AGENDA . Agenda Lead

Second Sight

Legendary comedy troupe Second City turns 50, and hits the road with its best material to celebrate.


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Published: Jul 7, 2010

[ funny ha-ha ]

JUMP AROUND: Second City reaches its golden anniversary and sends (from left) Rob Belushi, Brooke Bagnall, Tim Ryder, Abby McEnany and Rachel Miller to party.

Michael Brosilow

There's nothing funny about history. Unless it's the history of Second City. For its 50th anniversary, the legendary Chicago comedy troupe is diving deep into the archives to keep the audience laughing — and with archives like these, it doesn't look like they'll have any trouble.

Consider Second City the Holy Roman Empire of comedy. The enterprise opened its doors in the Windy City in 1959, and has been breeding comedic geniuses ever since — notable alumni include Peter Boyle, Gilda Radner, all of the Ghostbusters, Stephen Colbert and homegirl Tina Fey.

All who attend the troupe's two-week run at Suzanne Roberts Theatre will certainly leave with a greater understanding of Second City, but the show is more like a greatest-hits album than dusty old history lesson. Expect a miscellany of the company's most hilarious stuff (sketches, songs, improvisations) written for Second City's stage, by Second City's best and brightest.

Because some of the material was written before the turn of the century, each skit has been updated for freshness. To keep the political and social satire relevant, some subtle adjustments have been made to the older scenes and skits — because that AOL 6.0 joke just isn't as funny as it once was. (A sketch from 1959 called "Museum Piece," about a trendy culture snob, for example, has been updated to include the word "hipster." ) There will also be a few tweaks to give the show a dash of local color. The introductions for the skits and the transitions between them have been tailored specifically for the Philadelphia crowd.

The cast of the show will have a Philly bent, as well. Three Second City comedians — Edgar Blackmon, Rachel Miller and Katie Rich — are familiar faces in the 215; each had a role in last summer's Second City/Philadelphia Theatre Co. co-production City of Nutterly Love. Accompanying them on stage are a few other Second City students, including Rob Belushi, a man with a dominant funny gene (he's the son of Jim, nephew of John).

The local actors who had roles in Nutterly Love will also take part in the anniversary performances. On Friday night performances, they will lead a third act that is completely improvised. The rest of the show is scripted. Certain scenes will call for audience suggestions, taking something old and making it new. Kind of like the face of yet another esteemed Second City alum: Joan Rivers.

(matthew.cahn@citypaper.net)

The Second City 50th Anniversary Tour | July 13-25, $20-$41, Suzanne Roberts Theatre, 480 S. Broad St., 215-985-0420, philadelphiatheatrecompany.org