Tickling God's Funny Bone

All around me the members of the Highland Park, Illinois, sketch comedy group "The Comic Thread" are debating aspects of God and religion. It is not the typical kind of discussion and debate you might expect, however, with this being a sketch comedy group. No, this is not a debate about the existence of God or which religion is the right one, this is a much more unique debate.

The first question is, if God did have an agent, would that agent have a lawyer? And if that agent did have a lawyer, would it be funny for that agent to receive a phone call from that lawyer at some point during the show? The second question is, does the scene where God gets a phone call from his mother work within the context of the play? It is universally agreed that the voice and characterization of the mother character is very funny, but does it actually make any sense? Would God have a mother? Would she sound like an old Jewish mother?

"The entire 'E True Hollywood Story' segment just isn't funny," says another member from over my right shoulder, throwing in a third thing to discuss and debate.

It's true, although I found myself completely unable to offer that advice when one of the founding members of the group, Nicola DeGrazia, asked me my opinions about the script once the read-through was finished. There was, crammed into a small living room, with seasoned theater people all around me and all of them eyeing me suspiciously like the interloper I was, wondering what I was doing there, and I was being asked my opinion about the script. What could I say? I felt the sweat on my hands dry up.

"I think it's very funny," I said. "I think it could be funnier than the show from last year."

This is also true. I became involved and interested in this group one year ago when I met Nic, who also runs his own business, at a meeting of local business owners at a fancy Italian restaurant in downtown Highland Park. Nic runs a business that creates videos and films for just about any purpose, both business and personal, that someone may want a video or film. It was during some of those initial meetings that he revealed to me that he also was part of this sketch comedy group.

In 2007 the group gained some notoriety in and around the Chicago area, and a LOT of notoriety in the Highland Park area when a sketch they had planned on doing during a Highland Park arts festival generated some controversy. The group, now entering its tenth year of existence, had been a staple and popular part of this arts festival from the beginning. Now, they had been banned from the even due to a sketch entitled "Great Moments in Amish Pornography."

The sketch itself was the most innocuous thing you were ever likely to see. Set to the strains of "Thus Spake Zarathustra" (more commonly known as the "Theme to 2001") two cast members, one male and one female, dressed as Amish people stare at each other. The man is dressed in suspenders and long pants, long-sleeved shirt and Amish-style hat. The woman is in a long old-fashioned dress and bonnet. As the music swells, the Amish man lowers the suspender straps from his shoulders, his pants still resolutely up and not an inch of skin showing anywhere. Then, as the music reaches its ultimate crescendo, the woman lifts her skirt enough to show her ankle. Then the lights go out and the scene is over. No actual nudity. No actual sex. It's funny, right?

Well, the Highland Park people who put together the festival, last year, were offended at the use of the word "pornography" in the very title of the skit. The Comic Thread offered an alternate title, but the festival organizers had dug in their heels. They felt that the entire skit was insensitive to "certain" members of the community. The Comic Thread was asked to withdraw from the festival. Before long there were local newspaper stories and Nic was appearing on radio station WGN talking about the banning. This lead to last years show which was entitled "Censored for your Protection."

I wrote a story about the controversy and how silly it all seemed. I mean, who would it offend? There are no Amish in Highland Park. Also, how would word of this skit reach even the closest Amish community? If so, what would they do? Would they get into their buggies and rampage through downtown Highland Park waving their pitch forks?

I was invited as a special guest to last year's show. I got there early and found out that when you know someone who runs a local theater troupe and you show up early, you could easily be conscripted into service. I was soon tearing tickets and collecting ticket stubs from those attending the show. I then sat in a specially reserved seat with my name on it and enjoyed the show immensely.

I wrote a review of the show and, I learn now, wrote the only official review of that show last year. It was very favorable. This was not because I am friends with Nic, but because I truly enjoyed the show and laughed throughout. So, this year, Nic has invited me to the final read-through of the script, with the full cast, before official rehearsals start.

When I arrived, the entire cast was not yet there. I was immediately looked at by the people there as some kind of strange alien creature. They knew immediately, the way theater people always seem to know, that I was not one of them. Nic did not explain why I was there, only gave my name, and before too long I was sitting in a comfortable chair trying not to look as uncomfortable and strange as I felt. All around me these theater people talked about auditions and head-shots and what shows they were going to be in over the summer. And there I was, this nobody writer, trying to act like I did this every night.

