Improvisation & Second City
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Comedy comes in many different forms, and in recent years standup comedy has come into its own with the growth in comedy clubs across the nation and with the creation of new outlets on cable television to give comedians more exposure. Improvisational comedy is a unique form of theater that has also enjoyed a certain cachet in recent years because so many important performers have come from improvisational troupes, performers who have gone on to careers in television and film. A good proportion of these new performers honed their craft and developed their styles as part of one particular improvisational troupe, Second City in Chicago, perhaps the most successful such troupe in the nation and one that has become well-known in its own right as well as because of its many alumni. A discussion of the history of Second City and its influence will lead to a consideration of the nature of improvisational comedy and its value as an enhancement to our quality of life today. The roots of the Second City troupe extend back to the 1950s. At the University of Chicago, considered a unique and uniquely bohemian institution of higher learning, high academic achievement was expected. A group of students from the University and sojourners in the region found agreement among themselves and were drawn together by an affinity for theater on a campus that had no formal drama department. Among them were future Fulbright scholars Paul Sills and David Shepherd as well
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the Second City troupe had taken on a decidedly anti-Establishment tone in its political humor. Toronto was a different matter, for that city had a different political stance. Canada was not involved in Vietnam and was not involved in Watergate (McCrohan 188-190). The Toronto Second City was not an instant success and would close once before acquiring a theater and entering a more productive and successful phase (McCrohan 194-195).
The Second City troupe continues to be a comic force in Chicago and has become more and more important to the community through a series of special programs. For instance, in 1993 the troupe performed as part of a four-week program at Steinmetz High School in chicago, a program aimed at changing student attitudes and actions about racism by challenging racial stereotypes. This program was developed by the Chicago Commission on Human Relations (Garza 4). A more extensive school-based project is the Second City Training Center, an improvisational comedy boot camp first formed in 1984. In recent years, an ever increasing number of hopefuls have come to see the Training Center as the place to get a start. Enrollment has tripled in the past two years, and administrators have had to look outside the
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Viola Spolin, Andy Goldberg, Conservatory Program, Hodgson Richards, Renaissance Europe, Ernest Richards, Hyde Park, City Chicago, Training Center, INTRODUCTION Comedy, paul sills, improvisational comedy, training center, bernie sahlins, city troupe, quality life, david shepherd, compass theater, viola spolin, hodgson richards, contributes quality life,
Approximate Word count = 2471
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)
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