Tim O'malley Joins us to talk about his years studying with Del Close and the earliest days of the Chicago longform improv scene. He also describes the thrilling days of writing shows and sharing a stage with Chris Farley, Tim Meadows and Bob OdenkirkWatching your friends become TV stars can have unexpected consequences though, and Tim shares his struggles with drugs and alcohol, hitting bottom and using those experiences to fuel his acclaimed one man show "Godshow"As a true believer in ...

Murphy Dunne (Chicago,1967-70) is a man of many talents who started out playing piano at the Second City before quickly moving to the stage. He had the unique experience of writing satire in Chicago during the 1968 Democratic convention/riots. Unlike his castmates, Murphy had the added pressure of being the son of the Cook County Commissioner at the time. While he was at the Second City, he met fellow music lover John Belushi and began a friendship that would lead to Murphy becoming part...

In Basketball there is a type of player that comes along once or twice in a generation that they call a Unicorn. As you might guess the Unicorn is unique, mainly because they can do a variety of things that haven’t been done before. They stand out in a sport where there are a lot of talented and versatile performers.My guest today, Angela Shelton, fits the definition of a Second City Unicorn, having accomplished things that no one else in the Sixty plus years of the theater’s existence has ac...

One of the essential experiences for a second city performer is to be a member of the national touring company. Although not every person who ends up writing a show for the second city starts in the touring company, for the vast majority of us Touring was our first major indoctrination in “The Second City Way"Traversing the country with a van full of idiots, who’s only job is to make people laugh can be a lot of fun and at times can be almost no fun at all. But it’s rare to find an alum...

Now that we are several episodes into our podcast, we’ve had an opportunity to discuss a wide variety of the second city world. We’ve had actors from Toronto, Detroit, Vegas, Chicago. We’ve talked about writing shows for cruise ships and college crowds and corporate audiences. But there is a vital element we’ve left out to this point. Who is directing these shows?Today we remedy that, with our guest and my first director of a second city show, Marc Marzecha. However Marc’s work at t...

Even semi regular listeners to our pod know what a landmark event the 50th anniversary show was for the second city. And if you know that, you’ve likely heard me joke about my lament over quitting right BEFORE that show. Ha ha, funny joke.But after doing 4 shows on the main drain, it was time. Luckily, today I’m gonna find out exactly what I missed from our guest today, Andy St. ClairBefore joining the main stage for the 50th anniversary show Andy had worked with 4 directors to write 5 Shows ...

When you hear the word “Artist” it likely evokes any number of thoughts. Creator, free thinker… unemployment and on and on. While everyone who has worked at the second city certainly was an Artist, creating art for the public to consume, very few of the performers at the second city, especially men would ever be described in that way. Words like “wise ass”, “Jock”, “bully” and “maniac” are all much more accurate descriptors for the bulk of us. But Artist is the word that keep...

When people are hired as a cast member of a Second City show, they are only contracted through the run of that single show, but by and large the expectation is that a cast member will stay for several shows. It makes sense for everyone by limiting the amount of turnover, creating stronger bonds with casts and letting the performers build on the lessons of previous shows. There have been a few instances where a cast member didn’t work out or a new director wanted to go in another directi...

We’ve spoken a good deal about the variety of “types” that tend to make up a second city cast. You have the force of nature, farley types The “Sassy girlfriend” of course the Angry white guy, as represented by yours truly.. But every now and again you get a total outlier, something really unique that doesn’t fit the usual mold. Today’s guest, Ithamar Enriquez is among those “one of a kind’s”. He is a natural performer and entertainer, with a real throwback style that evokes T...

I’ve spoken several times about the “Detroit Invasion” that brought an influx of young diverse talent to the Chicago Theater around the turn of the century. Todays guest, Josh Funk, was the Tip of the Spear of that invasion, having done it all in Detroit before immediately establishing himself as a cornerstone director during his years in Chicago. It seemed like Josh was always in the building during those years and his utility proved as valuable as ever. I would guess no one before or ...