The Second City
The Second City is a long-running improvisational theatre based in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood. The Second City Theatre opened on December 16, 1959 and has since expanded its presence to several other cities, including Toronto, metro-Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and New York.
History
Second City evolved from the Compass Players, a 1950s cabaret revue show started by undergraduates at the University of Chicago. The troupe chose the self-mocking name "The Second City" from the title of an article about Chicago by A. J. Liebling that appeared in The New Yorker in 1952. In 1959, the first Second City revue show premiered at 1842 North Wells Street and moved to 1616 North Wells in 1967. Co-founder Bernard Sahlins owned the theater company until 1985, before selling it to Canadian Andrew Alexander.
The style of comedy has changed with time, but the format has remained constant. Second City revues feature a mix of semi-improvised and scripted scenes with new material developed during unscripted improv sessions after the second act where scenes are created based on audience suggestions. A Second City innovation is the inclusion of live, improvised music during the performance.
A number of well-known performers began careers as part of the historic troupe and later moved to television and film. In the mid-1970s, Second City became a source of cast members for Saturday Night Live and SCTV, which borrowed many of the writing and performing techniques pioneered by Second City and other improv groups.
Along with its theaters, training centers, and television shows, Second City also produces improv and sketch shows for Norwegian Cruise Lines.
Notable Alumni
Chicago Alumni
1960 Alan Arkin
1961 Del Close, Joan Rivers
1965 Robert Klein, Fred Willard
1967 Peter Boyle
1969 Joe Flaherty, Brian Doyle Murray, Harold Ramis
1971 John Belushi
1972 Ann Ryerson
1973 John Candy, Bill Murray
1975 George Wendt
1976 Shelley Long
1978 Jim Belushi
1986 Dan Castellaneta, Bonnie Hunt
1988 Mike Myers
1989 Chris Farley, Tim Meadows, David Pasquesi
1990 Bob Odenkirk
1991 Steve Carell
1992 Amy Sedaris
1993 Stephen Colbert
1994 Scott Adsit
1995 Rachel Dratch, Adam McKay
1996 Kevin Dorff, Tina Fey, Mick Napier
1998 T.J. Jagodowski, Stephnie Weir
2003 Dan Bakkedahl, Liz Cackowski