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Sunday, November 24, 2013

Second City's "Twist Your Dickens" at Portland Center Stage

"Twist your Dickens" is as the title suggests, a parody of "A Christmas Carol." It uses the basic framework of the classic story to unleash a rapid-fire skewering of all things Christmas, from "It's a Wonderful Life" to "A Charlie Brown Christmas." But, there are aspects of it that make it difficult to review, the Charlie Brown bit for instance, (which was one of my favorite parts) concerns political-correctness and religious observance, it is introduced by a star of the TV-show "Grimm" as an "original ending" that the network wouldn't show. Will the bit still be in the script when someone else does the Celebrity Cameo, who might not be in television? I don't know, and I am sort of curious to find out. There is a improvisational looseness to "Twist your Dickens" which adds to the fun, I suspect there might even be more differences from night-to-night other than the cameos.

All types of humor are represented here, from light-hearted to a jet-black dark closer, (and a healthy-dose of my favorite kind-- cripple jokes-- in between.)  Oh, and there is chocolate at intermission--who doesn't love that?

"Twist your Dickens" is both a good way to get a dose of holiday-mirth and get your humbugs out in a safe place before the big day.

Update: The Charlie Brown bit is permanent!

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