LAUGH, INC.
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The group’s format is stolen directly from Second City. The show begins by setting up the ambience of Chicago–which is ironic, because Laugh, Inc. is performing at the Apple Tree Theatre in Lake Forest. One of the troupe plays a Mayor Daley aide giving a speech about city business, and the rest of the cast is scattered throughout the audience dressed as quaint, amusing Chicago characters. They invade the stage to sing a song about Chicago and introduce themselves. They then tell us the name of the show, which in classic Second City style has nothing to do with the material: Parent Hoods, or Honey I Shot the Kids. When they need to set the next scene, someone moves chairs around and “chats” with the audience. Then we are “now taken” to the next location. The one exception to the Second City book is an exercise that belongs to ImprovOlympic.
Laugh, Inc. has its merits. All six cast members are competent performers and writers. They are evenly divided between men and women–a first for any of the Second City spin-offs I’ve encountered–and they generally stay away from the usual division of female roles: bimbo or strong woman.
It’s a shame that there aren’t more improv exercises throughout the evening, as the warmth and talent the troupe displays in this sketch are not apparent for much of the show. In some cases, the material itself doesn’t quite work. There’s a sketch straight out of a junior-high talent show, about three dumb guys who turn their car wash into a beauty salon. A piece about blind referees turns into a song that even ardent ref haters will have trouble with.
Laugh, Inc. has enough entertaining material for a reasonably enjoyable laugh-filled evening. But it seems to me that Second City already has more than enough branches.
