Comedy shorts have played the role of the new vaudeville for years now. The short-film format serves as the modern-day Orpheum Circuit, a proving ground where expandable ideas and distinctive talent can be developed into feature films or a streaming series.
The latest heartening example of how, and why, this works? “The Blackening.” It’s a comedy with a lot of very big laughs. You know how often I get to write that about a comedy? Not often enough.
It started as a 2018 short film — fast, hilarious, razor-sharp — from the Chicago-based improv comedy troupe 3Peat. Now it’s a movie, and while director Tim Story’s full-length expansion has its lulls, it’s never less than enjoyable. Lots of good jokes, subtle and broad and in-between, riffing on everything from “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” to “Lift Every Voice” to the oldest slasher-movie tricks in the book.
