THEATER REVIEW: Riffs on romance comedy gold

Comic improvisation -- when all goes well -- is dependent on the quick wits of the performers taking off-the-cuff suggestions from audience members and spinning out complete scenes and laugh lines.

It is interesting then that such a mercurial medium could be a reliable source of entertainment. Chicago's famed Second City returned to the Arkansas Repertory Theatre on Thursday night with a new show called Hooking Up with The Second City. The five members of the 2016 Second City traveling troupe worked on an empty stage equipped with four chairs and focused on the modern and eternal problem of relationships.

Between elaborate improvs, the comic songs and raps, prepared sketches and audience participation, Hooking Up hit the comic sweet spot with regularity.

An improv that had Ali Barthwell and Casey Whitaker attempting to co-exist in a tiny house set the evening off on a raucous note. Barthwell was also great in a recurring sketch where two daft senior citizens (the other played by a wide-eyed Jasbir Singh) fed pigeons (that meant throwing bread at audience members) and talked about Buddhism. The incredibly simple sketch highlights a strength of Second City in giving enough room for its comic actors to work.

While Hooking Up was filled with topical references (an early improv on Jay-Z, Beyonce and the album Lemonade clearly flew over the head of about half the audience in attendance), it came back around to basic relationship issues. A sketch about a first date where Charles Pettitt's silent character had to keep using cue cards was more emotional and sweet than funny. A nervy sketch about a black couple going over to a white couple's house to watch a game between the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox generated gales of laughter even as it traded on uncomfortable truths.

Perhaps the peak of the night was an extended reimagination of the romance of a couple in the audience. The Second City actors had great fun playing the future husband and wife who met in a high school hallway in White Hall. A dentist who turned out to be a janitor proved to be comic gold.

Hooking Up with The Second City continues at the Rep through May 15. Showtimes are 7 p.m. today-Sunday, May 10-15 and at 9:30 p.m. May 13-14. Ticket information is available at (501) 378-0405.

Metro on 05/06/2016

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