The Our Lady of the Ridge Parents Club will host its annual Night of Laughs fundraiser Saturday at the school in Chicago Ridge. It will feature local talent from the comedy sketch group AWK.
Stephanie Seweryn, a 2003 graduate of Our Lady of the Ridge, is a writer, producer and performer. Rebecca Seweryn, a 2007 grad, is tech director, and Evergreen Park native Nick Shine, a writer, producer and performer, also is among 11 AWK members who will bring “a full series of sketches that really emphasize absurd situations amplified to the ‘nth’ power,” Stephanie Seweryn said.
“You might have a typical doctor’s office situation that ends in a musical dance number or a school scene that ends in a rap battle. We really try to take things that happen every day and take them to a new extreme comedic level,” she said.
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Doors open at 6:30 p.m. The performance will be 90 minutes of 15 or more comedy sketches and an intermission halfway through, Seweryn said.
Although the event is for those 21 and older, the content of the performance most likely would be rated PG-13, acceptable to more “conventional” audiences despite the “awkward comedy” of the troupe, she said.
“We’ve been pleasantly surprised that our less-than-traditional sense of humor has been well-received,” she said. “The audience always seems pleased in the end.”
Seweryn said the performance at Our Lady of the Ridge offers more than just a rollicking good time.
“I’m excited to bring sketch comedy … and comedians/actors who’ve been trained at iO (an improv comedy theatre) and Second City, to the South Side so maybe some of the parents there will see that there are some really good opportunities not too far away,” she said.
Seweryn said she has benefited personally from studying comedy and improv, using the experience as an outlet for the intensity of her full-time career as a fundraiser for Latin School Chicago and also as a way to increase her job skills.
“I know it’s made me better at my job,” she said. “Being in improv and comedy increases your confidence; it builds your network, and it just makes you a more well-rounded person.”
AWK also will compete in Stage 773’s Laugh Battle at 8 p.m. Feb. 25 at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago, and begin a six-week run at 10 p.m. Wednesdays from April 15 to May 20 at Annoyance Theatre, 851 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago.
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If you go …
What: Our Lady of the Ridge Parent’s Club “Night of Laughs”
When: 6:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Our Lady of the Ridge School, 10820 S. Oxford St., Chicago Ridge
Etc: Tickets are $25 per person or $20 per person for a table of 10. Drink included with ticket purchase. Cash bar and BYO snacks are encouraged.
Information: (708) 425-3800 or visit http://www.olor-school.org.