SECOND CITY UNHINGED, Second City E.T.C. The Tuesday-night lineup of “Second City Unhinged” features improv combos whose players abandon too much to the anarchy of improvisation. A surefire test of a troupe is how well the performers adhere to the all-important audience suggestion. As directed by Peter Gwinn, P.O.V. is a problematic long-form improvisation despite the skills of its six players. The suggestion was “slow driving,” a potentially fertile premise–highway hazards might have been compared to psychological problems. Instead the ensemble created cleverly contrasted characters–a family driving back from a bat mitzvah, a drug dealer and a demented girl, competitive Jesus freaks–whose stories refused to dovetail into any resolution.
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Equally on target is The Winston Revue, featuring two sublimely paired playmates: Rich Prouty (all but coiffed to death) and an acutely cheerful Molly Erdman, wearing a blond wig so perky not even a flamethrower could disturb it. Playing smarmy pseudocelebrities in a Vegas-style variety show, they drop names and indulge in vacuous topical banter, perfectly delivering white-bread rap songs and brittle interactions with the audience.
