Christmas is about playing in the snow. Christmas is about decorating the Christmas tree with colorful ornaments. Christmas is about perfectly wrapped presents. Christmas is about kissing underneath the mistletoe. But above all, Christmas is about laughter and lots of it. The Second City Comedy Troupe’s “Dysfunctional Holiday Revue,” provided just that in the Plaza Del Sol Performance Hall at CSUN on Nov. 29.

The Chicago-based comedians, who returned to the campus for their second consecutive visit, used improvisations, skits and short jingles to bring holiday cheer to the audience. The jokes ranged from holiday related topics, especially emphasizing Christmas but not forgetting to include other winter holidays.

In a humorous skit, a man and woman, who played a husband and wife, exchange early Christmas presents. The first present the man unwraps from his wife is two Superbowl tickets. As the husband’s mouth drops open from pure shock, she tells him that the second ticket is for him to take his brother because she knows he would enjoy the game much more with a fellow football fanatic.

As the husband tells his wife that the gift is too much, she hands him his second present. This time, it’s an autographed Michael Jordan Jersey. “To Steve, you’re my best friend,” the husbands read off the basketball jersey.

As the wife explains that the presents were charged on a 5-year payment plan, the husband hesitantly hands over the present he bought for her. The audience waits in anticipation. The wife unwraps the present and gasps only to find that it is a humidifier.

“I thought you were going to buy me a fur coat,” she says sadly.

“It sucks. It sucks. It’s a sucky sucky gift,” the husband repeatedly says as he apologizes.

The wife, upset that she has made her husband feel badly, forgives him with a warm hug.

“It’s okay, we’ll have a lot of fun at the Superbowl game,” she says energetically as the stage lights fade out.

In another skit, a man and woman, who play Joseph and Mary, attend a marriage-counseling meeting. As Joseph explains to the psychologist that he is a hardworking carpenter who has intimacy problems with his wife, Mary sits inattentively.

“Doctor, I am a carpenter and there is one thing in my house that I haven’t nailed. Yet, she’s pregnant,” he says.

The doctor asks Joseph who he thinks fathered the unborn baby.

“He’s the man from upstairs,” says Joseph.

“You mean, the landlord?” asks the psychologist.

As Joseph stands up and pulls the psychologist aside, he tells the doctor that he believes that his wife is pregnant with God’s son. The two men stare at Mary, who is now chewing her gum loudly and dazing off.

“There’s no way,” the two men say and laugh simultaneously.

The skits, as well as the improvised pieces, prove to be witty and humorous-just in time for the holiday season. The troupe is bound to put on an original show every night due to the audience participation proving these comedians are extremely professional and the holiday season wouldn’t be complete without seeing them in action.

The Second City Comedy Troupe, which started in the 1950’s by students of undergraduate students from the University of Chicago, has launched the careers of several comedians such as John Candy, Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, Tina Fey, Mike Myers, Jeremy Piven and Martin Short. For more information about the Second City Comedy Troupe including tour dates and locations, log on to www.secondcity.com.