The Second City Reviews (Chicago, Illinois)

Very Fun Night at the Mainstage

Calgary, Alberta

June 12, 2009

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Best of IgoUgo Second City is now more than just a theater, but it originated in Chicago’s Old Town neighborhood in 1959. The enterprise has expanded to several other cities, including Toronto and Los Angeles, has produced television programs in both the United ...Read more Second City is now more than just a theater, but it originated in Chicago’s Old Town neighborhood in 1959. The enterprise has expanded to several other cities, including Toronto and Los Angeles, has produced television programs in both the United States and Canada including SCTV, Second City Presents, and Next Comedy Legend. Second City has been a starting point for numerous well know comedians, award winning actors, directors, and others in show business. The program lists notable alumni including John Belushi, Bill Murray, Dan Ackroyd and more recently, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.

A trip to watch a Second City performance seemed like a great opportunity for a fun night and perhaps a chance to watch a future show business star.

We ordered our tickets online (www.secondcity.com/?id=theatres/chicago/mainstage) for "America: All Better" on the main stage, described as a revue for post-Obama America. The tickets seemed like a steal at $20. We arrived about 45 minutes before the show was to start in order to pick up our tickets and get seats. There is only general admission, no reserved seats.

The website and ticket information explained that the show was cabaret style with four to six people seated at a table. It turns out that is not entirely correct. The two of us were seated with a small table between us. Some others were seated at bigger tables of six but those who arrived later had no table at all. The seats are close together, not quite like a dinner theater set up. As we wanted to take advantage of the alcohol and appetizer menu, we were glad we arrived early enough to get a table. The theater has servers to take orders for alcohol and food. We had eaten a late lunch so the menu of appetizers, pizza and paninis suited us for a light supper.

The venue is rather small which made it feel more intimate and casual. We were seated two rows from the stage so got a very good view of the performers. The show itself was very entertaining as it contrasted the optimism of the new presidential era with the problems of the economy and the environment. The mix of song and skits was funny, even the inside jokes about Chicago’s transit system and skewering of the mayor were delivered so that visitors like us could get the humour. One sketch involved a cast member as a Russian gymnast, doing an actual balance routine around the cocktails on the rail in the middle of the audience. At one point, a patron pours a drink into her upside-down mouth. The improv pieces as the encore were more of a mixed success but still fun to watch. A few bits had sexual content so not what every parent would want to watch with their children, but we saw no children in the audience. All in all, we thoroughly enjoyed our evening. Close

From journal Four Days of Chicago Delights

Campaign Supernova - Second City e.t.c

by Dina10

Adelaide, Australia

September 9, 2008

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Best of IgoUgo My boyfriend and i went to check out this show at The Second City e.t.c stage in August while we visited Chicago. We were lucky enough to grab the last two tickets to the show when we rang to book tickets on the day. It pays to get to the show early ...Read more

Second City

by VA_traveler

Dumfries, Virginia

July 28, 2007

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Best of IgoUgo "The Second City" is a Chicago original, and has given a start to numerous comedic geniuses. Some names that stood out in the playbill's list of Alumni were Joan Rivers, John Belushi, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, and John Candy. I believe most of the ...Read more "The Second City" is a Chicago original, and has given a start to numerous comedic geniuses. Some names that stood out in the playbill's list of Alumni were Joan Rivers, John Belushi, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, and John Candy. I believe most of the original cast of Saturday Night Live honed their craft on the improv stage here.

We arrived early - a good thing, since tickets are not for a particular seat. No, instead someone walks you onto the floor, and shoehorns you into a tiny seat at a tiny little table, right up next to your neighbor. Have you seen those guys that work as people pushers on the Japanese subways? They might learn something from Second City. Comparing notes afterwards, my husband and I agreed that no fire marshall had ever attended one of these shows.

But once the show started, I completely forgot about the elbow in my back and my nagging claustrophobia. The show playing that night was "Between Barak and a Hard Place", and we laughed so hard we cried. Some of the humor was political, some of it was topical, all of it was great. These guys (and gals) really know their stuff.

There are two shows on Saturdays, and we had tickets to the later one. If you're going, be sure to choose this show - take a nap during the day if you have to, but definitely make it to the later show. This one gives you an extra hour of hilarity after the main event. After the feature show is over, the cast comes back out and does an hour or so of improv sketches, with suggestions for topics shouted out from the audience.

I wouldn't suggest the Second City for those who don't enjoy adult humor or are easily offended by jabs at your favorite politician. Many of the jokes were somewhat graphic (especially the bonus improv). If you're going, keep an open mind.

Showtime is 8pm from Tuesday to Saturday, with a second show at 11pm on Friday and Saturday. Sundays only have one show at 7pm. You can get tickets online at The Second City's website. Tickets are more expensive Fridays and Saturdays. Close

From journal Three Days in the Windy City

Second City

by Idler

Poolesville, Maryland

September 20, 2006

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Best of IgoUgo Trying to describe comedy has to be one of the more frustrating writing tasks, so when it comes to Second City, the phrase "You had to have been there" is an overworked cliché. But, really, you had to have been there. Much of the sharpest comedy is ...Read more Trying to describe comedy has to be one of the more frustrating writing tasks, so when it comes to Second City, the phrase "You had to have been there" is an overworked cliché. But, really, you had to have been there. Much of the sharpest comedy is visual, and the unexpected sight gag is something of a specialty of Second City, which is widely regarded as one of the best comedy troupes in North America. Everyone (or almost everyone) knows its alumni include the likes of Dan Akroyd, Alan Arkin, John Candy, Gilda Radner, John Belushi, Mike Meyers, Bill Murray, Stephen Colbert…the list goes on and on. The comedy bar is set as high as the audience’s expectations at Second City.

