Nina Metz

There is a certain on-stage decorum at Second City that tends to buff down the rough edges of comedy. Maybe that is what prime-time crowds expect. Things are looser and not so aggressively clever a few miles north at i.O. Theater, where many Second City performers got their start, and frequently return. The shows at i.O. can be all over the board, quality-wise—sometimes you just have to grind it out with less experienced performers—but late-night Thursdays are all about the veterans, and there is some exceptionally good improv to be seen from this lineup.

The strongest group by far is Stubs, a duo consisting of Brad Morris (currently on Second City’s mainstage in "Between Barack and a Hard Place") and Dina Facklis (who has a one-woman show at the Annoyance in June). Morris did not make a big impression when I saw him at Second City, but his performance at i.O. was a revelation. He does especially well with deadpan characters who don’t shit a give about shit, and I would say he is maybe the strongest actor I saw all night, with the exception of Facklis. She stands two or three inches taller than Morris, upending the typical big male, small female archetypes. They have great timing—wraping each scene at just the right moment—and embrace the weird misunderstandings that occur when riffing off the top of your head. Facklis is incredibly alert to what is being said, and there is real honesty to her characters—a rarity in improv.

A foursome called Shotgun! takes the basic premise of road trip improv——conversations of the car-bound——and turns it into a rambling sort of genius. The standouts are Holly Laurent and Beau Golwitzer, who patiently layer their characters with weird bits of eccentricities. (Golwitzer gets a lot of comedic mileage from his vaguely psychotic-looking appearance.)

Also on the bill: Nogoodnicks, doing a series of short interlocking scenes that failed to gain traction or inspire much laughter, and 3033, which includes Second City e.t.c. cast members Andy St. Clair and Alex Fendrich, (currently appearing in "Disposable Nation"). Their improv direction of choice was of the beating-a-dead-horse variety. There is nothing wrong with repetition, per se, but once the central joke was established, the group had trouble pushing it beyond the obvious. I would give these performers the benefit of the doubt, though, and see them again. Both e.t.c. guys are stellar comedians. (The show moves to Sundays starting June 10.)

i.O., 3541 North Clark, (773)880-0199. "Stubs" and "3033" runs Thursdays at 11pm. "Shotgun!" and "Nogoodnicks" runs Thursdays at 10pm.

(2007-05-29)

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