SHOW REVIEW: The Second City

It seems the male half of a Vegas vacationing couple (Ryan Archibald) has popped a Viagra without giving his spouse (Shelly Gossman) advance notice of his plans.

The Second City comedy troupe doesn't usually take a prop-laden approach to comedy, but in this case, they make an exception. The unmistakable, um, strain on the character's trousers is as cheap and easy a laugh as you can find on the Strip. Carrot Top, you have been checkmated.

But the conversation that accompanies this sight gag is, well, disarmingly authentic.

"Maybe if you hadn't made me walk all the way from Mandalay Bay to Paris," the wife says, patiently trying to tell him that women don't have a little pill to instantly flip the switch on a mood. By the time she's explained the right way for him to get what he wants, he has fallen asleep.

One sketch does not a whole show make, but that one sets the benchmark for what Second City delivers when it's firing on all cylinders: a perfect balance of laughs that simultaneously go for the gut and the head. When it hits, it's a singular form of theatrical comedy that's made the troupe a Chicago fixture since 1959 and offered a distinct alternative on the Strip since 2001.

The five performers write their own material, and the new edition at the Flamingo Las Vegas retains three cast members -- Katie Neff, Paul Mattingly and Craig Uhlir -- and director Jim Carlson, who is charged with shaping their ideas into a cohesive whole.

The troupe returns to the raunchy treatment of grown-up themes from last year, spending a lot of time on the sexual politics that drive modern society at home and the office.

Locals or loyal fans who saw the last edition may be less impressed by a repeat attempt to tie it all up with the same hat trick of revisiting earlier sketches; this time it's less deft and suffers in comparison.

But it is hard to combine a series of sprints into a marathon, and a challenge to pace 75 minutes of sketches without any down time. Audience members tend to create their own rest breaks, perhaps explaining why this edition seems a bit front-loaded and peaks too soon.

But even the weaker sketches -- didn't a different cast do the same grown man-as-baby thing a few years ago? -- are better than most "Saturday Night Live" skits these days.

There's the 17-year-old (Archibald) who is a bit surprised that his divorced dad (Uhlir) isn't upset because he stumbled in at 6 a.m. "You're not gonna change the world, boy," Dad tells him before the two bond over the joys of hanging out at Wal-Mart.

There's Neff as a pregnant Army Reservist trying to escape the affections of fellow shopper Gossman, who just can't find enough ways to thank her for service to her country: "Can I buy your paper towels for you?"

Quoting the jokes here doesn't do justice to the quality of acting. The full cast shows its intricate timing on a bring-the-boyfriend (Mattingly)-home sketch, and so does a human resources "video" on political correctness in which the three guys break into a rap number: "Nappy 'ho! No way! Don't say!"

That one is immediately followed by Gossman's solo monologue as a proud hooker offering a self-help pep talk: "It is not too late to pursue your dream. I am living proof of that."

Second City never seems to do turnaway business on the Strip, but manages to stay solvent without prostituting itself to a lower standard of comedy.