Retro Comedy at The Next Act Theatre on the 21st

I’d taken to watching an obscure sitcom from the early 1980’s on the occasional late night. Tom Hanks and Peer Scolari remain remarkably witty in an ad agency thanks to some decent scriptwriting, but somehow it all looks a lot older than it did when I was five years old. Somewhere along the line the early 1980’s became retro. Weird. Comedy gets so completely recycled so often that there’s very little difference between the ssitcom of thirty years ago and the sitcom of today. They’re both recycling the same jokes that originated onstage years ago. And to a certain extent it’s the same way with stand-up. So why not try to do comedy like it’s thirty or more years ago live onstage NOW? Sounds like kind of a cool idea. And to this extent, Matt Kemple and Milwaukee Comedy are hosting Retro Comedy Night at the Next Act Theatre on 255 South Water Street.

Patrick Schmitz does retro stand-up. There’s retro improv from Meanwhile and . . . and this sounds particularly cool to me . . .”a surprise retro sitcom performed live onstage.” Hmmm. . . .could be interesting, particularly as the comedy in question is reportedly coming out of the ‘70’s and ‘80’s. It sounds cool, but only if it’s not deliberately thrown in your face . . . Make it too gimmicky and it’ll come off as trying too hard. Casually do sketch, improv and a staged sitcom set in the ‘70’s and ‘80’s and then you’re talking clever sophistication. Regardless of how they tackle it, it looks fun, though.

Retro Comedy Night  takes place January 21^st at 8pm at the Next Act theatre on 255 South Water Street.  Tickets are $12.