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It’s no secret that “Chuckleball”—the Jersey-based production company known for creative sports parody—is meant to be funny. And their fall 2009 production of Brotherly Glove is no exception. Laughs were plentiful at their Saturday night debut, as the actors paired lively tunes with hilarious portrayals of some of the most famous names in sports.

From a soulful Temptations’ take on George Foreman cooking products (“My Grill”) to a downtrodden Plaxico Burress crooning along to Daniel Powter’s “I had a bad day,” Chuckleball succeeds by taking tunes everyone knows, and infusing them with clever pop culture references.

I loved the spirited tribute to Veterans Stadium (“for it smelled like fish and poo,” declares the cast) and a jaunty Brett Favre, who, with the help of Billy Joel’s “We didn’t start the fire”, promised the crowd that he will NEVER retire (“I’ll just keep on playing while my arms are decaying”) had me in hysterics.

The 4-person cast proved particularly adapt at changing characters—with a little help from stick-on facial hair, actor Davon Williams became Donavan McNabb, Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant and more; a few wigs and headpieces transformed Jill Jacobs from tennis star Michelle Wie to Danica Patrick to Posh Spice to Kendra Wilkinson.

The 90-minute performance covered just about every sport known to man, and even though I’m far from an ESPN addict, I found myself laughing along nonstop. Check out Chuckleball (every Saturday at Doc Watson’s Pub!), before it rolls out of town for good!

Brotherly Glove, every Saturday at 8 p.m. at Doc Watson’s Pub
216 South 11th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107
(646) 307-4410
www.chuckleball.com