Washington Post - Recommended
"...The pace is swift and as quick-changing as usual with Chicago-based Second City's comic shows, even though the shifting tone kept Woolly's opening-night crowd off balance. As Woolly artistic director Howard Shalwitz recently wrote, "For escapist entertainment, go elsewhere." True enough: "Black Side" serves jokes in sync with the moment, but it isn't offering easy escape."
DC Theater Arts - Highly Recommended
"...Black Side of the Moon opens with a parody of Martin Luther King Jr's famous, and famously inspiring, "I Have A Dream." In this Second City version, the speech, delivered in the most sonorous tones, begins, "I have a nightmare." Any show that can draw laughter from the stuff of nightmares-and hoots of affirmation from an audience that, on the night I attended, was equally black and white-deserves to be seen."
Talkin Broadway - Recommended
"...While The Second City is most famous for sketch comedy and improvisation, Black Side of the Moon also integrates standup comedy, music, and just a bit of audience participation, all drawn from the performers' experiences. The issues addressed are up to the minute and no doubt will undergo some updates during the run."
MD Theatre Guide - Recommended
"...Each member of the cast brings their own brand of showmanship to the production. Of special note are the bold and candid Dave Helem, Sonia Denis, whose more improvised flare - while it made her stand-up seem more tangential - was clearly a crowd favorite, and the previously mentioned Felonius Munk, whose incredible range of emotions, impressions, and delivery makes every scene featuring him an unpredictable delight. The range of the scenes is incredibly diverse as well, with some being more upfront in their message, i.e. one in which Munk impersonates Obama pondering how Americans elected Donald Trump or where Denis comments on the double standard in how black men critique white and black women."
Theatre Bloom - Highly Recommended
"...Returning from the windy city as if often the tradition at this festive time of year, The Second City is back in the nation's capital with Black Side of the Moon and they're ready to put hot sauce in our pants with all of their comic antics and feel-good messages in this seemingly unending darkened political time. With roughly one third of the show being rewritten just days before opening due to the surprising political upset in the Presidential Election, The Second City is able to bring together messages of faith, hope, and love through humor, hilarity, and hijinks on the stage when America needs it the most. Directed by Billy Bungeroth, this hybrid of sketch comedy and stand-up comedian presentation will top any episode of Saturday Night Live and is potently charged with a powerful message for this politically unsettled times."
DCTheatreScene - Highly Recommended
"...Black Side of the Moon felt far more complex and nuanced than this reviewer expected from an improv comedy show. Whether that can be attributed in part to the rawness of the recent election, or to the sheer talent of the ensemble remains a bit fuzzy. I suspect it’s a bubbling cauldron of all of the above- but if that’s so, the performers brought it and then some. Wisely, the largely scripted show, most of which was written before November 4th, had such truths in it that the surprising outcome of the day was brought into even sharper focus."
BroadwayWorld - Highly Recommended
"...Second City's proactive, edgy and downright hysterical Black Side of the Moon at Woolly Mammoth Theatre is an honest conversation about race and gender in America. Using comedy and spoken word, this sketch show mixes astute societal observations with original skits. All of this is done under the banner 'We are not a monolith,' a powerful post-election message."
