A Comedy of Errors

We at Chicagoist are huge comedy fans. Nothing makes us happier than a cheap chuckle, and we have the utmost respect for anyone who takes the stage unarmed with the sole intent of making us laugh.

That said, comedy should be funny. (Shocker.) And sometimes even the best attempts are a bit of a strain. Such was the case with sketch comedy troupe The Essentials’ latest show, “A Challenge for the Actor.”

In their own words, the Essentials “write shows with substance and sincere humor.” They blend sketch comedy with elements of theater in an apparent attempt to make their performances not just funny, but thought-provoking and poignant.

Instead what resulted was a parade of good intentions that frequently turned awkward. Many of the sketches center around taboo subjects that people have issues with laughing at. Prime example: one of the early scenes starts out well, poking fun at nurses who had overdosed on coffee. The audience was into it, but soon one of the nurses goes off to tuck in dying children who are discussing whether they believe God exists, and for that matter, their own fathers. Is this funny?

And this was far from the only religious reference. Later a player digresses into a musical rant in which he questions God on his purpose in life, and in the end decides to “swallow a bullet.” There’s a long uncomfortable silence, and no joke, that’s the end of the scene. Ha ha? And in case the audience hadn’t had enough suicide humor, a later sketch is all about a shopper’s struggle to buy a belt with which to hang himself. The show hits an ultimate cringe-worthy low when an upstanding citizen berates a homeless person for his negative environmental impact, at one point physically attacking him, forcing his head to the ground to kiss the earth. Making the homeless feel bad about themselves - kind of dismal. It’s hard to even bring up the sketch in which the punchline is the always dicey N-word. It just wasn’t feel-good comedy, to say the least.

We appreciate The Essentials’ attempt to bring something different to the comedy stage. Still, illicit subjects make people clam up, not laugh out loud. We just think they should lay off all the morbid downers and stick to the funny stuff. Maybe we’re just old-school.

“A Challenge for the Actor” plays Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. until March 26th at the Gorilla Tango Theatre, 1919 N. Milwaukee.