TJ & Dave Bring Their Ecstatic Show To The Goodman

Jul 19, 2024 admin_bitlc Features, Music News, Musical Theatre, Reviews 0

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By Peter Thomas Ricci

In the liner notes for a remastered edition of Miles Davis’ epochal LP “Kind of Blue,” the late, great Robert Palmer described the album’s influence on Duane Allman, lead guitarist and sibling to Gregg in The Allman Brothers Band. Writing of how Allman could “solo along a one-chord vamp for as long as half an hour or more, and not only avoid boring you but keep you absolutely riveted,” Palmer praised Allman’s melodic talents, and referenced a discussion with the guitarist where he acknowledged the influence of Davis and saxophone legend John Coltrane on his playing.

My point with that anecdote (aside from its coolness) is to draw a distinct contrast to how we view music and other mediums. In music, improvisation is not merely admired, but deified: From the top cats of jazz, to Duane Allman and Jimmy Page, to The Grateful Dead and the countless jam bands that followed its influence, improv is a well-worn and well-respected aspect of the musical scene, but for acting and stage performance, the circumstance is a very different one. Sure, Chicago is famous for Second City and iO Theater, and the talents on display at those august spaces are indeed dazzling; however, the improv is those spaces is quick, sketch-based, immediate.

All of which is to say that ‘TJ & Dave’ – the show in which comedic geniuses TJ Jagodowski and David Pasquesi improvise an entire one-act play, from tragedy to comedy – is one of the more remarkable theater experiences one can enjoy, and their limited engagement at the Goodman Theatre should be praised, promoted, and supported.

Longtime fixtures on the Chicago theater scene, Jagodowski and Pasquesi have been performing the ‘TJ & Dave’ show for more than two decades, and they exhibit the ease, familiarity, and trust that only results from years of rehearsals, discussions, and experimentations. In the performance I savored Thursday night, the improvisation began with Pasquesi walking to a vending machine (the stage is bare, with the exception of three chairs), and Jagodowski following. After some entertaining banter about the vending machine offerings – soup vs bouillon, candy bars vs “salad in a jar” at airports – the two comedic masters gradually developed the play’s architecture: they’re brothers, at a hospital, awaiting the diagnosis of their possibly terminally ill father. From that point, the comedians developed the show in a dazzling array of directions, encompassing everything from awkward flirtations with nurses, to inappropriate doctor-patient relationships, to sibling rivalries over inheritances.

And lord is it funny! Between Jagodowski’s jovial physical comedy and Pasquesi’s biting, cerebral wordplay (such as describing a dying patient’s “insides” as “perforated”), this improvised play provided more laugh-out-loud moments than most written and rehearsed plays, but with a looseness and daring that is wholly its own.

The COVID-19 pandemic was a buckshot blast of disruption to the theater scene, and many companies have either folded or limped into an uncertain future. ‘TJ & Dave’ is a true hallmark of an earlier golden period of Chicago theater, and it should be supported in every respect.

P.S. A necessary postscript should be dedicated to the show’s opening act, Chicago singer-songwriter Ike Reilly. A superb practitioner of the folk-troubadour tradition (imagine Dylan with a dazzling voice and actual stage charisma), Reilly performed a number of songs with just his guitar, harmonica, and backing guitar/vocals from one of his sons. Reilly’s dynamic, sardonic songs were the ideal appetizer to Jagodowski and Pasquesi’s art, and I only wish the artists can continue performing together in a consistent manner.

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• Chicago, Goodman Theatre, Improv, TJ & Dave

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