Second City Theatre History

Mere weeks before the onset of the 1960’s, a group made of mostly University of Chicago alums embarked on a new comedic venture as they opened the doors to Second City Theatre. Little did the audience and players know that the establishment would soon become a pioneering institution in the domain of improvisational theatre and comedy. Charging only one dollar for entry, this counter-culture, new theatre allowed the audience a truly unique experience as they used intelligent humor and audience participation to create spur of the moment scenes, and satirize modern day events. From their new style of performing to their ironic name, the legendary Second City blazed onto the Chicago scene, finding a spot in the community and hearts of the citizens. This …show more content…
This paper will focus on the origin of the Second City Theatre, along with the pioneering games and comedy utilized by the players that propelled them to success, subsequently creating new offshoots of improv theater around the …show more content…
Beginning their new comedic venture nestled in Hyde Park, Shepherd and Sills first started to experiment with improvisational theatre. Particularly Shepherd drew inspiration from the “commedia dell’arte, a genre that flourished in the sixteenth century Italy…[where] companies would travel from town to town performing plays for which no formal script existed—just a list of plot points, called a scenario.” These scenarios diverged from the traditional scripted, stand-up comedy of the day in that these players acted out short scenes, and created sketches based off of audience recommendations; thus, reflecting real-life experiences of the spectators, and current events. Shepherd explained this new form of comedy seen at The Compass, and later at Second