It’s hard to turn on a sitcom or prime-time sketch show and not see someone who got their start with the improvisational comedy team The Second City. Tina Fey, Chris Farley and Stephen Colbert are just several of the hundreds of stars who found success after a stint in the Chicago-based company.
San Luis Obispo will get the chance to experience the troupe’s unique brand of off-the-cuff improvisational comedy, defined by audience participation and a lack of preparation on the part of the performers, when they perform at the Spanos Theater on March 8.
Without scripts or any idea of what suggestions the audience will provide, an improv team creates on-the-spot comedy.
The Second City’s traveling improv troupe will visit as part of their “Laugh Out Loud” tour. According to the site, the U.S. Touring Company is made of 34 cast members, including everyone from directors to music managers.
But San Luis Obispo citizens don’t need to look too far to find local improv comedy.
Kyle McCurdy is a theatre arts senior and a member of the on-campus improv team known as Smile and Nod, which performs in room 212 of the music building at 7 and 9 p.m. on Saturdays. He’s no stranger to the comedic stylings of The Second City.
“They’re a big name, one of the three big comedy groups in the U.S.,” McCurdy said. “They’re a feeder into (Saturday Night Live), and the comedy world.”
He also said major producers and talent scouts look to The Second City for the “cream of the comedy crop.”
Though The Second City is based in Chicago, there is also a Second City theater and training center in Toronto, and another training center in Los Angeles.
The company is a mix of performance training, comedy theater and traveling entertainment. Its website identifies The Second City as “the largest training center for improvisation, sketch and acting in the world, with 20,000 registrations per year at schools in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Toronto.”
“People (from The Second City) have gone on to become incredibly successful, which is probably why they have so much clout,” McCurdy said.
McCurdy has been a member of Smile and Nod since his freshman year. He said performing improv is very different from what the audience might expect.
“You’ve got to go with your gut,” McCurdy said. “When you’re coming up with everything yourself, you can be really invested in what you’re saying. You’ve got to listen to the other performers and be generous and supportive with them.”
McCurdy said he is excited about the opportunity to learn from these comedy greats.
The Second City will also host an improv workshop for interested members of Smile and Nod.
Some members, such as Amy Shank, have already benefitted from the tutelage of The Second City.
Shank, a theatre arts senior, spent January through May 2011 studying at The Second City in Chicago.
“It’s called the ‘comic studies program,’ and it’s hosted through Columbia College in Chicago,” Shank said. “The credits come from Columbia, but the classes take place in Second City. It’s a really great program, taught by the best teachers that teach there. It’s like a semester at any normal university, I took six classes: improv, acting, satire, physical and vocal training, history of comedy and comedic sketch writing.”
As with any shot at fame, comedy can be competitive. Students such as Shank have to complete a set of core classes at the training center to even be given the opportunity to try out.
Shank said she plans to return to Chicago in the fall to audition for a coveted spot on The Second City.
“There’s an audition for conservatory, an audition for main stage, another audition for their other main stage called ETC and an audition to perform on cruise ships and tour groups,” Shank said.
Shank said participating with a bigger comedy troupe is “the only way to make money as a professional improv comic.”
Though it may not be a lucrative career choice, making people laugh might help improve the quality of their life.
Psychology professor Laura Freberg said mimicking of facial expressions can help performers feel those emotions. Freberg received her doctorate in psychology from University of California, Los Angeles. She teaches classes on biological psychology, as well as sensation and perception.
In an email, Freberg wrote that the brain interprets the movements of our faces and bodies, and turns these into emotional responses. She also wrote that people who are instructed to move their faces into expressions mimicking surprise without being told why will feel surprised.
“Research suggest(s) that if you assume a facial expression or posture related to laughter, you should indeed have a more positive emotional experience,” Freberg wrote.
Freberg also cited a WebMD article that stated humor increases blood flow, heightens immune system response and reduces the subjective experience of pain.
So, taking the time to relax and take in a local comedy event may have the added bonus of improving your health. If nothing else, it’s good for a few laughs.
Tickets for The Second City’s March 8 appearance are on sale at www.pacslo.org for $36.