The current presidential election, and Americans' determined dodging of the racial and cultural issues that it has unearthed, provides unending amounts of comic material. MPAACT's "No Experience Necessary" mines some of the cultural nonsense for a rollicking 90 minutes of sketch comedy that targets political bias as well as plain silliness. As in most free-wheeling sketches, not all of the gags work but when they do, the cultural observations join with sharp humor for the funniest routines this side of Jon Stewart.
Like most MPAACT productions, "No Experience Necessary" is multi-dimensional, using acting, singing, dancing and several video presentations to tell a story of political diversions and cultural denial. An opener, featuring a well-crafted video montage of political commentary that hones in on "Obama masquerading as a rock star politician," sets the tone for the rest of the play. Serving up about nine or 10 sketches that delve into media images, hip-hop, black theater, Don Cheadle and uh, squirrels, "No Experience Necessary" offers cultural insight as well as comedy for its own sake.
A vignette about a gang of friends playing a drinking game where they only drink when they see a person of color ends with them falling asleep thirsty as they realize they're watching CBS. Another follows two "negro-tailed" squirrels who move from the north to the south side and become more aggressive about their nuts. The "gospel/musical/stage play" grabs most of the spotlight with hilarious one-liners and innuendo about Obama and a potentially libelous but equally hilarious title song. The show-stoppers, however, are the hip-hop videos shot in front of a viaduct and featuring MCs Gibberish and Frivolous, lots of booty close-ups and these lyrics: "It don't matter what I say/ you gonna buy the record anyway."
Written by Second City and Improv Olympic veteran Kevin Douglas and directed by Carla Stillwell, "No Experience Necessary" touches on issues rarely addressed or even acknowledged, ensuring some discomfort is mixed with the laughter. While not as exceedingly funny as "Blaxploitation," the award-winning comedy written by Douglas, Stillwell and Inda Craig-Galvan, this production proves that political and cultural observations still make fine fodder for sucessful comedy.
Reviewed by Centerstage!
