Second City audiences got a big surprise last night when Jack McBrayer, a.k.a. Kenneth Parcell from the NBC series 30 Rock, joined the cast for the post-show improv set.
He’s in town promoting the animated flick Wreck-It Ralph (released November 2), and he caught the current show – We’ve Totally (Probably) Got This – before being convinced to join them onstage. As an alum of Chicago’s own Second City – where he met Tina Fey – he’s familiar with the improv process.
It took him a while to jump into a scene, but he soon scored a big laugh as a manipulative office drone who offered up a co-worker as a candidate for layoffs. His parting, delivered in his southern twang and physicalized with a passive-aggressive hug, was a joy to behold.
Then he and Sarah Hillier played kids tapped to record a hip-hop PSA about drugs. McBrayer got repeated laughs for refusing to high five Hillier.
One of the best scenes featured McBrayer and Ashley Comeau as two friends praying in a church. When Jason DeRosse joined in and proceeded to bathe in holy water, the sketch took a couple of bizarre turns, recalling earlier bits about sexually transmitted diseases, a safari and that office layoff.
McBrayer, a big grin pasted on his face, was up for it all. And then he joined the cast and crew for drinks and something really Canadian: late-night poutine.
