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Look, folks, it’s been a year. We’ve argued about snow plows, data centers, golf courses, downtown activation, downtown stagnation, and whatever is happening with Duluth Public Schools this week.
The city could use a hug, but since we can’t afford group therapy, Rubber Chicken Theater is offering the next best thing: two holiday comedy revues that promise to make you laugh so hard you’ll forget how much your property taxes are going up.
This December, the local masters of satire are bringing back their trademark brand of “Duluth humor” — which basically means making fun of the same civic circus we’ve all survived together. God bless ’em.
First up is Talk Duluthy to Me This Christmas, or, Santa’s Big DECC Energy, which sounds like the kind of show title approved by someone who’s been snowed in on Skyline for 48 hours. Runs Dec. 19-20 and 26-27 at Studio Four in the Depot — the one building downtown that hasn’t been converted into apartments, breweries, or “collaborative office ecosystems.”
If you’re wondering what the show’s about, picture this:
. Santa Claus taking over the DECC
. Sketches about that “secret” Hermantown data center the whole region somehow knows everything about
. And the latest gossip on the Lester Park Golf Course saga, which might be the first municipal drama in state history to outlast all nine holes
Tickets are $25 — cash or Venmo only — which is adorable. It’s like Rubber Chicken knows this town well enough to say: “Look, we’re not dealing with credit card processors tonight.”
Then comes New Year’s Cluckin’ Eve on Dec. 31, the annual one-night extravaganza for anyone who wants to say goodbye to 2025 with a belly laugh instead of doomscrolling Minnesota politics until the ball drops.
They’re rolling out the mixtape for this one:
. Best sketches of the first show
. Fresh material written specifically to roast whatever new chaos hits Duluth between Christmas and New Year’s
. Steve Solkela attempting to summon a New Year’s anthem on accordion (because nothing says “Let’s celebrate responsibly” like a man frantically squeezing a squeezebox)
. A brand-new Duluth Drunk History, which will either be Pulitzer-worthy or get someone banned from Bent Paddle for life
. And a new installment of The Ole and Lena Uffda Lift Show, which is probably safer than fireworks and more entertaining than whatever they’re doing on local TV
Tickets are $30, still cash/Venmo only, which at this point feels less like a payment method and more like a municipal identity.
Let’s talk history. Rubber Chicken has been doing sketch comedy longer than some Duluthians have been complaining about snow removal. They’re the inheritors of the Dudley Riggs Brave New Workshop legacy — the Minnesota tradition of making sharp, smart, homegrown comedy about the quirks of our towns, our politics, and our collective inability to use roundabouts correctly.
The cast is loaded with local talent: Jeremy Churchill, Hailey Eidenschink, Tate Haglund-Pagel, Kaylee Matuszak, Chris Nollet, Steve Solkela (who counts as three humans when holding an accordion), Cheri Tesarek, Joel Youngblom, and newcomer Jesse Davis.
Brian Matuszak directs the chaos, Linda Bray plays piano like she’s trying to drown out your uncle at Christmas, and Mike Scholtz handles video production like it's the Duluth version of SNL.
Here are the basic directions if you’ve somehow gotten lost:
SHOW #1 — SANTA’S BIG DECC ENERGY
Studio Four, Depot
Dec. 19–20 & 26–27 at 7:30 p.m.
$25 (cash/Venmo; emotional support extra)
SHOW #2 — NEW YEAR’S CLUCKIN’ EVE
Same place
Dec. 31 at 7:30 p.m.
$30 (still cash/Venmo; still cheap compared to therapy)
If you can’t find something to laugh at in these shows, congratulations — you might be working in municipal government.
