March 1st, 2007 at 05:09pm
Last night I checked out the HBO Comedy Arts Festival and the laughter was abundant in the tent when “Windy City Sketch” took the stage. This featured event showcases Chicago improv groups.
…we were introduced to the comic stylings of “kevINda” where the introduction was shocking, explosive and downright funny. Their genius lies in their political satire and their ability to embody characters we all know. My favorites included the “Coffee Shop” girls and the reading of “Curious George” a book that will never be read the same…
01.Mar.07 
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Time Out Chicago
Issue 104: February 22–28, 2007
Blaxploitation 2
MPAACT at Victory Gardens Greenhouse.
By Inda Craig-Galvan, Kevin Douglas, Carla Stillwell. Dir. Terry Cullers. With ensemble cast.
-4 stars-
Shepsu Aakhu’s backdrop of blackface images, recreated from turn-of-the-20th-century advertisements, sets the tone. The second round of comedy sketches from the team behind Blaxploitation: The Remix visits the expected themes, but with a heavy emphasis on internalized racism—the ways in which old-time minstrel show stereotypes have been incorporated into modern African-American culture. There are indictments of BET and reality television, and there’s plenty of material about the black community holding itself back by supporting the wrong elements. The enemy these days, the authors seem to be saying, is more often ourselves than The Man. One extended bit has spin doctors touting a politician named Doger (hint: rhymes with Stroger) insisting that he’s fit to hold office even after an accident leaves nothing of him but his big toe. Another finds a hypocritical DJ caught on tape buying crack at the Bud Billiken parade, and the caller who condemns him is vilified as a race-hating lesbian for not “supporting our folks.”
Not all of the material is so on-the-nose; some sketches are more abstract, like the woman who’s afraid her man is “on the down-low” and wishes she’d been right when he turns out instead to be a “plushophile.” The six performers are engaging and almost frighteningly committed, but when the material goes over the top, it’s unnerving. Sure, we’re wincing at Flavor Flav in his VH1 stage, but did Chuck D really just order his execution? —Kris Vire
22.Feb.07 Press Comments (0)
Against a provocative backdrop of outsize minstrel-show advertisements, this pungent new sketch revue mines modern racial issues for bitter laughs. Writers Kevin Douglas, Inda Craig-Galvan, and Carla Stillwell display sharp, uncompromising wit, slightly off-kilter sensibilities, and devilish glee in pointing out absurdities and inconsistencies. Among the subjects they address in this Ma’at Production Association of Afrikan Centered Theatre show are Michael Richards’s outburst, Hurricane Katrina (personified as an unruly brat), men living on the down low, and the embarrassing antics of latter-day minstrels such as Flavor Flav. One of the best lines is a throwaway: the title of a Tyler Perry-esque stage play is “God Sho’ Do Love Black People as Long as They Ain’t Gay.” –Zac Thompson
Through 3/18: Thu-Fri 8:30 PM, Sat 8 PM, Sun 3:30 PM, Victory Gardens Greenhouse Theater, 2257 N. Lincoln, 312-871-3000, $19.50-$22.50.
16.Feb.07 Press Comments (0)
