Sketch comedy has been Brave New Workshop’s modus operandi ever since it launched its first revue in a little Northeast Minneapolis coffeehouse in 1961. So its presidential election show was a quadrennial tradition from 1964 to 2016, before COVID scuttled it in 2020.
But Brave New Workshop is tapping into the current electoral zeitgeist again with “No Country for Two Old Men.” And, seeing as thinking on your feet is an essential part of the troupe’s improvisational training, it’s appropriate that the past month’s events have forced the team of writer/performers to revise and revise again.
For example, that title may have seemed obsolete when President Joe Biden dropped his re-election bid. But it works in the context of the opening song, a recap of the campaign thus far that allows audiences to laugh at events that may have seemed too worrisome at the time.
The show is a landslide winner in the political comedy category. “No Country for Two Old Men” is the funniest thing the company’s concocted since before the pandemic, a high-energy collection of skits and songs that tosses caution overboard and could be the ideal antidote for news-infected gloominess.
While TV viewers speculate about who’s going to play Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on “Saturday Night Live,” it bears remembering that that show was made possible by pioneers like Brave New Workshop and such kindred contemporaries as Chicago’s Second City and Los Angeles’ Groundlings.
And please note that it’s far more thrilling to experience this kind of comedy up close in an intimate space like the theater that now bears the name of company founder Dudley Riggs. Not only that, but the writing’s often much better and more slickly delivered than on “SNL.”
Even if you think that you’d rather escape political discussions altogether, perhaps what you need is an opportunity to laugh about all that’s happened in recent months. If you witnessed Biden’s decline with heart-sinking sadness, check out the hilarious version of him offered by new addition Jeffrey Nolan, who brings smiles as he mumbles raspily about “histrionic achievements” and “exploding health care.”
Or enjoy the campaign advice offered by Doug Neithercott’s “Pander Bear,” who oversees the dumbing down of candidate Lauren Anderson’s stump speech. And witness divisiveness in action in a game of “Black or Woman” or its dance-pop antidote, Isabella Dunsieth’s Madonna-esque “Ethnically Ambiguous.”
Granted, the material isn’t consistently strong. Denzel Belin’s burlesque-style profession of lust for old white male politicians and a brief tutorial on “Project 2025” lack the cleverness or bite of the bits around them. But bite is preponderant in most of this revue, and what a welcome return that is after a few years of post-pandemic carefulness.
Directed with briskness and punch by Brave New Workshop’s artistic director, Caleb McEwen, it bears echoes of the delightfully snarling shows he created early this century in tandem with wife Katy McEwen. While some may complain that “No Country for Two Old Men” isn’t an equal-opportunity offender, it will likely evolve to include more campaigning critiques for Kamala Harris and Walz.
And our governor does make a cameo courtesy of Neithercott. Given a little more time, his imitation might rival his spot-on Donald Trump.
Brave New Workshop’s ‘No Country for Two Old Men’
When: Through Nov. 2
Where: Dudley Riggs Theatre, 824 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis
Tickets: $40-$32, available at bravenewworkshop.org
Capsule: The bite is back at Brave New Workshop.
