A Day in the Laugh
ComedySportz
Through Sept. 15

The Friday late show is when the folks at ComedySportz take off the filters and let the skeletons come out of the closet to dance. Things get blue, F-bombs fly and taboos preen in the glow of public examination. The current Friday late show, A Day in the Laugh, is no exception.

The ComedySportz players solicit info on an “interesting day” from the audience, poll for the most interesting and then re-enact that day, in elaborately twisted detail, as a two-act improvisational musical, accompanied on the keys by local composer Steven Foster.

On this night, a behind-the-scenes tour of the Biltmore Estate ending in a karate fight and a horseback riding tour that morphs into Mr. Toad’s wild ride are swept aside in favor of a high school production of Grease that goes painfully awry.

Aili McGill played Natalie, our heroine, a geeky sophomore who longs for braces, love and leading roles. Claire Wilcher had the amps turned up to 11 as Natalie’s gal pal Jessica. Wilcher’s energy carried the day, and her abrupt shifts between the insecurity and boastfulness of high school were hilarious. Rounding out the cast were Ed Trout, as a demandingly effeminate director with possibly inappropriate longings for the leading man; Michael Davis, as said leading man; Tim Harrison as a leather-clad Quaker gang member; and Lynn Burger as a precocious and pretentious teen queen.

Tons of fun. See it next week when it will be entirely different and none of this will make sense.

Also, after a too-long wait, the new, long-form improvisation soap opera from Circle City Secrets, Desperate Carmel Housewives, is coming, although dates have yet to be announced.

A Day in the Laugh will be playing at ComedySportz (721 Massachusetts Ave.) Fridays at 10 p.m. through Sept. 15. The show can get blue, so no one under 17 will be admitted. Tickets are $10. Call 317-951-8499 for reservations.