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The Second City

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The Second City is a long-running improvisational comedy troupe based in the Old Town neighborhood of Chicago, with offshoot troupes in other cities, most notably Toronto. Due to the increasing popularity of improv, additional Second City clubs have recently opened in other cities, including Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York and Denver.

Contents

[edit] History

Second City evolved from the Compass Players, a 1950s cabaret-style revue show started by undergraduates at the University of Chicago. The troupe chose the self-mocking name "Second City" from the title of a disdainful article about Chicago by A.J. Liebling that appeared in The New Yorker magazine in 1952. In 1959 the first Second City revue show premiered. The style of comedy has changed with the times, but the format has remained constant. Second City revues feature a mix of semi-improvised and scripted scenes. New material is developed during unscripted improv sessions, where scenes are created based on audience suggestions. A Second City innovation is the inclusion of live, improvised music in the performance.

A number of well-known performers began their careers as part of the troupe and later moved on to television and movie work. In the mid-1970s, Second City Chicago became a source of cast members for the Saturday Night Live television show, which borrowed many of the writing and performing techniques pioneered by Second City and other improv groups. Shortly thereafter members of the Toronto troupe created the "SCTV" television show.

[edit] Second City Television

Main article: Second City Television

Second City Television, or SCTV, was a Canadian television sketch comedy show offshoot from the Toronto troupe of The Second City that ran from 1976 to 1984.

The basic premise of SCTV is that it is the television station for the city of Melonville. Rather than broadcast the usual TV rerun fare, the business, run by the greedy Guy Caballero (Joe Flaherty) who sits in a wheelchair only to gain sympathy and leverage in business and staff negotiations, puts on a bizarre and humorously incompetent range of cheap local programming. This can range from a soap opera called "The Days of the Week", to game shows like "Shoot the Stars", in which celebrities are literally shot at like targets in a shooting gallery, to full blown movie spoofs like "Play it Again, Bob" in which Woody Allen (Rick Moranis) tries to get Bob Hope (Dave Thomas) to star in his next film. In-house media melodrama was also satirised with characters like John Candy's vain, bloated variety star Johnny La Rue, Thomas' acerbic critic Bill Needle and Martin's flamboyant, leopard-skin clad station manager Mrs. Edith Prickley.

[edit] The Second City Training Center

Main article: Second City Training Center

The Second City also has several schools of improvisation, most notably in Chicago, Toronto, and Los Angeles. Various alumni and notable performers have taught at these institutions, which have grown substantially since the Second City Conservatory was established in the mid-1980's under the tutelage of longime Chicago improv instructor and mentor Sheldon Patinkin. The Chicago school has over 1,400 students in several disciplines, including improvisation and comedy writing.

[edit] Awards

Toronto's Second City Mainstage troupe has won four Canadian Comedy Awards, Best Improv Troupe (2001), Best Sketch Troupe (2001) and two for Best Comedic Play (Family Circus Maximus in 2002 and Psychedelicatessen in 2003).

[edit] Notable alumni of the Chicago Second City troupe

[edit] 1959/1960s

[edit] 1970s

[edit] 1980s

[edit] 1990s and beyond

[edit] Notable alumni of the Toronto Second City troupe

[edit] Notable alumni of the Cleveland Second City troupe

[edit] Notable alumni of Second City Detroit

[edit] Notable alumni of The Second City Las Vegas troupe

[edit] Notable alumni of the Compass Players

Main article: The Compass Players

[edit] Related Links

[edit] External links

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