In today's episode we talk to the brilliant Ed Furman about improvising without rules and bringing the Anarchy of the Annoyance theater to the Second City. We also talk about the show "Embryo's on Ice" that was scheduled to open on September 12, 2001. The events of 9/11 completely changed the world and Ed talks about rewriting a show on the fly in order to deal with one of the worst tragedies in American History. We also talk a little bit about drugs. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com...

On this episode we talk to Brad Morris (Chicago Main Stage 2007-2010) about growing up around the corner from the Second City, Hosting the 50th Anniversary Celebration, and negotiating contracts with producers in a tense environment. We also get into how much fun a long improv piece is for everyone except the stage manager. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/secondcitizenspod/Twitter: https://twitter.com/SecondCitizens_

By the time Susan Messing was hired for the Chicago Main stage, she was already a legend in the world of improvisation, an icon in Chicago theater and one of, if not THE MOST sought after instructor in the artform. But despite being a genuine trailblazer, Susan was still a woman. And sadly, even in 1999 the second city was still lagging behind when it came to equality. She faced restrictions that weren’t imposed on any other actor for reasons that can only be linked to her gender a...

Our Guest today, Tim Baltz, is yet another of this talented generation. Whether flashing his oddball hilarity as a tech giant in Veep or displaying his versatility playing dozens of Characters on Drunk History, Tim is clearly a burgeoning force in the future of comedy. And yet, I know he’s not letting this newfound celebrity go to his head. How do I know this?Because although Tim is currently shooting Righeous Gemstones accross the country, he went out of his way to make this inte...

The Second City is well-known as the launching pad for America's biggest comedy stars. And we all know the names that come with that boast, Belushi, Murray, to Meadows, Tina and Amy, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And this is actually true, but there are even more alumns of The Second City who've gone on to become extremely successful actors with extremely successful careers without becoming a househould name: Mike Haggerty, Pete Gross, Richard Kind, Meghan Fay. Just a couple...

The angry/yelling white guy is a staple of The Second City, American Culture and American life for...245 years. There isn’t one person listening right now who hasn’t experienced this from a boss, a relative or possibly, me. If you haven’t experienced this than odds are you ARE the yelling white guy. And while we are hopefully growing tired of the concept in real life, as long as they exist there will always be a place for them in our entertainment, if only because watching them get...

We know the names, Dan Ackroyd, Jim and James Belushi, Gilda Radner, Chris Farley, Bill and Brian Doyle Murray, Mary Gross, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Tina Fey, Rachel Dratch, Vanessa Beyer, Cecily Strong, Aidi Bryant, Jason Sudekus, Mike Meyers, Tim Kazurinsky and many more. Out of all those, one looms large for not only staying on the NBC comedy bull for 8 seconds, but riding it for 10 years...longer than any other alum from the Second City. If you haven’t figured it out, I’m talking about T...