Barack Stars by The Second City
When: now through Aug. 2
Where Woolly Mammoth Theatre, 641 D. St., NW, Washington
Details: $40; http://www.woollymammoth.net; 202-393-3939
It really is OK to criticize Barack Obama — just don’t expect the Second City comedy troupe to do so.
The Chicago-based comedy troupe and its training center — which has launched the careers of such notable comedic notables as Tina Fey, Steve Carell, Amy Poehler, John Candy and dozens of others — is currently performing in “Barack Stars” at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Co.
As you’d expect just from the name of the show, it’s unabashedly pro-Obama. But for those of us who’ve spent years watching Second City perform the topical revues that have made the troupe legendary, we expect a fair degree of sophisticated balance.
The show doesn’t disappoint in the first act. In fact, the troupe almost overcompensates, bringing to mind a teacher who practices a form of “tough love” to prove the teacher’s pet label foisted upon on a certain pupil is unfounded.
Nope, the 57 states to which Obama referred during the campaign or even his ardent use of a Teleprompter — which has even prompted Vice President Joe Biden to joke about Obama — aren’t mentioned at all during the almost two-hour show.
Instead, Obama’s foibles are gently prodded by way of those around him. In fairness, that type of revue is a standard Second City device and many of them are hilarious. Consider a joyous song-and-dance number that includes Obama acting out a classic scene from the movie “Titanic.” There are also some hilarious scenes in which Obama is put into historic settings — crossing the Delaware, conversing with President Abraham Lincoln and at the flag raising at Iwo Jima.
As you’d also expect, the cast of players are first rate. That’s especially true of Sam Richardson, the lone black cast member, who takes on numerous roles from Obama to the lone minority in classroom. He immediately and easily switches his personas, never losing the on-point comedic timing for which the troupe is famous.
White House Chief of Staff Raul Emmanuel, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Biden all are fodder for the gentle ribbing.
But the second act is where things get a bit — let’s just say — ugly, when the troupe takes on ardent Republicans, including radio personality Rush Limbaugh and political commentator Ann Coulter. What makes the sketches troubling is while the other targets were part of good-hearted even if raucous ribbing, Limbaugh, Coulter and former President George W. Bush were portrayed as lone wolf buffoons who want to sabotage the U.S. economy and social policies for their own personal glories.
Whatever your party affiliation, it’s tough to swallow some of those arguments. Calling Limbaugh a lone wolf is especially ludicrous when you consider Arbitron notes he has 13.5 million listeners.
Obviously much of comedy is based on hyperbole and exaggeration. The sophisticated turn that Second City famously gives its revues is what makes it great.
Surely, many will say that this criticism is based on my own political beliefs. That’s fine to believe and may well be partially true. What is wholly true, though, is I see mean-spirited views couched as comedy, and I find them painful.
What a shame that the troupe decided to abandon what they do so well for their own partisan foray into mean-spirited politics.
