Ever feel like Chicago traffic is out to drive you completely crazy? It can feel as though, no matter how you get around, even the most zen of travelers will be tested on our streets and sidewalks. You may wonder how it got this bad, and is anyone even trying to make anything better? Sometimes, you just have to laugh about it.
"Safe Streets: The Comedy Show. Why It Sucks to Walk or Drive in Chicago, and How We Can Fix It," is now playing on select Sunday evenings though March 15 at Second City. Billed as an "edu-comedy revue," the show blends sketch, improv, and satire "to explore why getting around Chicago feels so bad — and why it doesn’t have to."
Ellen Steinke, the show’s creator (and a Streetsblog contributor), is a recent graduate of Second City’s renowned comedy Conservatory training school. Five other cast members are also from the Conservatory, and one from IO (Improv Olympic).
The first half of the show is essay-style sketches, or what Steinke calls "sketchays." Then the cast engages a panel of rotating special guests and the audience in some improv games, which are the bread and butter of many Second City shows.
The show’s opening night on February 1 went well. Guest experts were Amy Rynell, executive director of the Active Transportation Alliance, and Kyle Lucas executive director of Better Streets Chicago, and a friend of Steinke’s.
Asked what she and the cast hope the series and the new show will achieve, Steinke explained, "It’s for people who know they want change, but maybe don’t have the language for it or know how to go about it."
"Safe Streets" is the third installment of an ongoing series called Funny You Should Care. Steinke says she created the series because she was looking to get more people interested in democracy and to take local action, and to make it funny. The cast is inspired by national shows like Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, and Drunk History, which can address more dry, boring, "maybe downer topics in a more fun engaging way" Steinke said.
The first show in the series covered four different topics, including healthcare and unions.
Last fall’s show "Save Chicago Transit: The Comedy Show," which Streetsblog also covered, took on the transit "fiscal cliff." This new show is "more broadly about safe streets, but focused on redesigning dangerous streets from a multi-modal accessibility perspective." Steinke explains. "It’s building public support for infrastructure, like bike and bus lanes, which tend to get pushback. It’s a way to help educate the public why they’re important."
Streetsblog also spoke with the show’s director, Jessico Mitolo, who met Steinke at a Second City intensive. "Ellen and I are both curious about and committed to using comedy to spark social change, and this show is a great example of how that can be done," she said.
Mitolo added that making comedy is always a challenge. "But adding the idea of using comedy to explore an idea that is really important to how Chicagoans live, and has a ton of history and baggage to unpack, led to a lot of cast conversations. I learned a lot about local activism every time we met. It has been inspiring," said Mitolo.
The show this Sunday, February 15, 6 p.m. show will feature CTA Acting President Nora Leehrsen, and State Senator Mike Simmons. Simmons is running for U.S. Congress representing Illinois' 9th District, which includes parts of the North Side and northern suburbs. According to his campaign site Simmons’ platform includes defending access to public transportation for his constituents.
Learn more about "Safe Streets: The Comedy Show" and buy tickets here.
Watch footage of "Save Chicago Transit: The Comedy Show" here.
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