As Second City celebrates 50 years of creating comedy, its influence appears to be as widespread as it is enduring.
A printed list of prominent alumni fills five sheets with two columns of single-spaced names.
Included performers span eras and attitudes as divergent as the dependable traditional actor Alan Alda and unpredictable counterculture comedian Andy Dick.
Founded in 1959 in Chicago as a 150-seat improvisational comedy club, Second City has evolved into a diverse corporate entity. Its businesses include:
• Toronto and Chicago comedy clubs.
• Several ensembles offering national and international touring shows.
• Comedian training centers in Toronto, Chicago and Los Angeles.
• Development of new products for television and film audiences.
• Tutors for corporate and professional clients on how to use improv techniques to make them more effective in the business world.
• Performances and workshops for passengers on seven ships of Norwegian Cruise Line.
Second City started with a group of intellectuals, mostly from the University of Chicago, forming a comedy theater in a run-down former Chinese laundry at the end of the buttoned-down 1950s.
The troupe took its name from a snobby reference to Chicago in an A.J. Liebling piece in the New Yorker. Some early cast members were recruited from the group's predecessor, the Compass Players.
From one generation to the next, Second City has cranked out talent with clockwork regularity. "It's a comedy factory," says Harold Ramis, a former cast member turned director-writer-actor-producer.
Second City exploded on the national scene in the 1970s with the popularity of "Animal House" and "Saturday Night Live" -- both featuring alumnus John Belushi. The troupe's Chicago and Toronto casts became a comedy college for future "SNL" casts.
As "SNL" was getting off the ground, another show, "SCTV" in Canada, was introducing comic talents such as Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Andrea Martin, Dave Thomas, Joe Flaherty and John Candy -- all of whom were on Second City's Toronto stage.
Over the years, the cast has played before its share of celebrities. Among them: Sir Edmund Hillary, the Mt. Everest hero, who came with a Sherpa to watch a mountain-climbing skit; Cary Grant; and Groucho Marx. Ramis says the sharp-tongued comedian teased him about the size of his hair and nose, asking if they were fake. They weren't.
It's a comedy institution unlike any other, says Kelly Leonard, executive vice president of Second City.
"I don't know any (other) comedic institution that has stayed relevant from 1959 to now," Leonard says. "No one else has gone across time like that. We have created a performance format that gets young blood, allows them to fail, succeed, fail, succeed. They get really, really good, and then they leave."
When they do leave, they don't disappear.
Some of the more notable alumni include Comedy Central political satirist Stephen Colbert of "The Colbert Report"; "30 Rock" writer and performer Tina Fey; and Dan Castellaneta, the voice of Homer Simpson.
"In the beginning, we were a theater. Today, we are the largest improv school in the world," Leonard says. "We have always been a bit loose and fringy."
Evidence of Second City's loose and fringy side will be on display tonight through Saturday at the O'Reilly Theater as the Pittsburgh Public Theater hosts a quintet of Second City performers in "The Second City's 50th Anniversary Tour."
Ross Bryant, Tim Robinson, Edgar Blackmon, Dana Quercioli and Megan Wilkins will perform classic sketches, songs and improvisations from Second City's 50-year history and display their own improvisational abilities with sketches and scenes they create on the spot from audience suggestions.
Part of the fun of watching an improvisational performance is that neither audience nor performer knows exactly what's going to happen. Sometimes, the result is wildly funny.
Other attempts crash and burn without generating so much as an upturned corner of the mouth. That's OK. Each skit is short, and the next one might be brilliant.
"Second City is a company that embraces failure," Leonard says. "Failure is part of success: getting up in front of an audience to find what works and what doesn't. It's all part of the process. It's liberating not to have to worry about it."
"I was booed off the stage -- that was not fun," says George Wendt ("Cheers"), a cast member in the '70s, recalling a "poor taste" improvisation about nuns, priests and sex. Wendt walked outside before being called back.
Second City humor isn't designed to shock, just to be funny. Skits deal with the fodder of everyday life -- marriage, money troubles, neighbors, bosses.
"It's a direct reflection of the audience, commenting on the things that worry them, that concern them and finding some humor in them," says Bonnie Hunt, a former cast member turned talk-show host, actress and director.
