But if you set the dial to WMPG (90.9 or 104.1 FM) on December 30 at 10 pm, you’ll be tuning in to a feisty programming reason to pull the chairs up close to the speakers: The satirical bonanza of Instant Comedy’s new radio show A Beautiful Day in the Fourth Reich — a cabaret-style collection of political spoofs on songs, ads, and other forms of social persuasion.
Written and directed by Dan Bernard, produced by Michael Townsend, and starring the members of Instant Comedy along with some special guests, Fourth Reich follows on the heels of the pre-war but prescient The Search for Bin Laden and The War Chest of Kim Chee. Some of the material of Fourth Reich has already been staged, as part of the Portland Short Order Comedy Co.’s Political Follies (which will continue in the new year, at the St. Lawrence). Its scripted "propaganda" encourages folks to consider becoming "Repubmocrats" in the imagined Fourth Reich, in which the Pentagon has a weapons blowout sale, and gasoline is worth its high costs by virtue of being scented, just like high-end coffees or bath salts. Listeners will also encounter plenty of song take-offs — including "Deport the Troops" to the tune of "Because the Night;" "Mice and Men" to "Us and Them;" "Sunni" to "Sunny" by Bobby Hebb; and "The Nuclear Bomb Song" to "The Banana Boat Song." There is also a spot for the "George Bush No-Support Bra."
I recently heard wise old Studs Terkel say on the radio that American politics had become "a burlesque," but without the funny part. Instant Comedy and WMPG offer a little relief, with lots of funny parts, on Friday night. So put your feet up, get out that neglected knitting or whittling project, and get ready to laugh as you get piqued.
