Isabella Dunsieth and Doug Neithercott Photo by Brave New Workshop

The Brave New Workshop gang had already released promotional art with caricatures of an aged-looking Donald Trump clinging to a teddy bear, and a slightly more aged-looking Joe Biden, asleep side by side in the same bed with zzzz's streaming out of their noses and an American flag for a blanket. Then, on July 21 the floor dropped out of the gambit with Biden's announcement, and the show only three weeks away from opening. America had Kamala Harris to pick up the torch, but what was Brave New Workshop to do?

Worry not, fans of politically frosted satiric sketch comedy. Brave New Workshop is not the nation's longest continuously running such enterprise (nonstop since 1958, beating out Chicago's fabled Second City by a year and a half) for nothing. Their creative team–the five intrepid cast members, director Caleb McEwen, musical director Jon Pumper, and technical director Matthew Vichlach–are accustomed to putting out new material when duty calls. Perhaps having to work under pressure enhances the results, for No Country for Two Old Men (the title remains) is the sharpest, funniest, and most on-point productions I have seen in a long time.

The show, already deep in preparation when the Democrats pulled a switcheroo, candidate-wise, had not been cast with someone to take the part of Kamala Harris. Problem? Nope. Instead, in a sharp-witted sketch, the company looks to themselves to solve the problem, ending up with two cast members–one male, one female–sharing the role. Even better is a sketch using a game-show format, "Black or Woman?," in which contestants are asked to identify an image as being either one or the other, falling into bedlam when required to choose one and only one of those descriptors for the newly anointed Democratic candidate.

Other bulls-eye bits include a panda named Pander Bear who coaches a down-ballot candidate on how to speak so voters will listen (one big tip, avoid mentioning policy), a nightly news report along the lines of "Saturday Night Live"'s "Weekend Update" segment, Minnesota Public Radio host Kerri Miller's (known for her cerebral conversations about books and authors) interview with a Trump staffer, and a young dude explaining the electoral college in Gen-Z speak. Other targets throughout the show include Tim Walz, Project 2025, ethnic ambiguity, and–because, why not?–pickleball. All in all, there are no duds among the sketches, which is a departure from past Brave New Workshop shows I have seen.

While Jon Pumper releases musical flourishes from his keyboard perched beside the stage throughout the show, a number of musical numbers are particularly fun, including a country-western style "No Country for Two Old Men" opening number, a disco extravaganza, and a high-spirited anthem that is surprisingly uplifting even when it is revealed that its lyrics lack actual words. So now we know how the politicians can use stimuli, like anthemic music, to make us feel the way they want us to feel. Scary stuff, but in the hands of this bunch, hilarious.

The cast consists of four returning veterans, all highly talented: Lauren Anderson (a super-veteran), Denzel Belin, Isabel Dunsieth, and Doug Neithercott, who can pull off about anyone, from Donald Trump to Kerri Miller. Jeffrey Nolan is the new face in the ensemble, and he gets some mileage out of being the newbie, while smashing that electoral college lesson out of the park. His Joe Biden is less persuasive; then again, throughout the campaign, Joe Biden himself was less and less persuasive, so who's to say?

After two acts of scripted (more or less) sketch comedy, the Brave New Workshop crew returns for a round of improvisation, taking cues from the audience. My experience with this is that the cast has on nights and off nights. There is a tendency to veer toward double entendre, which some audience members love more than others. I actually consider leaving before the improv section every time I go to a Brave New Workshop show, but always end up staying to see how the thing will play out–and, even if I am not super-impressed, I always have at least a couple of good laughs. This night was one of the better ones in my experience. Doug Neithercott was particularly on fire, though the new guy, Jeffrey Nolan, seemed to be having trouble keeping up the pace with the veteran improvisers; the sincerity with which he delivered his few quips was endearing, if not particularly funny.

Overall, if you enjoy sketch comedy at all, and particularly if you feel a need for some things to laugh about in the hot cauldron of this election season, a visit to Brave New Workshop is just the ticket. And by ticket, I mean to buy yourself a ticket, not a political party's ticket–one must be careful what one says these days. No Country for Two Old Men, thankfully, exercises little caution and in exchange delivers a lot of laughs.

No Country for Two Old Men runs through November 2, 2024, at at Brave New Workshop, 824 Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis MN. For tickets and information, please call 612-332-6620 or visit theatre.bravenewworkshop.com.

Improvised and Performed by: Lauren Anderson, Denzel Belin, Isabel Dunsieth, Doug Neithercott and Jeffrey Nolan; Director: Caleb McEwen; Musical Director and Pianist: Jon Pumper; Technical Director: Matthew Vichlach.