This weekend the Activities Board sponsored a visit from The Second City’s touring troupe.  Friday and Saturday evening the company of six entertainers performed in the Arts Center for students, faculty, and community members.

The troupe performed several skits, including over an entire act of improvisational comedy, and a combination of songs and musical lead-ins. In the third, act the troupe re-enacted a lucky volunteer’s entire day as if it were a musical. The performers had no problem poking fun at our comfortable life style of sleeping until noon or the awkwardness of move-in day.

In 1959, The Second City opened its first theatre in Chicago. Since then, they have opened a second stage in Chicago, as well as stages in Detroit, Toronto, Los Angeles, New York, and Las Vegas. In 1967, The Second City established its first touring company to bring satirical, current comedy to the masses. They’ve recorded material on CD and vinyl, produced movies, toured internationally, and even had a television series in London. The company is well-known for producing talented comedians; from their previous casts have come actors and comedians such as Bill Murray and Dan Akroyd.

The troupe made light of many modern political issues including several skits about a few less-than-realistic terrorists, victimized white-collar men, and a particularly memorable skit about a grandmother who plans to enlist in the military so she can take her grandson’s place in the war.

“The comedic ventures of The Second City comedy team has something for everyone to laugh at, but more than likely, you will be laughing more than not,” said sophomore Zachary Spurr.

The Second City did a wonderful job of involving the audience and keeping everyone laughing. The skits were not exactly witty banter, but far from a series of cheap laughs; they perfectly exemplified satire. The company made fun of common social trends, as well as problems.

According to the performers’ blog “a typical TourCo show is roughly 80% archive material from the forty-eight year history of Second City shows, and 20% original material and improvisation, with flux in both directions.”

If you’re interested in Second City both the Toronto and Detroit stages are relatively close. Also, their site, www.secondcity.com has several interesting sections. For those interested in theatre, Second City offers training programs and, after you’ve learned a bit, auditions.

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