Article: Annoyance, hold the provocation: 'Invention' is fun, suprisingly safe: Sure it's entertaining, but is the edge gone?

Byline: Chris Jones

Mar. 2--One of the enigmas of Chicago's current theatrical era is that those angry, anarchic, anti-establishment, bad boys and girls at the Annoyance Theatre of the early 1990s have morphed into pleasant, charming middle-age people doing pleasant, charming, middle-age material such as "The Invention Show."

Heck, they're even saving seats for critics at the new Annoyance. In the old days, it was a point of pride to keep them lined up outside. Especially in winter.

So for longtime attendees at the Annoyance, something like "The Invention Show" engenders mixed emotions. On the one hand, it feels troublingly sweet--low-stakes, ...

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