, a very good two-man-one-man-show that explores the financial collapse of the mid-to-late '00s from personal and political perspectives, is one of the most interesting comedy shows I've seen this year. After a wildly successful run earlier this year, the show is returning to CIC for another run, this one dubbed Moral Hazard Part Deux: Dead and Loving It. If you missed the show the first time around, this is a great chance to catch this totally unique and captivating show.
Moral Hazard , with a run of shows every Wednesday this month and every Friday in July. As a means of proving a bit of background, the show's creators and producers, Walt Delaney, Chandler Goodman, and Mark Logsdon, have compiled a timeline of 21 events that were integral to the production of the show.
1984 – Chandler Goodman is born at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio. He is delivered via c-section because “his head is too big” to come out any other way.
1985 - Concerned at her son’s lack of energy and his willingness to simply lay on the carpet all day, Kathy Delaney takes a one-year-old Walt Delaney to the doctor for fear that he has Leukemia. Though all tests were negative, she was given the unfortunate news that this is just the way he is.
1987 – The first collateralized debt obligation (CDO) is issued at now-defunct Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. for the now-defunct Imperial Savings Association. In a sign of things to come, “now-defunct” will eventually become a phrase commonly associated with CDOs.
1989 - Mark sees the movie Trading Places, a comedy about commodities brokers starring Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy. After viewing, Mark neither understands the commodities market nor why this movie was called a "comedy."
1992 – Chandler develops an elaborate inner narrative in which he quarterbacks the 2015 San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl, thus launching a long and successful political career, eventually resulting in the Presidency. No lack of ambition at 8 years old.
1993- During Ms. Kelsey’s song explaining the tenants of long division, Walt Delaney bursts into tears in front of the entire class because he “doesn’t get it." From this day on Walt identified as an “english guy.”
1993-1995 – The U.S. Federal Government incrementally adopts a wide-ranging set of policies that loosen mortgage lending standards in order to bolster home ownership across all income levels
1995 - Mark re-watches Trading Places. He gets the comedy parts now, though the commodities market still makes no sense.
1996 – Chandler begins 6th grade and momentarily flirts with the notion of buying a pair of JNCOs. Luckily, JNCOs are expensive and his Mom ain’t about to play that game. Thanks, Mom.
1996- Walt was able to secure several pairs of said Jnco jeans along with a pair of K2 Fatty inline skates, and a CD by the punk band The Queers, which his dad later made him return due to the albums blatant and consistent references to heroin abuse.
2002 – Only 7% of U.S. mortgage applications are denied, half the rate of where they were in 1997. This is to say: People were getting loans who should NOT have been getting loans.
2002 - Mark catches some parts of Trading Places on TNT. He realizes for the first time that Jamie Lee Curtis is playing a prostitute in the film.
2002- As part of a school project to better understand the stock market, Walt selects the company Pep Boys to invest money in and track their financial progress for the entire year, because he thought it would be funny. The joke failed to register with students and teachers alike.
2003 – Chandler graduates from high school and begins college. He is having so much fun.
2004 – U.S. home ownership rates peak at an all-time high of 69.2%; Fannie Mae purchases $175B worth of securities backed by subprime loans in just 12 months. This is a bad investment.
2005- After little deliberation, Walt Delaney declares as a Communication Studies major AND an English minor. He then went on to have “a lot of fun” in college.
2006 - Mark graduates from college without learning about commodities, but vows to watch Trading Places again as he preps for life in the working world.
2007 – Chandler graduates college and – clueless as to what he wants to do – accepts a job at a Chicago-based consulting firm. He assumes he will be grabbing the world by the balls one client at a time, but mostly edits PowerPoints. He is having less fun.
2007 – French investment bank BNP Paribas closes down funds that are deeply invested in the subprime mortgage market. Shit is about to go down.
2008 - In order to move out of his childhood twin bed, Walt takes a job at auto finance company during the worst economic climate in recent memory.
2007-2013 - Mark never watches "Trading Places" again.
-Walt Delaney, Chandler Goodman, and Mark Logsdon