We took in the 11pm Saturday show of "Red Scare," foregoing the earlier 8pm seating, as we wanted to stick around for the after-the-show improv that follows the last show of the evening. We were glad we did, as while many of the comedy sketches for "Red Scare" were laugh-till-you cry funny, there was an engaging risk-taking edginess to the improv that followed.

"Red Scare," like many Second City reviews, had an underlying theme: the fault lines in American society. Given that this is a time when the nation seems more polarized than ever, the ensemble had plenty of material to work with. The review opened with three couples flinging random (and opposite) clichés at each other, a sort of dueling "values" piece. The ensemble consistently tapped into that undercurrent of anger with "others" that has metastasized throughout American public life. Some of the best sketches deftly exposed how artificial and pointless these opposing cultural stances are.

Much of Second City’s comedy is politically inspired, and while both left and right wingers receive sharp jabs, the right consistently provides the richest material and thus received the lion’s share. One memorable sketch poked fun at the military’s "Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell" policy regarding enlisting homosexuals during these times of low recruitment ("Don’t Leave! Don’t Leave!"). Another riffed on the rather absurd concept of black Republicans. But it was most refreshing when the audience ended up laughing at its own (largely liberal) biases.

A sketch based on the premise, "What if Shakespeare’s Ophelia and Juliet had had a gay friend?" reduced me to a helpless puddle of laughter. While it admittedly played into some simplistic stereotypes, the gay character’s "reality check" deflated these characters’ histrionic suicides so neatly that the humor wasn’t so much at the gay character’s expense as it was at Shakespeare’s.

And as for those sight gags? Well, you had to have been there.

Note: There are three Second City stages: Chicago Mainstage, Chicago e.t.c., and Donny’s Skybox. The largest venue, and by default the one that most people are referring to when they say "Second City," is the Mainstage. This is not to disparage the two smaller stages, but just to clarify a potentially confusing booking situation. Close

From journal Springtime (oh, really?) in Chicago

Did Not Disappoint

by oldscratch

New York, New York

March 29, 2004

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Best of IgoUgo I spent four years in Chicago without seeing a performance by The Second City, the famed comedic ensemble that launched the careers of John Belushi, Bill Murray, and others, an oversight that I decided to remedy during my recent visit. While in ...Read more I spent four years in Chicago without seeing a performance by The Second City, the famed comedic ensemble that launched the careers of John Belushi, Bill Murray, and others, an oversight that I decided to remedy during my recent visit. While in Chicago I did attend and enjoy a comedy revue, but I just now realized when sitting down to write this journal that I still haven't seen an official The Second City performance. According to the souvenir program, what I did see was "Pants on Fire," a revue by e.t.c., a sort-of junior varsity The Second City that boasts such alumni as Horatio Sanz, and, um, Nia Vardalos, the star of My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

Damn.

Five of us showed up at the intimate "studio" theater for the 11 PM Saturday performance of "Pants on Fire," and a hostess seated us close to the stage, behind a row of high school students who had already begun arguing about their curfews. To get us into the right mood, a waitress brought a drink menu with a selection of shooters that included Lemon Drop, Oatmeal Cookie, and Buttery Nipple ($4 each or $6 when served in a souvenir shot glass), but I decided to forgo the comically named drinks and ordered a Sam Adams ($4.50) instead.

The show opened with a sketch involving a presidential press secretary announcing that he would only tell the truth. Most of the bits that followed derived their humor from current events, but I laughed hardest at the few that involved physical comedy. In particular, the ensemble did a manic, very funny take on the good cop/bad cop routine, and cast member Frank Caeti did a remarkable impression of a giant, moon-walking baby.

While the sketches were a little hit or miss, the improv pieces were consistently uproarious. Audience members would call out random words, and the ensemble would do their best to perform comedy around these choices. Watching the performers walk a comedic tightrope without a net created a real tension in the audience, and when the performer invariably succeeded in making a joke, that tension easily exploded into laughter. A particularly good improv bit involved an audience member being interviewed and surreptitiously recorded, after which his voice was deftly mixed it into a rap song about the upcoming presidential election.

The e.t.c. ensemble performed for about 45 minutes, took a quick intermission, and the performed for another 45. After the show ended the performers announced that they'd like to try out some new material and welcomed the audience to stay. We had enjoyed the evening enough to want more, so we stayed an additional 45 minutes. True to their word, some of the comedy was still in development, but plenty of laughs were enjoyed during this unofficial third act.
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From journal Chicago: City of Big Portions

Second City

by Desiree Koh

Chicago, Illinois

April 21, 2002

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Best of IgoUgo You're always in good company at the world's most famous and productive breeding ground of Saturday Night Live performers and other comedic celebs -- Second City's alumni list includes Bill Murray, Joan Rivers, Elaine May, Chris Farley, Tina Fey, ...Read more

From journal Hot Fun In The Windy City -- Chicago

The Store

by Laura

Chicago, Illinois

December 17, 2001

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"The Store 'till 4" AM that is! This is the prime very late night/early morning scene. Most partiers know it only as the place to hit after the 3 a.m. bars in Lincoln Park have closed, but apparently it is a nice little sport's bar earlier in the ...Read more

From journal The non-trite Chicago Guide

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by kjlouden

, West Virginia

August 10, 2001

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Best of IgoUgo Theater on the Lake is owned by Chicago Park District, and you can view their schedule at www.chicagoparkdistrict.com. Their website directions tell you how to get there by bicycle, and I saw plenty people arriving by bike. After all, if you're ...Read more

From journal Chicago: My Kind of Bike Ride

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