The Second City visits Cream City for the holidays

Losing your patience with the bombardment of holiday music and barbaric shopping lines? Take a break from the holiday hassle and enjoy some comedic relief this week at The Second City’s Dysfunctional Holiday Revue. Like the name implies, the cast will derive inspiration from classic holiday events and mishaps that are inevitably known to us all this time of year.

“The show that we’re doing is a mix of a couple of different things and there are some classic Second City scenes,” said Eddie Mujica, one of the cast’s five members. “There will be music throughout the performance and some singing involved and of course some improvisation as well.”

The Second City first opened its doors as a small cabaret in Chicago in 1959 and has since become a top-tier training ground for many of the best improv comics in show business. Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert and Bill Murray, among many others, fill out the ranks of Second City alums.

Mujica is among the latest to pass through the company doors, having arrived at Second City in 2010 after receiving a scholarship via the company’s Outreach & Diversity program. A graduate of the Conservatory program and frequent performer in Chicago, including at iO, Chicago’s other premier improv comedy venue, the Florida native joins fellow performers Neal Dandade, Alex DiGiacinto, Chelsea Devantez and Cate Freedman in the touring company.

Nothing is sacred in this lighthearted lampooning of traditional holiday trials and tribulations. While Second City has performed holiday shows for a number of years now, this year’s show will feature all new sketches (not every bit in a Second City show is equally improvised), including a reindeer confrontation sketch written by Mujica himself. Although some sketches remain constant throughout the tour, the show varies not only city by city, but night by night depending on the demographics of the audience.

“We get to take suggestions from the audience,” said Mujica. “Really, based on whoever comes that night and whatever they blurt out when we ask for suggestions, that kind of distinguishes the show.”

Audience members may even have a chance to join Mujica and crew on stage.

“Second City is known for interacting with the audience in a variety of ways, so there is a chance that you’ll be part of the show,” said Mujica.

The five-person improvisational crew will be accompanied by a piano director who will follow along with the show and assist with music prompts in attempt to tie the show’s variety of skits together.

“There’s a specific song or theme that is threaded throughout the show that you hear,” said Mujica. “It adds to the theatricality of the show.”

The Second City’s Dysfunctional Holiday Revue opens this Thursday, Dec. 6, at 7:30 p.m. in the Marcus Center’s Vogel Hall and runs through Sunday, Dec. 16. Tickets are $40 and can be purchased at (414) 273-7206 or the Marcus box office.