Chicago Tribune
- Highly Recommended
"...All great Second City revues - and I'd put this one in the top 10 of the last 20 years of main-stage creations - fear not the absurd. This show has both Jeffrey Murdoch leading a audience singalong titled "Suit in a Backpack" that is apropos of nothing more than it actually seems, and a strikingly emotional sketch where Kinney has a pointed emotional conversation with the Borat-like Nate Varrone. Playing Waldo, who knows where."
Chicago Sun Times
- Recommended
"...what this show sets out to do, it does well. It’s a sensational showcase for the cast’s talents. Kinney, the only holdover from the earlier “Winner … Of Our Discontent,” shows off her full wild-eyed range as a child ghost trying to win over her home’s potential buyers. Davis shows expert physicality as a criminal using no words to convince an audience member to back up his alibi. Varrone is the resident weirdo, at home as Vladimir Putin on a hobby horse or as a twisted nuclear holocaust survivor determined to live like Mad Max. And everyone seems to have an instrumental skill, be it on the violin, the electric bass or the trumpet."
Chicago Reader
- Not Recommended
"...Here instead actors deny ideas with "What are you talking about?" Second City is the tentpole of Chicago comedy for the rest of the country, but Dream Freaks feels like it was concocted in an intermediate-level improv class where mere nods get laughs and politics get skewered with Pixy Stix."
Windy City Times
- Recommended
"...Most noteworthy is the ensemble's willingness to remember casual remarks dropped in the course of the show and reference them later-illustrated most vividly in a one-sentence story recited by actors and audience together at the beginning of the show, then repeated in unison again at the end."
Stage and Cinema
- Recommended
"...The country may be divided but Jeffrey Murdoch brings the whole audience together at the end of the show to cheer him on as he removes a suit from a backpack, strips and then puts the rumpled clothes on. There’s no logic behind the gag, no deeper meaning. Like the rest of Dream Freaks it’s just silly and fun."
Around The Town Chicago
- Highly Recommended
"...The Second City is doing what they do best, making people laugh, and laugh, and laugh some more, with their 106th Mainstage Revue, "Dream Freaks Fall From Space". From the first snicker to the last guffaw, this revue scored a ten on the hilarity scale. Get tickets soon, you'll love it!"
Chicagoland Theater Reviews
- Recommended
"...When “Dream Freaks from Space” is good, it is very good, showing its satirical chops in the Trump bits and a flare for hard-edged whimsy in the “Baby is gay” song. Some of the material struggled and I had problems understanding the performers when the singing and dialogue turned shrill or the players overlapped in their dialogue. Burt either the revue improved as it went along or I adjusted, but by the second act I thought the production was approaching vintage Second City."
The Fourth Walsh
- Highly Recommended
"...Although the clunky title may not roll off the tongue like a signature Second City pun, these dream freaks fall nicely together in this space. This is one solid ensemble. Under the skillful direction of Ryan Bernier, Kelsey Kinney, Ryan Asher, Tyler Davis, Jeffrey Murdoch, Tien Tran, and Nate Varrone are tight. The show starts with Varrone setting the mood. A monotone Varrone beats out what America is on his drum. As his descriptions get increasingly freaky, the laughs gets louder and longer. His deliberate tempo is like a count-down launch into the comedy blast!"
Chicagoland Musical Theatre
- Highly Recommended
"...Leaping to the front of NBC’s short list for next gen SNLers are Ryan Asher, Kelsey Kin, Jeffrey Murdoch, Tien Tran and Nate Varrone. Donning white jumpsuits and moving at lightening speeds through sketches lasting 10 seconds to three minutes, there really isn’t a single standout performer among this group—instead, each has his/her share of standout moments in the Ryan Bernier-directed revue."
Third Coast Review
- Highly Recommended
"...Second City should be required viewing for any Chicago resident: the soul of this town, its scrappy pulse and neighborly heartbeat, are onstage nightly-and doesn't it feel good to laugh with strangers, all connected by our zeitgeists, all unified by the knowing of the confusing and wondrous and scary-as-hell world we share? Besides, where else can you feel a sense of sincere cultural reverence, and moments later be delivered a poop joke?"
The Hawk Chicago
- Recommended
"...Of course, the material is only as good as the cast, and this is probably the best ensemble I've seen at Second City. In her second mainstage revue, Kelsey Kinney, a face contortionist on par with the hilarious Rachel Dratch, shows off her incredible range with a variety of characters, though she is followed closely by the dynamic Tien Tran (whose solo number was my favorite of the show). Tyler Davis and Nate Varrone add musical talents to their already impressive repertoire, and Ryan Asher and Jeffrey Murdoch take the lead and excel on embodying the most awkward characters. The versatility of each individual and the complete lack of a go-to "straight man" (as the person who plays all the serious characters is typically known), though, is what truly makes this group stand out."
