On Wednesday night Corina and I had tickets to go see Barack To The Future at Second City in Downtown Toronto. This is now the 3rd Second City show we’ve seen, having previously gone to Facebook of Revelations and Tony and Tina’s Wedding.

Barack to the Future was very similar in format to Facebook of Revelations, a bunch of short skits put together to make an hour and half of entertainment. The show gets its name from the opening sketch that features the inauguration of Barack Obama as president of the United States, avoids an assassination attempt by Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin, then promptly changes the national anthem from the Star Spangled Banner to Marvin Gaye’s Sexual Healing. In that vein the show manages to be very topical throughout, making loads of jokes pulled recent headlines. You can just tell the show gives the actors lots of latitude to improvise and evolve the show from one night to the next.

I think my favourite segment was the simple ping pong game that morphed into a techno-laden, Matrix style duel. The music pounds with a voice yelling “Mother Fucking Ping Pong!” throughout. It just seemed like they did so much with such a simple premise. I think the thing I liked about this show was it seemed to push the boundaries a bit more then Facebook of Revelations with regards to language and content. Things got rude and crude, pushed racial boundaries and gave you the feeling there wasn’t too much off limits to get a laugh. Vodka drinking raccoons, awkward abortion jokes and a 6 foot tall guy playing the part of an 18″ tall man definitely spans a large gamut of comedy material.

After the show we stuck around for the free improv session they have after ever nights show. It’s definitely worth checking out if you’re ever in that neighbourhood at 10 on a weeknight. Corina and I had a good time, especially given we didn’t have some old farts making out at our table like last time.