The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise that is run out of Chicago, Los Angeles, and Toronto. It started back in December of 1959, with famous alumni such as Bill Murray, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Steve Carrell. The Second City Touring Company features a group of touring members that perform all over the country. The Second City currently has 38 touring members.

During a two-day stint in Iowa City at the Englert Theatre, The Second City actors consisted of six people: Alison Banowsky, E.J. Cameron, Mark Campbell, Jordan Savusa, Jackie Southee, and Alessandra Drapos. To say the least, the six of them were amazing together and put on an amazing show. The chemistry between them all made the show enjoyable.

“Let someone else face your small talk fears head-on! Instead of avoiding Grandpa and de-friending your old high school pals, see The Second City’s brand new sketch comedy and improv revue, LOOK BOTH WAYS BEFORE TALKING,” their website reads. “We’re diving right into every touchy subject you’re thinking about, but are afraid to say out loud…or online.”

And they did not disappoint.

The show started off with a bang, with the six of them singing about being the number 1 nation in the world (it was political satire, in case anybody attending didn’t get that.) The show included all kinds of musical numbers, sketches, and mini-sketches that leaned on the political satire lines that made the room shake with laughter.

I’ve always loved improv comedy, as it showcases comedians true talent by being able to make situations up on the spot. Audience suggestions were hilarious to say the least, with some suggestions being the relationships “priest and confessor” and locations like “Lincoln, Nebraska.” As I write this out, it doesn’t seem nearly as funny as it did in the moment — another thing that I love about improv comedy. The suggestions thrown out and the reactions from the actors are what made it so funny and the scenes created a “You had to be there!” type of humor.

Other skits were more light-hearted, one being a doctor who slept with one of their patients — the punchline being “Dude, you’re a vetrenarian.”

Besides the short intermission about halfway through, it was a non-stop laugh fest, the kind that fills your chest and belts out unexpectedly. If you’re in need of a good laugh, look no further than The Second City. The live show environment is sure to cheer anyone’s day up.

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The Strumbellas, a Toronto-based folk rock band, released their third studio album in April. The group consists of six members: Simon Ward on guitar and vocals, David Ritter on keys and vocals, Jon Hembrey on lead guitar, Isabel Ritchie on violin, Darryl James on bass guitar, and Jeremy Drury on drums. As someone who is not too familiar with the band, I found the new album, Hope, to be quite enjoyable. They have a fairly standard and approachable folk sound that is very easy to listen to, but has enough variety in the instrumentation and vocals that the songs never get too repetitive.

The album’s beginning and end are its definitive strengths, starting with the most popular song from the album, “Spirits.” The song is extremely anthemic, meaning it is somewhere between catchy and almost monotonous, but in a good way. The main theme is repeated many times throughout the piece, and thank goodness it is such a treat to listen to! You will no doubt  find this song sticking somewhere in the back of your brain long after you have turned this album off. The lyrics are appropriately somber and somewhat confusing, which seems par for the course with many folk albums. You could find yourself simulaneously uplifted and deeply saddened by many of the songs throughout Hope. 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=D2sviKmRPvY

The next two songs, “Shovels and Dirt” and “We Don’t Know,” follow a very similar structure to “Spirits.” They contain a very repetitive chorus and will be likely to stay with you well after you finish the album. The difference between the two is in tone and vocals. “Shovels and Dirt” gives itself a much darker tone primarily through its lyrics. While the majority of the songs on these albums are at least somewhat melancholy, “Shovels” is the darkest of the lot. In spite of this, it ended up as my favorite out of the three opening anthemic songs. “We Don’t Know” almost feels like a retread of “Spirits,” but its slightly more poppy feel and awesome violin riff in the bridge section make this song work on its own.

“Wars” takes a slight turn from the chanting vocals of the first three tunes, and it is a welcome one. The singing becomes less layered, which at least makes for a more unique listening experience. “Wars” also features both a very catchy solo guitar line in the first half and an acoustic section in the second which act as nice flip sides to the same song. The next tune, “Dog,” has a nice shuffle feel that takes a large departure from the previous four songs. Listening to “Dog” makes it feel appropriate to call The Strumbellas not only a folk band, but also a group that leans toward different genres such as bluegrass. This departure not only in style but in tempo, rhythm, and general feel makes “Dog” a favorite for me.

