THEATER | “Brett Favre’s Christmas Spectacular II: The Second Coming” at the Brave New Workshop: Face-hurts-you’re-laughing-so-hard funny

If you’re an easily offended Catholic who lives in Coon Rapids, loves the Galleria, still worships Brett Favre even after all the crap he’s pulled, and truly love every minute you get with your relatives, avoid the Brave New Workshop’s current show at all costs. If not, buy tickets to Brett Favre’s Christmas Spectacular II: The Second Coming quickly, before they sell out.

I can give you an idea of what you will encounter if you do buy those tickets for The Second Coming, but only an idea. It’s really best experienced in the flesh. The show is a combination of skits and musical numbers, some Favre-themed, others holiday-themed, and occasionally both. Topics range from a clever analogy of Brett Favre and an aging family dog to the joys of too much family togetherness over the holiday season, with many tangents, offshoots and randomness (who says dolphins don’t have anything to do with Christmas?) in between.

All but one cast member from last year’s Brett Favre’s Christmas Spectacular: The Immaculate Interception returned for this year’s follow-up. Lauren Anderson, Joe Bozic, Josh Eakright, Bobby Gardner, and Ellie Hino have undeniable chemistry as a cast. That, plus talent, make for a dangerous combination—dangerous for your funny bone, that is. (Rimshot!)

I didn’t attend last year’s show and thus didn’t know there were repeats, but did comment to my plus-one that the stand-out skits are the two renditions of “The 12 Days of Christmas” recast as “The Shrieking Mothers Chorus” and “The Angry Fathers Chorus.” Rebecca Collins called these two “comedic gold” in her Daily Planet review of last year’s show. This year’s versions left the audience gasping for breath and wiping the tears of laughter out of their eyes. This gold has followed market trends and appreciated over the past year. The Catholics who dare to go will especially enjoy the skit that involves Sunday mass and a monster truck rally ad, with “appearances by: the Father, the Son, and Holy S*&% it’s Gravedigger!” That’s all I can say without giving too much away.

What makes this show face-hurts-you’re-laughing-so-hard funny is a comedy recipe with all the right ingredients: a big dose of holiday season jokes, two cups of family jokes, and another two cups of well-done and well-deserved jokes aimed at Brett Favre. The BNW cast boil everything down to its most concentrated and hilarious form, and that makes this recipe good enough to rival even your mom’s boozy egg nog.