CheekyChicago

Whether playing a1950’s couple, nerds at the school dance or a naughty ventriloquist and dummy, sketch comedy duo Corey Rittmaster and Monique Madrid love to find the funny in relationships. It probably doesn’t hurt that they’re both married. To each other.

Corey and Monique, both veteran improvisers who moved to Chicago together from Kansas City in 2004, debuted as The Union last year with the show Ward & June Are Dead at The Annoyance. Sketches ranged from twists on everyday life (like the trials of choosing a movie together, or the frustration of female rearview mirror adjustment) to more outlandish topics (like hermaphrodites). No matter what the premise, The Union’s material benefits from the couple’s dark sense of humor, nuanced characters and, as one would expect, great on-stage chemistry.

We chatted with the couple about their new show, which opens in September at Donny’s Skybox.

Cheeky: Tell us a little about the upcoming show.

Corey Rittmaster: It’s called The Union: A Very Civil War. It’s directed by Amanda Blake Davis, from Second City’s e.t.c. stage. It was written in the Second City style of creating sketch out of improv. There’s a nice range of big, showy pieces and more grounded relationship-y scenes, too.

Monique Madrid: And even within that, Amanda would have assignments for us at each rehearsal to help generate material, and in doing so, the show really plays on our own personal points of view. And as you can guess by the title, there are several sketches that deal with conflict, because we find that interesting.

Cheeky: This is your second show as The Union. How would you compare the two?

CR: If I had to describe each show with one word, the last show would be “dark” and this one “personal.” Ideally, both are “funny.” We had different directors for each show, purposely, in an attempt to get additional perspectives on our work. And that’s definitely been the case. This show is more personal, but it’s also more playful, and a little sillier. Apparently, that’s just the mood we’ve been in lately.

Cheeky: What’s it like to create material as a husband-and-wife team?

CR: It’s been a learning process. We have very different writing styles. I like to know the ending, and write towards it. Monique likes to delve into a situation and find out the ending later on. We’ve actually tried a few different techniques in order to keep our sanity.

MM: We write everything together, but not at the same time. One of us will script out premises that we improvised in rehearsal, and then pass it to the other to edit and punch up. And scripts go back and forth like that, sometimes several times.

CR: We’re also probably a bit too blunt with each other, since we know each other so well. We critique the material differently than we would with friends or colleagues and, to be honest, sometimes it has caused fights. Overall, though, it’s been quite bonding, as cheesy as that sounds.

MM: In the end, we have a similar belief of what’s funny and what’s not, and we both have a similar high standard of what we think should be on stage, so that continues to push us.

Cheeky: If you had to sum it up in a few words of wisdom, what is the number one lesson you’ve learned about working together on creative projects?

MM: Appreciating each other’s creative process. We have a similar, if not identical, goal but we go about getting there in different ways. We think we’re both funny people, but we’re funnier together and our combined creativity results in better sketches than either of us could write individually.

Cheeky: What’s the cheekiest thing you two did this week?

CR: Wearing a cutoff half shirt and getting doused with a bucket of water for a video short we’re making to promote the show.

MM: I’m taking a trapeze class . . . it hurts real bad!

Thursdays at 10:30pm

September 10 – October 8, 2009

Donny’s Skybox at Second City

www.secondcity.com