Actually Laughing Out Loud: The Second City Review

This last Saturday, I ventured out to the charming neighborhood of Old Town for a matinee show at the Second City. A noted Chicago establishment for over 50 years, the Second City is the derivation of the Compass Players which was created by a group of UChicago undergrads (your daily dose of trivia). The Second City troupe later expanded and amassed an impressive list of alumni that includes Steve Carell, what appears to be the majority of the Saturday Night Live cast, and my ultimate lady love, Liz Lemon. I mean, Tina Fey.  
 
The Second City offers an assortment of shows, with names like “The Second City’s History of Chicago” and “Sky’s the Limit (Weather Permitting)”. I watched the two-hour long “Laugh Out Loud Tour” which primarily consisted of sketch comedy. Some of the sketches were less than a minute long and featured one-liners while others required the actors to delve deep into their characters and face various scenarios, like a never-ending tennis match and a family who is forced to downsize. Many of the sketches also explored the topics of marriage and politics, a popular theme being the remorse experienced upon being wed. Towards the end of the performance, the cast roused audience participation through improvisational acting and story-telling. For one skit, a boy, who looked to be around fourteen years old, was pulled up on stage where he was placed into the role of a private investigator. The interaction between the impromptu star and the rest of the cast breached on cringingly awkward and for that reason, was hilarious.
 
At a price of $22 per ticket, a Second City show is definitely pricier than a movie. Yet the talented and very-likeable cast members work incredibly hard to provide continuous entertainment and thus compensate for the higher prices. Even better, getting to the Second City is fairly easy in terms of public transportation. From campus, you can take one of the several options to the Loop (the Red or Green line, 6 bus, Metra) and from there, get to the nearest Brown line station towards Kimball (Clark/Lake or State/Lake). Once on the train, you’ll have a short 10-minute ride and hop off at Sedgwick, with the theater only a couple blocks away.
 
The Second City has become one of Chicago’s most well-known enterprises and for good reason. Though the performances are professional and well-structured, the cast allows the overall experience to remain casual and inviting. So take the time to visit a much more humorous UChicago creation where work-induced headaches are replaced with good laughs.