This being a group of actors, some of them work strange jobs with late hours. So the actual reading did not start until almost ten o'clock. This is exceptionally late for me, a guy normally in bed by 9. Still, this was too good an opportunity to pass up. As the scripts were handed out, I kept expecting mine to get yanked right out of my hands. I kept expecting to be told I was not allowed to look at the thing yet since it was still not finalized and the show was still weeks away. That didn't happen and the reading began.

This year's show is entitled "GOD? DAMMIT!" and this year they are pulling no punches. The group is tackling the most controversial subject anyone can in today's world and in honor of their tenth anniversary. They are tackling religion head-on and they pull very few punches while, at the same time, managing not to be truly offensive.

The version I witnesses involves God getting his "job" via his agent and all of the subsequent things that happen after that. The Virgin Mary is given a funny, but ultimately gentle, nudge in the ribs. Throughout the play, God comes across as a whiner and a bit of a jerk while the constantly put-down and ridiculed angel/intern Lucifer is portrayed as the nice guy. However, the constant bullying ultimately pushes him into his role as the Devil.

It's VERY funny. Except, of course, for the E! True Hollywood Story bit that comes right near the end of the show. It is obvious almost as soon as the bit starts that it isn't working the way they hoped it would. The laughs just aren't there. It's wordy. While most of those True Hollywood Stories are narrated by a deep-voiced narrator, this one is not and so the entire concept seems flawed to me. It takes the viewer right out of the play and, quite frankly, bores them.

"What did you think?" Nic asks me when it's finished.

I want to tell him the one bit didn't work, but the eyes are already looking at me and wondering, again, who the hell I am. So, I chicken out. I tell them it's funnier than last year and hope one of the regulars has the guts to mention the skit that isn't working. Thankfully, at least two of them do.

This then brings on an entire conversation that only could happen behind-the-scenes of a sketch comedy troupe. They discuss turning the entire sketch into a talk-show kind of thing like a "Ricky Lake" or "Jerry Springer" and using that to wrap up some conflicts that have yet to resolve and tie up loose ends. Everyone loves it. I even come up with a visual joke I think would be funny, but again, I am too shy to mention it.

This then leads to the debate over God's agent and that agent's lawyer. This then leads to the discussion about God's mom. The voice of God's mother is Nic, and his interpretation of it is hilarious, and I laughed throughout the skit where the character appears, but some doubt that God, after establishing in the beginning that he had no beginning, would have a mother. How could God always be, if he had a mother to give birth to him?

These are the kinds of debates you must run into when you are with a group of theater people. These are not the kinds of conversations I am used to. I watch with fascination as the hours tick by. Some things are resolved and some are still left open, but the hour is late and people have work the next day, including Nic who has a 6 a.m. video shoot. People start leaving.

The Comic Thread will be performing their latest show "GOD? DAMMIT!" at the Apple Tree Theater in Highland Park August 8 and 9, 15^th and 16^th. The show starts at 10 pm on all nights with a matinee at 4 pm added on the 16^th. The show stars Matt Birhnolz, Nicolas DeGrazia, Naomi Finkelstein, Sonia Gecker, Jake Grafstein, Brian Quijada, Zack Sorman, Ben Tatar and Amos Vanderpoel. For more information about them you can visit their website at www.bitterjester.com.

Later, as I am standing near the door thanking Nic for inviting me and telling him what a good time I had and how I intend to write an article about the show, I finally get up the nerve. I tell him what I think he should try to work into the end of the show, within the talk show sketch if possible.

"I think if you have a crowd scene at the end you should have someone hold up a sign that says John 3:16," I say. "Of course, you don't tend to see those at talk shows, mostly sporting events, but maybe you could work it in."

Nic smiles and nods. "You know, that's pretty funny. I'm going to go back and write that down."

I shake his hand and head out into the night. It is going on midnight and I have a long drive back. I look forward to seeing the completed show in August. If you happen to catch it, and during the last scenes, you see a guy holding a John 3:16 sign, that was my idea.