Love can lead to anxiety, an underaged son and daughter pageantry, and a one-night stand with the mentally challenged. Oh, and love entails a lot of talk about doodie as well according to Susan Messing and Joe Canale from their hilarious collaboration on this past Thursday for Messing With A Friend at the Annoyance Theater.

Each week Susan Messing pairs up with a new guest for an hour of improv comedy. This show featured Joe Canale, a brilliant performer as well as Messing's ex-husband. In my brief experiences, two person improv can be quite disastrous but the comic genius, experience, and chemistry of Messing and Canale kept standing room only audience in constant laughter.

Love was the suggestion to start the evening and due to the history of the performers, it drew immediate laughs from the audience. Messing played a new and very reluctant engaged woman to Canale's Bloody Mary drinking and frustrated groom-to-be. The second sketch turned a little crude on paper as Messing portrayed a mentally challenged one night stand that simply wouldn't go away. The interplay was fantastic with both performers creating some great one-liners. A visibly embarassed Canale was then forced into the role of a pre teen boy in a beauty pageant with Messing as the stage mom who directed from the front row.

The sketches started and ended with purpose. Fishing for rhythm and substance was unnecessary as both performers seemed to always be on the same page. Only one sketch seemed to last longer than needed which featured Messing as a bratty granddaughter with a dirty mouth to Canale's frustrated and ass-smacking grandfather. At only $5 for admission, this is one of the best value tickets in town. The sixty minutes zipped by and the audience could have sat there for another hour.

Messing With A Friend starts at 10:30 PM every Thursday with a new guest. For more info on Messing With A Friend, visit the Annoyance Theater online.

--Jeff Tobin