Recap: Sketch Comedy Festival 2010

OSU troupe wins top prize at Shadowbox's second annual festival

By Dwayne Steward

Metromix

5.0

2082353
Sketch by Number

Shadowbox Cabaret churned out its Second Annual Sketch Comedy Festival this week, and if this year's audience was any indication, the event is sure to be around for many years to come.

A horny Dr. Seuss, speed-dating from hell, a high-school reunion gone terribly awry and an infomercial for cocaine were just a few of the hilarious moments featured by the seven sketch comedy troupes that took the stage July 20-21.

Night one was set up much like "American Idol," with each group receiving feedback from a panel of judges (including SNL alum Garrett Morris). This year the audience was able to get in on the judging fun. Each night patrons filled out ballots and selected their favorite sketches from the night.

Night two featured a "Best of" evening with each group performing the highest-voted sketches from the night before, after which the audience voted on their favorite troupe. Morris also joined Shadowbox onstage in a few gems from their own "Best of Shadowbox" show (currently running through Aug. 28). Morris also ended the show with Shadowbox house band BillWho? performing the Muddy Waters classic "Hoochie Coochie Man."

And the winner was .... (drum roll, please) ... Sketch by Number, a troupe from The Ohio State University that beat out the competition with its aging parody titled the "Back in my Day Olympics." Three of the group's members who dressed as old and grumpy contestants stole the night by complaining about the failures of health care, new-fangled phones and the devastation that is Bingo night.

We know the votes are already in, but we thought we'd give you our top five moments from the packed two-night festival:

  • The Laughter League was robbed! (We're just kidding, we loved Sketch by Number, too. Go Buckeyes!) This Cleveland troupe ended up taking second place to Number, but we thought they had the best-written sketch of the festival. Turning Waldo—the lovable children's book character from "Where's Waldo"—into a serial rapist was comedy gold.
  • Brooklyn-based troupe The Indicators' "Cocaine Infomercial" was also a crowd-pleaser. The "dietary supplement" capable of fulfilling all your weight-loss dreams drew huge laughs from the audience ... and us.
  • Oh, The Feral Chihuahuas, how we love thee. Imagine Dr. Seuss as a perverted Peeping Tom and you've got the subject for the Asheville, N.C., troupe's third installment of "People You Should Never Date." The sketch featured a number of Dr. Seuss-like rhymes that were just as hilarious as they are unprintable.
  • Married couple Amy Daulton and Alex Decaneas made up the hilarious two-person team known as Fantastic Genius from Jersey City, N.J. Operating like a well-oiled machine, the two perfectly bounced off each other (sometimes literally). Their mostly absurdist comedy featured a crazed, barely dressed (and dancing) high school reunion guest; a Yeti; and the "Illusionary Twins," who cleverly practiced magic void of any illusion.
  • Shadowbox's lead singers were also in rare form. Jennifer Hahn rocked on a Fallout Boy cover, JT Walker III spiced up Moxy Fruvous and Klein stole the show with Robert Cray.

Check out the Shadowbox Cabaret Web site for more information.