Reviewing an improv show is a tricky beast—after all, other audiences won’t experience the same show I saw on Thursday—but the talented cast of Second City’s Reality Detox: The Improv Experience will undoubtedly deliver something special night after night.
The iconic theater’s 50th e.t.c. revue is a departure from past performances, tilting the balance towards improv over sketch, though there’s a fair amount of pre-written material included. While Max Thomas returns from last year’s The Chaos Theory of Everything, the remainder of the cast are Second City Touring Company alumni: Kennedy Baldwin, Anna Bortnick, Chas Lilly, Annie Sullivan, and Riley Woollen. Each is endearing and hilarious, though I expect audiences will find the fearless Baldwin and the lively Lilly especially entertaining.
Riley Woollen. Photo by Timothy M. Schmidt.
Directed by Second City veteran Anne Libera, Reality Detox is a show that rewards patience. The performance begins with nearly half an hour of each cast member introducing themselves and obtaining stories and suggestions from the audience. The exchange ultimately pays off over the next hour and change, but in the moment, it feels a bit stretched out. I would have welcomed a short sketch or two to break this up.
Reality Detox quickly kicks into gear after a brief warm-up of some very short improv bits, with a timeline-shifting mother-daughter scene between Bortnick and Sullivan. A full cast scene in which Woollen delivered a pep talk to some dim-witted kids was next, followed by an impressive solo improv piece in which Thomas masterfully morphed from a “big bald tanning man” to Barack Obama. The best scene of the first half was watching Lilly misinterpret clues in an escape room.
The show’s secret weapon is musical director John Love, here for his fourth e.t.c. revue. He led Lilly and Bortnick through an improvised jam that gradually incorporated a multitude of the earlier audience suggestions. The final bit of the night is where Love and Lilly especially shine, in a simple yet hilarious highlight about what men really do when their wives step out. (Shout-out to the audience members who played along when put on the spot.)
While I ultimately prefer seeing sketch comedy over improv, Reality Detox is a fitting addition to the Second City canon. If you can only see one, prioritize mainstage revue Pandemonium, Please Hold..
Second City e.t.c. performs Reality Detox: The Improv Experience at the e.t.c. Theater, 230 W. North Ave. Running time is 90 minutes. Tickets (starting at $39) and info here.
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