By Sandy Yang
Daily Bruin Staff
The Groundlings’ “Smackdown Sunday” has
nothing to do with wrestling.
An improv and sketch comedy troupe, The Groundlings’
performance is like “Saturday Night Live” mixed with
ABC’s improv show “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”
Such entertainment unfortunately never reaches laugh-out-loud,
hilarious heights, but does draw lots of smiles and laughter
overall.
It’s an ideal outing for a date or on a quick drive to
Melrose when one is restless for a night on the town ““
especially with an affordable $12 ticket price per person for a
live show.
Famous as a spawning ground for actors/comedians who eventually
end up on Saturday Night Live and Fox’s MAD TV, the
Groundlings humor, in many ways, mirrors such shows.
Wacky characters and stereotyped mannerisms pervade the
hour-and-a- half of quick sketches. Valley girls, nasal-sounding
elitists, nerds and Allan Greenspan provide a fertile mocking
ground for the troupe.
Each funny sketch either portrays everyday interaction between
extreme characters or people in extreme circumstances, no matter
what, though, all bring on a laugh.
For example, the show opens up with two Jewish boys who giggle
at the New Testament like it’s porn. They hide it in their
mattress, get so giddy they jump up and down and try to steal
glimpses when it’s out of their hands. Such acting is what
pushes the skits throughout the show to become more than just an
amusing idea, but a well-crafted moment of human idiosyncrasy
that’s reminiscent of “Seinfeld.”
Another, longer sketch involves a boy whose classmates tease him
until his parents get him a Spaniard to protect him. The Spaniard
wears a long ponytail, skintight spandex and a flowing blouse, and
uses his long pointy sword to kill any bully who comes their way.
Audiences seem to find such weird juxtapositions as these extremely
humorous.
Musical sketches are also part of the show, such as one
involving a singing, oversexed Allan Greenspan threatening the
Clintons with inflation if they don’t let Chelsea come to his
swinging beach party. This skit in particular feels like a Saturday
Night Live sketch, as solemn government officials become dancing
sex machines.
Overall, the sketches are funny, but most of them are much too
quick to sustain the laugh. Right when the actors get into their
characters, the skit is cut short, so it seems as if they are
little snippets of what could have been something really hilarious.
It’s like cutting the fame of the brothers of “Night at
the Roxbury” right when they start bumping a woman.
In between the sketches, there are also several improvs. The
actors, however, don’t seem as comfortable performing these
improvs as they do with the regular skits. Half of them don’t
quite find their stride in the short amount of time they have.
Unfortunately, these quick improvs often don’t materialize
and fall flat, especially if the audience has already been exposed
to the masterfully hilarious improv in “Whose Line Is It
Anyway.”
Sometimes these improvs do redeem themselves, however, as in one
sketch with a fake Tennessee Williams play called “Hot as
Ice,” a name suggested by an audience member. A clever quip
involves a pair of ice skates and a incestuous father who’s
in love with his son’s wife. Such funny skits hold up others
which do not take as much shape.
From start to finish, the show provides an enjoyable evening.
You will laugh, but you just won’t bust a gut doing so.
IMPROV: “Groundlings Smackdown Sunday” shows every
Sunday at 7:30 p.m. at the Groundling Theatre at 7307 Melrose Ave.
in West Hollywood. Tickets are $12 and are available through the
Groundling Theatre box office at (213) 934-9700.