The Second City is best known as the
first ever on-going improvisational theater troupe based in Chicago, but it
also has programs that run out of Toronto and Los Angeles. The Second City
Theatre opened in 1959, and has since become one of the most influential and
prolific comedy theatres in the world.
The Second City has produced television programs in both Canada and the
United States, including SCTV, Saturday Night Live, Second
City Presents, and Next Comedy Legend. Since its debut, the Second
City has consistently been a starting point for comedians, award-winning
actors, directors, and others in show business such as Bill Murray, John Candy,
Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, and Cecily Strong among
many others.
The Second City chose its self-mocking name from the title of an article
about Chicago that appeared in The New Yorker in 1952. In 1959, the
first Second City revue show premiered at 1842 North Wells Street, and the
company moved a few blocks south, to 1616 North Wells, in 1967. The theater was
founded as a place where scenes and story were created improvisationally, using
techniques that grew out of the innovative techniques developed and taught
there, later known as Theater Games. The cabaret theater comedy style of the
Second City tended towards satire and commentary of current social norms and
political figures and events.
Eventually, the theater expanded to include three touring companies and a
second resident company, and now fosters a company devoted to outreach and
diversity. 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.
