The Second City 50th Anniversary Tour Comes To PlayhouseSquare

You could call it the "Harvard of Improv," the legendary laugh factory whose illustrious alumni include Tina Fey, Steve Carrell, John Belushi, Bill Murray, Stephen Colbert, Joan Rivers, John Candy, Gildna Radner...well, the list goes on and on. This "Harvard," aka The Second City, which celebrates 50 (yes, "50!") years of supplying the world with all manner of "funny," is now readying to make PlayhouseSquare's intimate Ohio Theatre a stop for The Second City 50th Anniversary Tour, Saturday, March 6th at 8 pm. (Tickets: $30, $25 & $10 Smart Seats.)

This Second City laugh night will feature some of the best sketches, songs and improvisations from the group's celebrated cutting-edge history, and per chance an opportunity for audiences to enjoy the next Mike Myers, Julie Louis-Dreyfuss, Amy Sedaris or Martin Short (more alumni).

Second City might be given the credit for changing the face of American comedy. The legendary predominantly-male-Borscht-Belt comedians who ruled the Catskills, club scene, Vegas and early television have been supplanted by a new breed of laugh makers...men and women who eschewed the rat-a-tat punch line in favor of improvisation and quick-witted character-driven comedy.

Second City was experimental and unconventional in its approach to both theater and comedy. At a time when mother-in-law jokes were more the fashion, Second City railed against the conformist culture with scenes that spoke to the younger generation.

Formed in 1959 by University of Chicago undergrads, The Second City opened its doors on a snowy December night in 1959. No one could have guessed the small cabaret theater would become the most influential and prolific comedy theater in the world. With the debut of NBC's Saturday Night Live, populated by such Second City alums as John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radnor and Bill Murray, the theater became internationally known for its ever-increasing roster of comedy superstars and its Canadian sister theater's comedy series, SCTV (Second City TV).

The Second City fame spawned satellite clubs and training centers that now teach thousands of students every week across North America and abroad. Second City has even become an industry leader in bringing improv-based methodologies to the corporate sector, as well as creating unique media in television, film and the digital realm.

(Tickets on sale now for The Second City 50th Anniversary Tour stop at PlayhouseSquare, March 6th at 8 pm in the Ohio Theatre: $30, $25 & $10 Smart Seats available at 216-241-6000; The PlayhouseSquare Ticket Office or PlayhouseSquare.org .)

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