If it’s been a bit since you’ve checked out a Second City show in Chicago’s famed Piper’s Alley, a) you probably haven’t had any palatable (read: comfortingly zany) news lately, and b) the UP Comedy Club’s new revue She The People: The Girlfriend’s Guide to Sisters Doing It For Themselves is the female empowerment piece that Judy Blume couldn’t possibly have prepared us for.
4 Reasons to see Second City’s stellar ‘She the People:’
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Even though the UP Comedy Club has a great drink menu, you’ll need to choose carefully- and be very careful about the timing of your sips. The first time you snort- actually snort- with laughter will surprise you. The fiftieth will not. Same with the first time you laugh a shocked “Did they really just say that” laugh, when you sob a “why is this our reality” sob, and when you punch a fist to the air in utter solidarity for the last ten great things uttered in the last two minutes.
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This cast is incredibly solid and plays ridiculously well off of each other. (Indicating that…women are really good at working as a team? I dunno, just spitballing here.) The improvisers- Alex Bellisle, Carisa Barreca, Katie Caussin, Maria Randazzo, Alexis J. Roston, and Kimberly Michelle Vaughn- make up the Second City’s very first all-female cast. And as for the creative team and crew? They’re comprised of Carly Heffernan (Director), Mary Mahoney (Music Director), and Jaci Entwisle (Stage Manager)- yep, all gals, too.
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So is it all about smashing the patriarchy? Absolutely, but also about how we become our mothers, the funniest series of “ads for women” you’ll ever see, mommy/giving birth in the woods judgement, how to really grab their attention at a board meeting, and at least one rap about a woman’s sexiest body part. (No, it’s not that. It’s not that one, either.) And as for the latter, it’s so good that you’ll wish you could download it as a ringtone and/or make it required listening for everyone who has gone- or will go- through puberty.
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The two-act show is comprised of sketches so whip smart- and whiplash-fast- that’ll you be inspired to write, march, vote, raise daughters, (raise sons), thank your mother, take your gal pals, take the menfolk who love your gal pals…
…And feel really good about who we are, we’re we’re going, and how loudly we’re gonna say it.
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If you go:
She The People: The Girlfriend’s Guide to Sisters Doing It Themselves
at The UP Comedy Club, 230 W. North Ave., Chicago
www.secondcity.com
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