and now the 99th Mainstage revue, South Side of Heaven. This current revue gives the others a run for their money. Second City has managed to outdo itself with the new one.

Newcomers Holly Laurent, Katie Rich, and Edgar Blackmon join the three holdovers from Spoiler Alert: Timothy Edward Mason, Tim Robinson, and Sam Richardson.

Sam Richardson's impression of Barack Obama gives Fred Armisen a run for his money.

Mason's TSA agent is one of the highlights of the night.

The way that they paid tribute to former Mayor Richard Daley was hilarious. Different than I expected but still funny nonetheless. How will we survive?

After directing the recent ETC hit revue, The Absolute Best Friggin' Time of Your Life, Billy Bungeroth was asked to direct the newest Mainstage hit.

Tribune critic Chris Jones gave it 3.5 stars. I give it four out of four stars.

ETC news

Tim Ryder announced his last night on ETC via Twitter. Tim has been filling in for Tom Flanigan, who departed Second City to be a writer for SNL.

Well friends, this is it. My last night on the etc stage is April 17. So if you've waited seven months to see me, you now have two weekends.