Review: INLAWS, OUTLAWS AND OTHER FAMILY MATTERS Sparks Laughs at Rainbow

It's been said famously that happy families are all alike. That's not quite true. They have many things in common, but the joys can be varied, and for vastly different reasons. Cynthia Haynes-DiSavino, former owner of Rainbow's Comedy Playhouse and no mean observer of life, knows that. She's distilled some of her wisdom into INLAWS, OUTLAWS AND OTHER FAMILY MATTERS, a sketch comedy - unusual for Rainbow, which tends toward farces - that explores the humor in family situations.

The fiancee meeting her mother-in-law-to-be. Parents whose teens think they're hopelessly uncool. An older adult trying to reach a millennial on a cell phone. They all happen. They seem traumatic at the time, yet hysterically funny in hindsight. Here, the hindsight is right In Your Face at the time, as you observe the pitfalls of happy family life.

Area theatre veteran Cynthia Charles shines in the first act in a monologue on the trials of learning to text a millennial, while David DiSavino gives a funnier-for-the-understatement performance of the cheapest man ever, whose family tries to give him a cut-rate funeral.

The second act is held together by the story of a future teen who'd rather play video games - some things may never change - than vacation with his parents in their time machine. Yes, time machines - the height of uncool when your parents are with you. Mama (Cynthia DiSavino) helps Dad remember that he tried to avoid vacations with his parents too, in a story that's as touching as it is silly. If audiences of a certain age recall the Jetsons - well, that's not such a bad thing, is it?

Actors playing thought balloons are a delightful touch in the meeting the mother in law sketch, and the adult children, who have never met (they think) of an older marrying couple discovering that they're a doctor and his patient are hilariously realistic.

This is sketch comedy, pure and simple, with some running stories interspersed with scenes of the silliest moments of daily family life. DiSavino has seen it all and dishes it back out in her show with moments of relatable hilarity.

It's a bit reminiscent of the best of 1960s variety show comedy, with a heart; it's MAMA'S FAMILY in all of the possible permutations of familial silliness. It's funny, touching, and rapid-fire comedy about the world of happy families. They aren't all alike, but they have a lot in common. Runs through March 9, and needs to be seen to be enjoyed.

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