Fun is mandatory at ‘The Game Show Show’

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James Anthony Zoccoli, (from left), Noah Simon and Anderson Lawfer of "The Game Show... And Stuff!"

Updated: January 23, 2012 4:33AM

With wacky twists and turns that transform an old favorite TV standard into the crazy live event, “The Game Show Show…and Stuff!” brings its special madness to Chicago’s Mercury Theater.

“We want the meat of the show to be intelligent and the frame of the show to be glitzy and fun,” said the show’s Northbrook native Noah Simon, director and co-creator of the show with And Stuff! Productions, a British organization. “So we’ve taken the stupid game show thing and wrapped it up in hopefully something that hits people on a higher intellectual level. Hopefully people have a good time and learn something. That’s the ideal situation for us.”

“‘The Game Show Show’ began in 2006, the brainchild of three Straw Dog Theatre actors, and led a gypsy life around city venues. This gig at the Mercury is its first commercial outing.

Goofy games

“The Game Show Show… and Stuff!” is an upbeat game show made up of original trivia games, guessing games and physical challenge contests, with titles like “Annie Get Your Green Card,” “Calorie Counter Attack,” and “Toss the Salad.” Audience members can become contestants by submitting entry cards into a tumbler prior to the show. At the show’s start the host calls the selected contestants up onto the stage.

Each evening consists of four games, with the winners of each game progressing to the “Super Secret Ultra Mega Final Round.”

There are prizes, of course. Winners take home rewards worth $50-$100, while the super-winner of that final round can score $150-$200 worth of goodies. Various sponsors including some high profile bars and restaurants and other businesses, donate the prizes.

“I want the show to hit people in waves,” said Simon. “The first wave is simply have a good time. We want people to laugh, we want people to come and be a little naughty. At the next layer is we want to help them to be naughty in the most intelligent ways possible.”

But there’s more than games. The Show Show Showgirls are regulars onstage and special guests might include go-go or Polynesian dancers, magicians, burlesque acts, live animal acts “and stuff,” a grab-bag quirky talents.

Post show

The show doesn’t end with the final curtain. Members of the cast often retire to the bar next door to continue the fun.

One who enjoys the socializing is Evanston actor James Anthony Zoccoli, a co-creator of “Game Show Show,” who serves as the onstage announcer.

“Being able to actually complete a transaction with the audience and make a personal connection at the end is really kind of cool,” he said.

“We do the show, we’re out to have fun, but there’s nothing more enjoyable than being on stage and being able to interact with the audience and look out into the crowd and see people laughing and spilling their drinks and having a really good time,” he said. “It’s nice to be a catalyst for that.”

Simon explains that, “The goal of ‘The Game Show Show…and Stuff!’ is to give you an hour of entertainment that is full of more stuff and weirdness than should be legally allowed.”

From his perspective, the show works. “It’s been the most artistically, gratifying, exciting, frustrating, infuriating, and lovely experience of my entire career,” he said. “I’ve never been as thrilled by a performance as I have been watching ‘The Game Show Show’ because for one thing it’s different every time.”