With perfectly awful timing, that famous band on the Titanic gets offered a record deal. The defendant in a murder trial can’t stop using air-quotes. And some two millennia ago, in the little town of Bethlehem, a man and his pregnant wife argue over which local motel to book.
Those are just a few of the wacky premises explored in this year’s Sketchville, the long-running sketch-comedy showcase that returns to Arcade Comedy Theater Dec. 1-10 after a pandemic hiatus.
The program features 12 short scripted pieces, all by local writers who responded to Arcade’s open call for submissions. Over the course of the evening, the cast of eight take on 50 separate roles – just one antic way Sketchville differs from a more conventional evening of theater, said the show’s director, Parag S. Gohel.
“The script is there but there’s also an aspect of improvisation and those Arcade Comedy skills really come into play,” he said.
Indeed, Arcade is known more for its classes and performances in improv, and even standup, than for sketch comedy. But Sketchville lets comedy writers stretch out in unique ways.
In Brian Schimmel’s “Uber Eats,” two video-game-playing bros watch their food order go disastrously awry. Kevin O’Brien’s “Kazoo Police” depicts cops who communicate exclusively by vocalizing through the world’s cheapest musical instrument. And in “Gay Jeopardy,” Ryan Nuzzo depicts contestants facing off in categories including “Iced Coffee,” “Straight People,” and “Yass.”
Along with O’Brien himself, the cast includes Stacey Babyak, Fred Betzner, Maame Danso, Beth Geatches, Haley Holmes, Montaja Simmons, and Matt Solter.
The show receives six performances over two weekends starting Thu., Dec. 1.
Closing weekend coincides with two workshops and a Dec. 11 performance by special guest Kevin McDonald, a founding member of the legendary sketch troupe The Kids in the Hall.
