Fox Valley Rep comedy succeeds thanks to dynamic duo

On the surface, “Maybe Baby, It's You” is little more than a two-person sketch comedy revue. Co-written by Charlie Shanian and Shari Simpson, this is the type of economical show that could be pulled off by a pair of quick-change performers clad in black on a bare stage.

But that's not the approach taken by Fox Valley Repertory for its largely enjoyable spin on “Maybe Baby, It's You.” Director Brigette Ditmars and her design team make great efforts to dress up the funny if slight material for audiences at Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles with detailed sets designed by Megan Truscott and many silly wigs and full-view outfit changes coordinated by costume designer Kimberly G. Morris.

Crucially, Ditmars has cast a highly engaging duo with impressive Chicago theatrical credits to flesh out the material, which comically explores disastrous couplings, uncomfortable blind dates and resentful spousal grudges. Without such skilled performers, “Maybe Baby, It's You” could easily become tedious since the writing alone doesn't add up to an entirely satisfying evening.

The tall and lanky Joe Galizia immediately wins audiences over as the recurring best man whose freaky dancing unnerves a series of startled wedding reception partners. Galizia's go-for-broke enthusiasm is instantly infectious and gets the show off to a great start.

Marika Mashburn is no comic slouch either, and she can easily send the audience into stitches with just a well-timed glare or a smartly observed behavior. Who knew that Mashburn's low-key placement of a tissue near the end of the show could garner such knowing laughs of recognition?

Each sketch allows Galizia and Mashburn to continually transform themselves into a number of outrageous types, including Latin lovers, pushy Southern belles and awkward junior high school science partners. They are particularly great in a film noir spoof sketch as a gumshoe-like guy seducing a hard-boiled, flame-haired dame through an overuse of complimentary and, later, spiteful metaphors.

Another extremely smart sketch involves the vengeful Greek antihero Medea being set up on a blind date. It's here that you also notice the strong support work by lighting designer Julie E. Ballard, whose demonic red pools of illumination contribute to the preposterous nature of the situation.

To link the sketches, Ditmars and sound designer Anthony Ingram deploy a series of sound bites from pop songs, TV shows and lectures (a clip from sex advice columnist Dan Savage is especially illuminating). While these sound transitions serve as filler while you watch Mashburn and Galizia transform into different characters before your eyes, they can also highlight how the script might not dig as deep as what's being played through the sound system.

In many ways, the show covers much of the same romantic relationship territory explored in the 1996 off-Broadway musical revue “I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change” — but without any music, so it comes off as a cost-saving production measure. Still, Fox Valley Rep assuredly succeeds at making “Maybe Baby, It's You” thoroughly entertaining by confidently dressing it up with a great comic duo.