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Live From the Center presents

Second City

Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009

It all started in a converted Chinese laundry on Chicago’s north side in 1959. No one could know that by the next century, The Second City would be celebrating its 50th anniversary as the as the premier comedy institution in the world.

With theatres in Chicago, Toronto, Detroit, Las Vegas and Denver; training centers in each ofthose cities, as well as New York and Los Angeles; a corporate division that offers creative services to the business world; a TV and film division; and touring troupes that bring its unique brand of improv-based sketch comedy all over the world, The Second City has become, in the words of the NewYork Times, “A comedy empire.”

The touring troupes at The Second City have been the springboard for generations of the comedy world’s best and brightest. Its alumni list includes: Alan Arkin, Joan Rivers, Robert Klein, Peter Boyle, Harold Ramis, John Belushi, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, John Candy, Martin Short, George Wendt, Julia Louis Dreyfus, Chris Farley, Ryan Stiles, Mike Myers, Rachel Dratch, Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert and more.

In addition to stellar talent, Second City’s other chief export is comedy that is both hilarious and thought provoking; smart and silly; sophisticated and wild. The concept is simple: six actors augmented by a musical accompanist and a sound and lighting director perform a two-act revue featuring sketch comedy, songs and improvisation. Drawing from the vast archives of material that Second City has created over 50 years, The Second City touring companies are also creating on-the-spot, topical comedy that changes with every performance.

The diversity of Second City performances are matched by the diversity of its venues, as the company has taken its act on the road to theatres, festivals, colleges and performing arts centers in everystate of the union and to international audiences from Singapore to Vienna.

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