Corn Productions: DeathToll

Cast members of DeathToll

Corn Productions Presents DEATHTOLL Review - Halloween Themed LOLs

TLDR: If you’re looking for a Halloween themed show, DeathToll is the perfect one to kick off your weekend throughout the month of October. Full of cultural references and opportunities to get your drink on, it’s a 90min sketch comedy show that both horror and non-horror fans will enjoy.

Cast members of DeathToll

Prepare For a Halloween Drinking Game at The Cornservatory

The weather has finally turned in Chicago and we have that crisp chill in the air and leaves turning red and orange before falling off the trees. Not to mention it’s October and spider webs and plastic pumpkins have started to make their way out onto people’s front porches. We’re walking down Lincoln Avenue, on our way to The Cornservatory on a Friday night. Be sure to stop by the Jewel or Bottles & Cans on your way over because we’re about to start laughing and drinking our way through DeathToll. Playing on Friday and Saturday evenings, the show is a great way to kick off your weekends throughout October.

If you didn’t read the show description, don’t worry the ensemble has an amazingly descriptive opening number that tells us all the usual pre-show announcements. Sung as a parody of Lady Gaga’s Abracadabra, we’re told where the bathrooms are and more importantly we should drink every time someone in one of the sketches dies. That can’t be that many deaths, right? We think to ourselves. Surely it’s just a couple here and there throughout the show. Oh, just you wait because the writers of all these sketches wanted to make sure we did not go thirsty. And in case you forget or weren’t paying attention, there’s a huge blood splattered studio light that shines “Drink!” anytime someone meets their untimely demise.

Spooky Scary Skeletons

The sketches are all well thought out and average out to be 10min a piece, so there’s plenty of scenes to keep us entertained. Each is a combination of typical Halloween/scary movie tropes combined with modern day references and humor. Remember back in the early days of the Internet and Yahoo Answers? Three teens at a sleepover definitely don’t as they pull out their discount Ouija board and ask it some questions. 

Taking the fun party game of Fuck, Marry, or Kill, the cast develops the idea into a super fun game show called Fuck, Marry, or Killer. A lucky bacherotte (who is obsessed with serial killers obviously) get to choose any of the eligible bachelors to, you guessed it, fuck, marry, or accuse of being a serial killer. It has us and the host asking, who keeps letting these guys pass the psychological exam to get on this show??

We also get references to cursed dolls, sleep paralysis demons, and a Hot Ones Interview gone either really well or really bad depending on how you look at it. 

In between each sketch as we prepare to transition into the next one, one of the cast members gets one minute to do whatever they want to. It could be a little intro or fun fact about themselves, maybe a velociraptor putting the “ass” in Jurassic, or even just coming up with a character who needs to mop the floor. And of course, one thing is for sure there is also lots and lots of (fake) blood and death. So come prepared with a couple of your favorite beverages!

The After Party Thoughts

I don’t know if you could tell, but The After Party definitely had a fun time and lots of laughs during DeathToll. We picked up our beverages of choice, settled in for the show, and were ready for whatever the cast was going to throw our way.

Each sketch is clever, has a clear storyline, funny punchlines, and twists at the end we didn’t see coming. While it is a Halloween themed show, it’s more “Spooky Scary Skeletons” than Friday the 13th. So if you’re a scaredy cat like me, don’t worry you’re not going to be cowering in your seat. And on the flipside if you are a horror fan, you’ll recognize a lot of these tropes they’re making fun of. DeathToll would be a great fit for those who want a lowkey comedy show that’ll put them in the Halloween spirit!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Cast members of DeathToll

When

Now through October 31, 2025

Where

The Cornservatory

4210 N. Lincoln Ave.

Chicago, IL 60618

Runtime: 90min, no intermission

Tickets

$15+

Tickets can be purchased through the Corn Productions website

Photos

Courtesy of Corn Productions

CAST

Aaron Garver

Danny Seguin

Deana Velandra

Deanna DeMay

Emilia Barrosse

Heather Meyer

Jamie Link

Maddy Grady

Maria Bluck

Zach Flax

CREATIVE

Directed by Justin Oliver Lance

Written by: Tom Cannan, Melissa Harrison, Justin Vidovic, Jamie Link, Heather Meyer, Zach Flax, Danny Seguin, and Justin Oliver Lance