Putting the ‘fun’ in dysfunction

Sketch comedy group broadminded opened their run at Bay View’s Alchemist Theater Thursday night with a curious montage. Instead of starting with a joke or a spoken introduction, the four-woman troupe instead showed the audience a slideshow of pictures from their respective childhoods. The pictures, which included everything from learning to walk to Little League team photos, set the scene for the mélange of family-centered sketches that followed.

Blood is Thicker than Liquor explores just about every possible dysfunctional family relationship you could imagine. There are generational gaps, bad mothers, good mothers, expectant mothers and… well, lots of mothers. The material can be pretty grim in principle—this reviewer’s favorite sketch was of a pair of mothers at a wedding, drinks in hand, reflecting on what despicable little shits their children have turned out to be—but it’s good comedy, and the ladies of broadminded are funny enough to brighten up the otherwise dark sketches.

The acting is good, too, especially when you consider how many hats the performers wear during the course of the show (the sketches rarely re-use characters). Melissa Kingston stood out; it’s not everyone who can sell a broken-down lounge singer in one sketch and five minutes later play a fratboy-style jerk at the doctor’s office. Megan McGee also sports a killer deadpan playing an alien in the sketch, “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner?”

Most of the acts derive their humor from the situation the actors are put in. A vampire grandfather reminiscing about the old days to his bored, teenage descendants and a breathless reading of a genetics test are funny, but at times come off as slightly overplayed. Several of the early acts eschew clever dialogue for a lot of yelling back and forth—“Blood is Thicker,” for example, features three early-twenties girls freaking out at each other—which tends to take away from the comedy.

Overall, Blood is Thicker than Liquor is a solid show, with a lot of good sketch ideas backed up by a troupe of talented comedians. With twenty-one sketches covering a wide range of topics (including five hilariously played sketches involving jump ropes), there’s sure to be something for every viewer in this darkly comic medley.

broadminded presents Blood is Thicker than Liquor at the Alchemist Theater (2469 S. Kinnickinnic) at 8 p.m. June 23-25, and 4 p.m. June 26. Tickets are $10. For tickets and more information, click here.