FLAG SMOKING PERMITTED IN LOBBY ONLY, OR CENSORAMA Second City
But the satire is too tentative to hit hard. Indeed, little in this self-censorama will trigger whiplash shocks of recognition. In a year with enough political obscenities to offer abundant chances for swift spoofs, you’ll find nothing about the HUD scandal, attacks on the NEA, McDome, the rape of Comiskey Park, the bureaucracy on Pershing Road, the Hubble telescope fiasco, this state’s imminent return to capital punishment, or a single local election campaign. (Hey, why confuse the tourists?)
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Occasionally you get vintage Second City. “Reunion” assembles five ex-kindergartners who quickly revert to their kiddie selves–and we see how much of their futures was decided between naps and recess. Equally deft is “First Date,” a gem about a nervous couple (Holly Wortell and David Pasquesi) who find an ingeniously devised common bond during their date.
Then there are the Skits That Fail to Find a Target, or It Seemed Pretty Damn Funny at the Time. The duet “Farmin’,” sung by two deadpanning hayseeds (Pasquesi and Tim O’Malley), catalogs the drudgery of rural life only too well. In the revue’s finale, “On Leave,” three sailors find out that all their dangerous or romantic adventures on Rush Street have been arranged in advance by the convention bureau. Is this a spoof of On the Town, official civic tours, or the lack of any real adventure in the city?
