They didn’t just kill, they massacred. It’s hard to say if the audience at the Playground Theater in Lakeview had an inkling of what was in store when they agreed to witness a performance by Cook County Social Club on the last night of TBS-sponsored Just for Laughs festival, but they were rewarded with some slashing, mercurial, no-holds-barred improv.
The evening began on an absurd musical note when guitarist Boaz Reisman took the stage and sang emphatically about the high school lumberjacking competition in Canada–a subject that is woefully neglected in today’s musical canon. Having never heard the song before, the Social Club used this ditty as a jumping off point for their improv antics. Starting with an investigation into municipal devastation, repopulation, group sex, and Abe Lincoln, they kept on rolling and never looked back. Who knew that Hitler was fond of Riesling?
The five goofballs who call themselves the Cook County Social Club are about as tight as any improv I’ve seen–they seem to be working with one mind, anticipating each other’s move, picking up cues instantly and running with them no matter where they lead. And they are fearless; nothing scares them off, not even their own disgusting, perverted, inane, and criminal proclivities. Squishing babies, gang raping, female body investigating, genital groping, or male-to-male lip locking–they do it all. After their wickedly ingenious riff on Johnny Bench’s restaurant (Benchie‘s), I will never be able to think of that Hall of Fame catcher the same again.
Boaz Reisman is one half of the Alt-Folk-Rock-Comedy Duo Margolis & Reisman, and toured with Second City as musical director. This show was Reisman’s first pairing with the Social Club, but his off-kilter comic attitude was a good match.
The Cook County Social Club has a regular Tuesday night gig at iO. The five members are Bill Cochran, Greg Hess, Brendan Jennings, Mark Raterman, and Tim Robinson and their collective pedigree goes long and deep. In addition to local performances of CCSC, you can see Hess perform with Baby Wants Candy and Improvised Shakespeare Company; Jennings is in the cast of SC’s The Absolute Best Friggin Time of Your Life; Raterman has performed with the SC Touring Company and can been seen in Challenger.
Troupe: Cook County Social Club
Performers: Bill Cochran, Boaz Reisman, Brendan Jennings, Greg Hess, Mark Raterman, Tim Robinson
Venue: Playground Theater
Neighborhood: Lakeview
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