A man walks out in pink spandex and a pig nose, and the crowd bursts into laughter that is both stifled and uproarious. The dim, purple lights of The Rockwell cast him in both shadow and spotlight. Soon, the stage is filled with a whole cast of barn animals, a farmer’s daughter and, of course, a sexed-up song set to the tune of “Belle.” This is the grand finale – and it’s been a real good time.
Union Comedy is a Somerville-based improvisational comedy theater. Though their main focus is improv, they also dabble in sketch comedy. “Here It Comes!” is their second sketch show ever, featuring two hours of raucous, rapid-fire vignettes.
Ben Scurria is the Director of Community Relations and the Creative Development Manager for Union Comedy. He’s also one of the founders, along with his partner Pat Kearnan. “[Kearnan] and I performed together at ImprovBoston for a long time, and we were looking to open our own theater that was more focused on long form improv,” Scurria said. “And we opened Union Comedy.”
For “Here It Comes,” Union Comedy opened up sketch submissions to the community. Scurria emphasized the importance of collaboration during the show’s production process. “Part of what we’re looking for is a strong voice from people, but also the openness to play with their sketch,” he said. “Some people are like ‘no, no, I want you to read it exactly how it’s written.’ And some people are like ‘no, play with it.’”
The Union Comedy performers rehearsed for “Here It Comes!” for a little over a month. “It’s a strong script, but then it’s also what you find in the rehearsal process,” Scurria said. Rehearsal gives the group time to play around with the material and, in Scurria’s words, “get it on its feet.”
What’s so enjoyable about “Here It Comes!” — and good sketch comedy in general — is its fast-paced nature, which allows the show to take on a whole smorgasbord of cultural commentary. “One of the things that we were trying to do, I think, was keep it semi-current without hitting people over the head with it,” Scurria remarked. But he also sees sketch more as an escape from reality than a critique of it.
“When you have so many writers, you really want to get a cohesive voice of a show,” Scurria said. So what is the banner that all the sketches of Union Comedy are united under? “I’d describe it as really smart stupidity,” Scurria explained. “Telling the best dumb joke possible is, to me, the pinnacle of comedy,” he added.
The sketches in “Here It Comes!” vary greatly in style and subject matter. They poke fun at workout videos, blind dating shows, overbearing waiters, optometrists, fast food drive-thrus and Bill Cosby, among other things. There’s even a hilariously introspective sketch that sends up the act of sketch writing itself. The endings of the sketches are often twists, the punchlines are sometimes downright shocking.
The cast is fully committed to the absurd characters that they portray — for example, one actor puts on a very convincing Mickey Mouse-esque voice for a mafia boss; another adopts the slurred speech and mannerisms of a drunkard. It’s the performances that truly make the material of “Here It Comes!” come roaring to life. With very minimal props and costumes, pantomime forms a great deal of the show’s comic crux.
According to Scurria, Union Comedy was founded with the idea that the Harold — that is, a type of long form improv structure — could be a great teaching tool. He articulated improv as “living in a world that you create and then just being really dumb there.” Likewise, the world of “Here It Comes!,” though scripted, has a very spritely, spontaneous feel to it. This is choreographed chaos in the best way.
One of the standout sketches in the show takes place at a pitch meeting for a car company. The boss has just returned from a cruise in which he fifth-wheeled his two brothers and their wives. So, he pitches a design that soothes his insecurities about being single: a car with a fifth wheel in the middle. It’s a hilarious metaphor, and an even more hilarious execution. The more the boss insists that the fifth wheel is “in the mix,” the louder the crowd laughs.
The comedy of “Here It Comes!” exists in its own little absurd reality, but it is also a genuine catharsis for the performers and audience alike. “It allows people to laugh at a time when maybe the world is not the funniest right now,” Scurria said. “As bad as [the world] is, there’s still humor to be had, and there’s still community to be had … I think it’s just a light in the darkness right now.”
