Closed due to pandemic.
Throwback Time to the Days of Sketch Comedy
If I Could #Throwback Time, which opened recently at Toronto’s Second City, starts with a plane ride taking the audience (and cast members) back in time, thanks to an attentive flight attendant. The plane lands in a resort, where a man on vacation is sexually harassing a female server. A couple nearby overhears the rude man and decides to step in. Only they just can’t come up with the right things to say. So time keeps rewinding, giving them a new opportunity to say and do the right thing. It sure takes a lot of rewinding!
The funny foot-in-mouth attempts at rescuing the damsel in distress sets
the tone for a hilarious evening of sketch comedy.
My personal favourite, Chris Wilson, is back along with cast mates Sharjil Rasool and Natalie Metcalfe. The three were brilliant in their last show Walking on Bombshells. They are joined for this round by the equally funny Tricia Black, Alan Shane Lewis and Clare McConnell.
As usual, the new show follows the tried and true Second City format. Sketches are presented and evolve based on the laughter generated.
In one scene, Wilson and Rasool are public speakers, trying to make their important points using large balloons, and repeatedly asking the audience, “Do you see?” While their point isn’t always clear, the intensity with which they present it is hilarious. And yes, Dollarama balloons do blow up!
In another sketch, Wilson is the world’s greatest pick-pocket, stealing items bit by bit from Rasool while he is busy texting. Finally after taking all Rasool’s clothes, Wilson steals the phone too. But Rasool has the last laugh, stealing Wilson’s watch. Rasool is left standing on the stage in his underwear, triumphantly holding the watch. The comedy is created in the various contortions that the two go through while not noticing what the other is doing.
There is also a hilarious sketch where Tricia Black is a teenage girl coming home from conversion therapy camp, proudly telling her mother Clare McConnell she is now straight. I can’t reveal any more about it without spoiling it.
It’s a fun night out with lots of laughs. And even though it’s labelled a throwback show, the satire is current, and the jokes take shots at today’s news.
If I Could #Throwback Time continues at The Second City, Toronto. Tickets are available at https://www.secondcity.com
Photo: Chris Wilson and Sharjil Rasool in Do You See? Photo by Paul Aihoshi.
If I Could #Throwback Time
Created and Performed by Tricia Black, Alan Shane Lewis, Clare McConnell, Natalie Metcalfe, Sharjil Rasool, Chris Wilson
Directed by Rob Baker
Assistant Director Kirsten Rasmussen
Musical Director Jordan Armstrong
The Second City, Toronto
Opened October 10, 2019, indefinite run.
Reviewed by Mary Alderson