Giving in to Chicago: Shows shows shows

In the two weeks I've been here, last night was the second night I didn't go to any shows. After a 5+ hour workshop with Piero Procaccini (my Chicago mentor who runs workshops for us at home) followed by a dinner with the crew, I took the night off to connect virtually with my husband, with whom I've barely been able to talk to all week. Perhaps that sacrifice makes me the Wife of the Year. Or at least the Wife of the Hour. Or maybe just begins to make up for leaving him in the lurch with a barking puppy at 3am last Thursday.

I've seen some great shows, some good shows, and some so-so shows since I've been here. At iO, where we get into most shows for free, there is a Harold show every night of the week, so I tried to check out as many teams as possible in order to better understand the structure that is the pride of iO and will be our focus for the remaining weeks. Typically, a Harold show involves two or three sets by a rotation of teams. Often a visiting team will open for a more established house team, like the longtime team Carl and the Passions. Then there are the highlight shows - like the ever-popular Improvised Shakespeare, The Armando Diaz Experience and Hootenanny, TJ & Dave, and the musical show featuring The Deltones which I still haven't been able to get into so I'll soon break down and shell out the cash for a ticket. Other must-see shows I've caught include 3033 and the quick-witted BFF boys team Cook County Social Club. And those are just the iO shows. They are all a blur, but I'm sure I can come up with some stand outs. Let's see...

Jet and Susan in their show
"Fart on a Stick: Ethereal Improv"

"Waterbed"
with Dina Facklis and Tim Robison

Ok, for sure the most joyous night of shows was last Tuesday when I saw a rare triple team line up featuring the Harold team Berserker, Jet & Susan (that's Eveleth and Messing, people!) and Waterbed with the sure-to-be-famous Tim Robinson and my new improv crush Dina Facklis. I definitely laughed the most at those shows. Jet was being her wonderful kooky self while Susan held down the straight man position with her usual aplomb. And then there was Waterbed....so. fucking. hilarious. I am somewhat crushed that this show was their last while I'm here because it would be a show I would see as every possible occasion. Tim Robison is the kind of comedian where you just wind him up and stand out of the way. This show was his third of the night - I had seen him in The Cook County Social Club earlier in the evening, and then he performed with TIM (all guys named Tim) - but he was still rarin' to go when he took the stage with Facklis. Though he's the ultimate teammate, he's also the kind of player who could dominate the stage just with his larger-than-life personality and Tigger-like energy, but Facklis was his perfect other anchor. The first time I saw her, in an Armando show, as soon as she initiated a scene with "Class, class. Everyone come out here," I knew those type of mother hen group scenes were her specialty. Dina seems to bring people together. She is an absolute pro with controlled confidence who willingly shares the stage, playing her lovely supportive note, but then at just the right moments adds in these fantastic, discordant zingers that let you peek into the crazy weird shit that goes on in her brain. I'd happily watch Dina Facklis fold clothes.

Not a one of you will be surprised that my Deepest Laugh Award goes TJ & Dave in the first week I got here. They performed their typical seductively slow improvised dance that built upon itself so artfully that I didn't fully appreciate it until it was over. The climax of the show, for me, was this quick retort by Dave (who was playing a gentle, giant high school student responding to TJ's verbally abusive father) that was so perfect, so smart and so dead-on that it hit the audience like a palpable wave. At first there were a few smattering of laughs, but then I could clearly hear as the depth of the retort sunk in and the audience response gained strength, crested and crashed over the room. Total improvgasmic moment. And, yes, I'm using these sensual terms consciously because, as it is well joked about in my team, I "have a boner" for TJ and Dave. Especially TJ, who steals my improv heart more and more in every show I see him.

I was the teensiest bit disappointed the past Wednesday night when Dave was out of town and TJ played with someone else. Without a doubt the show lacked the depth and gravitas without Dave's classical presence. But of course it was still a terrific show, most notably because TJ was freed up to play silly sexual hijinx with his partner. I did take special delight in watching him improvise the various ways he would titillate a vagina.

And I think I'll leave you with that.

Though for those of you who now need some visual imagery to ease any vajayjay discomfort you may be having, here are some photos I took of other shows: