That sketch comedy tends to be a predominantly white art form is a bit of a “chicken and egg” situation—it took seven years before Bob Curry became the first Black cast member in a Second City Mainstage revue in 1966, and even longer to move away from a sense of tokenism destined to discourage aspiring POC writers and performers.
Fortunately, Second City has made great strides to course-correct its inclusivity in recent years, and this year’s fourth iteration of its dedicated “Black Excellence” shows is proof that sketch comedy belongs to everyone. It’s not just the all-Black cast and creative team that sets Black and Highly Flavored apart—the nearly full audience was far more diverse than the ones you’ll find at the theater’s year-round revues, raising the question of whether shows like this should be spotlighted more frequently. The revue is directed by Julia Morales.
Beyond that, though, the show is excellently written and performed, offering approximately two hours of hilarious content, including a brief improvised third act. Audiences will find a balance of timely sketches, such as a Black ICE agent (E.J. Cameron) justifying his new job to his wife; cultural humor, including a “Black Herstory” rap about Rosa Parks and Harriet Tubman; and silly slice-of-life pieces, like the pair of sketches in which the talented Lauren Walker wants a chance to redo an embarrassing social interaction and, later, finds herself on the receiving end of some insulting fortune cookies.
As in every great Second City revue, each cast member has at least one moment to showcase their aptitude for madcap merriment. My favorite sketch of the night was the largely improvised bit in which a teacher (Cameron) guides his students through a white history course by testing their knowledge of figures like Tom Hanks, Adele, and Cher. The cast was quick on its feet in offering ever-so-slightly confused “facts” about the celebrities, like how Cher is what you purchase in the stock market (if you don’t like puns, you may not enjoy this one as much as I did).
I also loved “Two Girls and a Taco Truck,” another pun-heavy sketch in which a new employee (Jillian Ebanks) aims to promote the truck to target lesbians. Ebanks also shines as an aunt sanitizing a romance novel as a bedtime story, while one second-half highlight is a sketch in which a dancer named Chariot (Kimberly Michelle Vaughn) auditions to back up Janet Jackson, despite a curiously distracting physical feature I won’t spoil.
Tyler Vanduvall is hilarious as a patient all too eager to receive a prostate exam (“Just throw on a glove and get up in here!”) and a flamboyant genie granting wishes to a short-sighted recipient (Jason Tolliver) in a sketch that includes by far the show’s greatest pun. But I promise, even pun-haters will find plenty to love about Black and Highly Flavored. It’s truly a show for everyone that will hopefully introduce Second City to a whole new audience.
Black and Highly Flavored runs Thursdays and Fridays through March 20 at Second City, 230 W. North Ave. Tickets (starting at $39) are on sale now.
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