Summer sketch show looks at male-female relationships

Shadowbox Live will bring fresh sketches about a favorite topic to the summer in “Sex, Love and Rock ‘n’ Roll.”

The sketch-comedy-andmusic production, which will open Thursday at the company’s Brewery District space, fills the summer slot previously used by the troupe for its annual “Best of Shadowbox” encore show, now staged each winter.

“This gives us a chance to attract newer audiences each summer,” said Executive Producer Julie Klein, who directed the new show.

“The evocative title is designed to draw people in from the summer heat,” she said.

The familiar Shadowbox themes never get old to writer-actor Jimmy Mak.

“It’s a ripe subject, with all the layers of sex, love and relationships to explore,” he said.

In “Spazoids — Under the Weather,” Mak plays a What: “Sex, Love and Rock ‘n’ Roll” Who: Shadowbox Live Where: 503 S. Front St. Contact: 614-416-7625, www. shadowboxlive.org Showtimes: 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 7:30 and 10:30 p.m. Saturday and various dates through Sept. 8 Tickets: $25 to $40, or $20 to $35 for students, those age 55 or older and active military personnel

student who goes to the school nurse with suspicious symptoms.

“He thinks he’s fine, but his friends look up the symptoms on their cellphones and get him to panic,” Mak said.

“It’s a sketch about how teenagers overreact to everything, from potential illness to potential romance.”

Robbie Nance will play Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards in “Keith Richards’ Raunchy Rhymes,” about the legendary rock artist’s visit to a recording studio.

“Keith, who now has grandchildren and greatgrandchildren, wants to record an album of nursery rhymes for children,” Nance said.

Somehow, all of his album rhymes end up being limericks about rock-band groupies and Richards’ sexual escapades.

“Those are his stories,” Nance said, “so to him, it’s totally OK to tell them.”

Nance stars as Arthur in “Ballad of a Bar Scene,” about a man who gives up dating apps and goes to a bar to meet women.

“He thinks his appearance, attitude, style and personal charm will win him the day with any girl he meets, but he has a rude awakening,” Nance said.

“He thinks he’s the coolest thing, when he’s really a joke. … He’s like a lot of guys I’ve known who view themselves as God’s gift to the world when they’re really far from it.”

Nikki Fagin plays Gwen, who later visits the bar, while Lucas Tomasacci narrates the sketch in the style of a Shakespearean poem.

“When Arthur hits on her, Gwen shuts him down pretty abruptly. … The point is that nobody is meeting people face to face anymore, unless they’ve first talked online,” Fagin said.

“How much is technology becoming too much of our lives?”

In “A.I. Love You,” Fagin plays Yvonne, the date of a man (John Boyd) who is using Alexa, Siri and Amazon’s artificial intelligence to try to control more of his home and life.

“The computers, jealous of the other computers, start fighting each other when Yvonne comes over. Then the computers become jealous of Yvonne,” Fagin said.

“The sketch speaks to how much further the world is going to go to let these A.I. machines think for themselves — and us.”