“The Hired Band” slows things down to take the form of almost a pop ballad. This makes it very easy to listen to, but does not make for a particularly replayable or enjoyable song. To get out of the pop ballad funk, The Strumbellas turn to “Young & Wild.” It not only picks up the tempo, but adds a simple rock beat and the layered vocals of the earlier songs in order to get some energy back. Sure, it still remains repetitive as most songs in the album, but most good music is!

“The Night Will Save Us” follows “Young and Wild” and dials the energy back a little bit with an acoustic-fueled song that has a very unproduced sound. All instruments are featured appropriately with the violin getting a brief but affecting solo and simple harmonies and guitar chords acting as the driving force of the song. “I Still Make Her Cry” is probably my least favorite piece from the album, but it’s mainly because it is just not my kind of music. Once it started with solo mid-range vocals and piano I knew this one wasn’t for me. The only other instrumentation found in the song is the very occasional symbol roll. Even those are so few and far between that you can barely even call that a feature of the song. So far though, “I Still Make Her Cry” was the only song where I did not find something to enjoy. Luckily for me however, the best song of the whole album was up next!

I loved “David,” and no, it’s not just because I’m a narcissist (although that may have had something to do with it). “David” reminds me of those old pseudo-blues Bob Dylan-inspired songs that I always find myself to going back to. From the slightly harsh vocals to the twangy guitar and gently lifting beat, I absolutely love this song. It even has an approprately simplistic guitar solo that rocks just hard enough to give the tune a definitive rock style. “Wild Sun” rounds out the album and I makes me wish, just a little, that “David” was the last song.

“Wild Sun” returns to the chorus-centered structure of the first three songs while gently shifting between somber and lonesome vocals with acoustic guitar and the only barely memorable chorus. Obviously these anthem songs are The Strumbellas bread and butter tunes so I suppose it is typical that they would finish with a song that fits right in with their style. Still, slightly sluggish middle and ending aside, I greatly enjoyed this album from a band I don’t usually find myself to listening to. And seeing as I still have some of these songs stuck in my head well after listening, I think this one will stick with with me for awhile.

The post Album Review: “Hope” by The Strumbellas appeared first on KRUI Radio.

DeRozan has averaged 29.6 percent on shooting from the field so far this series while Lowry has chalked up 32.3 percent from the floor.

“Give Indiana credit, they’ve done a good job on DeMar and Kyle,” said Raptors head coach Dwayne Casey according to Yahoo Sports. “But we haven’t seen their best, they know that and it may not be by scoring points, it may be by moving the basketball, it may be by helping defensively.”

The tone was set for this pivotal game five when a minor fight broke out between Paul George and Jonas Valanciunas with 5:03 left in the fourth quarter. Valanciunas provoked the scuffle with a small shove to George after a pair of free throws from Ian Mahinmi. DeMarre Carroll jumped in as well and all three were issued technical fouls.

Paul George has been the leader for the Pacers offensively, putting up an average of 26.3 points per game this series. George also stacked up 61 points in the first two games held in Toronto with 54.1 percent shooting.

“I think our just general awareness of the ways Jonas is hurting us why we did better in Game 4 and it’s going to be a battle the entire series,” Pacers head coach Frank Vogel said according to Yahoo Sports.

Casey has not been afraid to express his opinion on the officiating throughout the series.

“I’m looking at flagrant fouls, Jonas Valanciunas gets cracked across the head and again I’ve got to get an understanding, and the officials didn’t review it but they were hitting us going through the lane and DeMar DeRozan shoots zero free throws with the same drive,” Casey said according to Yahoo Sports.

Pacers will count on production from forward Myles Turner who was just inserted into the starting lineup in place of Lavoy Allen. A large key for the Pacers will be to crash the boards aggressively which worked wonders for them in their Game 4 victory in which they outrebounded the Raptors for the first time all series.

Ian Mahinmi is probable for appearances in Game 5 after being listed as questionable initially with a back injury. Mahinmi worked up 22 points in Saturdays win.

“Toronto’s a very hostile environment, hostile crowd. Game 5 is going to be about taking their crowd out of the equation,” George said according to Yahoo Sports.

Game 5 will take place on Tuesday evening at the Air Canada Centre in Ontario, Canda. They are set to tip-off at 5 P.M.

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