Second City

Second City is a Chicago-based comedy theatre founded in 1959. Its improvisational and sketch-comedy traditions have launched performers and shaped American comedy.

University of Chicago: A private research university in Chicago, founded in 1890. University of Chicago students helped form the Compass Players, the improvisational group that preceded Second City.
Improvisational theatre: Theatre created partly or wholly through spontaneous performance rather than a fixed script. Second City’s performances grow from improvisation, even when the finished sketches are scripted.
Alan Arkin: An American actor and director whose career included film, television, and stage performance. Arkin performed with Second City’s original company before building a career across acting and directing.
Second City Toronto: The Toronto branch of the Second City comedy theatre, opened in 1973. The Toronto company extended Second City’s training and performance model into Canada.
The Groundlings: A Los Angeles improvisational and sketch-comedy troupe and school founded in 1974. The Groundlings is a parallel training institution, rooted in Los Angeles rather than Chicago.
Compass Players: A Chicago improvisational theatre troupe active from 1955 to 1958. This troupe developed the improvisational methods that Second City carried into its first performances.
Theatre games: Structured acting exercises that use rules or prompts to generate performance and interaction. Paul Sills used games to give Second City improvisation form and repeatable technique.
Gilda Radner: An American comedian and actor, known as an original cast member of Saturday Night Live. Radner’s early work at Second City preceded her breakout as a live television comedian.
Second City Hollywood: A Los Angeles branch of the Second City comedy theatre and training organization. Its Hollywood presence connects the Chicago theatre’s methods with screen-comedy careers.
TheatreSports: An improvisational theatre format in which teams compete through games and audience suggestions. TheatreSports centers competitive improv games, unlike Second City’s sketch-revue structure.

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