Grandma June’s Sewing Circle

At what point in a sketch group’s career does it begin to stand out? What’s the catalyst that kick-starts that process? We’re hoping it happens soon for GJSC. It’s an okay-enough group of actors, and while its sketches are of the one-joke variety (David Lee Roth predicts the future; a ’50s gal thinks it’d be swell if her boyfriend donkey-punches her), they’re at least rooted in original ideas. But the show’s instantly forgettable (the stuff of Second City Conservatory graduation shows): Rather than inhabiting their characters, the members of GJSC stretch the idea of “here’s a silly person” as far as they can, which is not far. Give this group a few runs to sort itself out—to find what makes it unique and thus uniquely funny—then check back.