SCRUB-A-DUB-DUB The Caponigro boys keep comedy squeaky clean.
At an age when most boys are embarrassed to have parents at all, 11-year-old Jacob Caponigro isn’t afraid to literally play the Romeo to his father’s Juliet…on stage…in front of his friends. The freckle-faced Jacob and his equally freckle-faced father, 32-year-old Aaron, form the city’s only father-son sketch troupe, UnRelated. Landing a slot at Sketchfest this year as well as a recurring gig every Saturday through mid-March (except Saturday 17) at the Playground Theater, UnRelated boasts a bizarrely delightful mishmash of live skits, musical numbers and recorded bits.
“Looking at the way kids play with their toys, improv and comedy are natural forms of play for them,” says Aaron, a full-time actor who performs regularly with the Playground’s improv duo Jesus and the Money Changers. “Kids put thoughts together in a way adults can’t.”
UnRelated began a year ago as a way for Aaron, a single dad, to connect with his only son before the awkward teen years set in (Aaron and Jacob’s mother are divorced). After enrolling Jacob in a smattering of children’s theater and improv classes, Aaron had the idea of creating a father-son sketch duo, one that would highlight what’s important to kids, lure a younger wave of comedy lovers and bring parent and child a little closer. “When you’re performing, you’re relying on each other in a way that isn’t the typical father-son bond like, ‘I want a sandwich, will you make it for me?’?” Aaron says.
The result is a 45-minute porthole to the brain of a prepubescent boy. More charmingly endearing than gut-busting funny, the audience-interactive sketches in UnRelated revolve around subjects like Star Wars and Super Mario Brothers mixed with the occasional joke geared toward adults. While the timing could be tighter and the show panders more to the preteen-and-under demographic than its ticket-buying parents, the chemistry between the Caponigros is heartwarming enough to warrant some leeway. After all, Caponigro Junior headlines a two-man show five to ten years before most comedians even think about delving into the art.
Playground isn’t the only venue tapping into a younger breed of humor. Last weekend, Chicago Sketchfest—the nation’s longest-running sketch showcase, known for bringing new levels of raunch to the city—featured two underage shows, including Unintentionally Hilarious, written and performed by 30 junior-high-school students from Elmhurst Children’s Theatre. This weekend, the fest will showcase UnRelated (though you might want to take the kids out for the follow-up act, We Have an Uncle Dick) as well as a family-friendly silent sketch show called Bri-Ko.
“We tried testing the waters for shows that are for kids, and there’s a tremendous market for this,” says Sketchfest executive producer Brian Posen. He adds that Sketchfest 2010 will feature a mini showcase for kids-only comedy, including an outreach program in which students from any Chicago middle or high school can train with Sketchfest staff and potentially perform on the festival’s main stage.
“We’ve seen every flavor of sketch comedy—all-Indian, all-gay, all-black troupes—but the one thing that’s not represented is kids,” Posen says. “As sketch is becoming more prevalent, finally these kids are having a voice, too.”
Developing that voice before his son reaches the age when he truly does wish he and his father were unrelated is the underlying motivation for Caponigro Senior. “There’s a lot kids have to say that they don’t talk to their parents about,” Aaron says. “I just want [Jacob] to know he has a way to take these things that are in the back of his head and put them out there to share with the rest of the world. If you don’t, it gets lonely in there.”
Surrounded by an adoring audience, a regular schedule of shows and a cast of kooky fictitious characters, Jacob seems anything but lonely. While things may change in the next few years, for now he’s content to break out the Shakespearean lingo and ham it up with his pops.
UnRelated brings the G-rated laughs Sunday 18 at 2:30pm to Sketchfest. See “Sketchfest schedule.”