{"id":418384,"date":"2025-12-02T01:16:14","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T01:16:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/418384\/"},"modified":"2025-12-02T01:16:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T01:16:14","slug":"1812-productions-this-is-the-week-that-is-looks-for-laughs-in-a-decidedly-unfunny-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/418384\/","title":{"rendered":"1812 Productions\u2019 \u201cThis Is The Week That Is\u201d looks for laughs in a decidedly unfunny year"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you can imagine a formula for comedy, it often starts with a character who does something so outrageous, so outside the norm, that it becomes funny.<\/p>\n

Which is why this year, Donald Trump (really, an actor playing him) won\u2019t be part of 1812 Production\u2019s<\/a> annual spoof on the news, \u201cThis Is The Week That Is<\/a>,\u201d on stage through Dec. 31.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow do you parody someone who\u2019s a parody of himself already?\u201d said Jennifer Childs,<\/a> co-founder and producing artistic director of the comic theater group. \u201cWe made the decision not to put him on stage. We didn\u2019t want to give a platform to him anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

These days comedy is more of a challenge than ever. So much of the news is NOT FUNNY, so where are the laughs?<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the more frightening things get, the more we realize we need community and being in the room together,\u201d Childs said. \u201cIt\u2019s about trying to find joy in the room.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Newton Buchanan and Robyn Unger in a skit. (Photo courtesy of Mark Garvin)<\/p>\n

Childs has had time to practice filling the room with joy, because this is the 20th anniversary of the show. Since its first run in 2005, each year has managed to fill its quota of really bad news making the headlines.<\/p>\n

But early on, Childs read something or heard something that continues to guide the group\u2019s philosophy: \u201cIn political humor, you can make fun of the smoke, but not the fire.\u201d<\/p>\n

A few years ago, for example, when gun violence in Philadelphia was at its height, \u201cThis is the Week That Is\u201d managed to build laughs around the smoke. \u201cThere have always been difficult subjects,\u201d Childs said. \u201cHow do you handle gun violence? It\u2019s not funny. But you have to address it some way.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u201csome way\u201d turned out to be a newscast with the anchor noting a death from gun violence, but quickly segueing into the \u201cday\u2019s biggest story,\u201d an interview with a Sudoku champion. As the interview continued in the foreground, images of ever-escalating violence flashed at the back of the stage.<\/p>\n

Another truism? Early on, Childs and others at 1812 sought advice from noted political satirists Dick Gregory and Mort Sahl. Sahl advised them to go deep, beyond the obvious.<\/p>\n

So, in 2005, for the first show, it would have been all too easy, Childs explained, to pick up on the already well-chewed comic fodder that former President George W. Bush was stupid, which might explain why the U.S. was mired in a war in Iraq.<\/p>\n

Instead, 1812 went deep by focusing on the idea of American exceptionalism \u2013 that somehow the United States could improve life in another country by sending in its troops and tropes. And what better way than Operation Singular Sensation, a riff off the famous show tune from \u201cA Chorus Line?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"(From left) Robyn Unger, Lexi Thammavong and Lee Minora in a scene from \u201cThis Is the Week That Is,\u201d playing through the end of the year.(Photo courtesy of Mark Garvin)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe next thing we\u2019d bring them was musical theater,\u201d Childs said. Actor Scott Greer, Child\u2019s husband, \u201cplayed a representative from the government \u2013 a community theater director who was tasked by George Bush to do this. It was a satire on hubris.\u201d<\/p>\n

Up until this year, Childs has played a one-person Greek chorus inhabiting the character of Patsy, who pontificates on politics from her front stoop in South Philadelphia. This year, Patsy will appear on video. \u201cShe\u2019s more famous than I am,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s production has a Hollywood theme: President Trump, the sequel, gets linked to bad Hollywood repeats. \u201cIt switches from movie style to movie style as we move through the year,\u201d Childs said.<\/p>\n

\"JenniferJennifer Childs is producing artistic director for 1812 Productions\u2019 \u201cThis Is The Week That Is\u201d. (Photo: Mark Garvin)<\/p>\n

In the early years, Childs and a handful of others did most of the writing. But as time went by, she said, \u201ceach person who has joined the cast has brought their own stand on things.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Dec. 15, for one night only, many alum, along with current cast members, will present a special ticketed reunion show<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

FYI<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the Week That Is,\u201d<\/a> through Dec. 31, 1812 Productions<\/a> at the Plays & Players Theatre,<\/a> 1714 Delancey Place, Phila., 215-592-9560.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you can imagine a formula for comedy, it often starts with a character who does something so…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":418385,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5132],"tags":[195860,5229,648,1144,1322,195861,1448,2830,1311,1148,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-418384","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia","8":"tag-1812-productions","9":"tag-america","10":"tag-arts","11":"tag-comedy","12":"tag-featured","13":"tag-jennifer-childs","14":"tag-pa","15":"tag-pennsylvania","16":"tag-philadelphia","17":"tag-theater","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-united-states-of-america","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","22":"tag-us","23":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115647335109885672","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=418384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418384\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/418385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=418384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=418384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=418384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}