Most cast members come up through the training centers and a much smaller conservatory, then audition (sometimes several times). They usually start with a touring company or the smaller Chicago e.t.c. stage.
Like any business, not every part succeeds. Second City stages opened and closed in cities including Detroit; Cleveland; Santa Monica, Calif.; New York; and Las Vegas.
Sheldon Patinkin, who has been with the show all 50 years and is now artistic consultant, says, "I don't see any reason why it shouldn't go on. Satire is always relevant."
Second City is legendary for producing talented, often comedic performers such as Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, Bill Murray, Anne Meara, Elaine May and John Belushi. Here are some additional well-known entertainers who got their start and learned their craft with Second City performances:
Alan Alda (1959, Compass Players): Best remembered as Hawkeye Pierce in the long-running TV series "M*A*S*H." He won four Emmys for his work in the series, and another Emmy, in 2005, for his work on "The West Wing."
Jane Alexander (1959, Compass Players): Has appeared onstage, in films and on television. From 1993 to '98, she was chairwoman of the National Endowment for the Arts. In January, she appeared in "A Moon to Dance By" with The Rep, the professional company of the Pittsburgh Playhouse.
Ed Asner (1959, Compass Players): Won Emmy awards for playing his most remembered TV character -- Lou Grant -- in both a drama, "Lou Grant," and a comedy, "Mary Tyler Moore." He also served as president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1981 to '85.
Peter Boyle (1967, Chicago Mainstage): Most widely remembered for his film role as Frankenstein's monster in "Young Frankenstein" and as Frank Barone on "Everyone Loves Raymond." Died in 2006.
Dan Castellaneta (1984, Chicago Mainstage and Chicago e.t.c. stage): Provides the voices for Homer Simpson, Grandpa Simpson, Krusty the Clown and many other characters on "The Simpsons."
Stephen Colbert (1991, Chicago Mainstage and Chicago e.t.c.): Collaborated with fellow Second City troupers Amy Sedaris and Paul Dinello to create "Exit 57" for Comedy Central. In 1997, he became a correspondent on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show," and in 2005, he got his own show, "The Colbert Report."
Andy Dick (1989, Los Angeles): Offbeat and often out-of-control comedian best known for his role in the '90s TV show "NewsRadio."
Rachel Dratch (1995, Chicago Mainstage): Created the character of Debbie Downer during her seven seasons on "Saturday Night Live." She has had roles on TV shows that include "30 Rock" and "Ugly Betty."
Colin Ferguson (1993, founding member of Second City's Detroit stage): Has been playing Sheriff Jack Carter on the sci-fi TV show "Eureka" that debuted in 2006.
Tina Fey (1996, Chicago Mainstage): Executive producer, head writer and star of three-time Emmy Award-winning comedy series "30 Rock." She's also a nine-season veteran writer and cast member of "Saturday Night Live."
Mary Gross (1979, Chicago Mainstage): Writer and performer on "Saturday Night Live." She continues to make frequent appearances on TV with roles in episodes of "General Hospital" and "Boston Legal."
Shelley Long (1976, Chicago Mainstage): Best known for her Emmy-winning performance as Diane in the TV comedy series "Cheers." She continues to make frequent appearances on TV, such as this year's appearances on "Modern Family" and the TV movie "Ice Dreams."
Paul Mazursky (1959, Compass Players, and later Second City Improvisational Revue in Los Angeles): Became a writer and independent filmmaker, creating films that included "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice," "Down and Out in Beverly Hills," "Moscow on the Hudson" and "Enemies: A Love Story."
Jack McBrayer (1999, Chicago e.t.c. stage): Best known as Kenneth Parcell on the TV series "30 Rock." He also has had roles in the NASCAR comedy "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" and Judd Apatow's "Forgetting Sarah Marshall."
Gilda Radner (1973, Toronto and Chicago Mainstages): Worked as a writer and performer on "Saturday Night Live," where she created the characters of Roseanne Rosannadanna, Baba Wawa and news anchor Emily Litella. She died of cancer in 1989.
Harold Ramis (1969, Chicago mainstage, and a writer and performer on "Second City TV"): Actor, writer and producer who had roles in "Stripes," "Groundhog Day" and "GhostBusters" and worked on screenplays including "Caddyshack," "Analyze This," "Groundhog Day" and "GhostBusters."
Joan Rivers (1961, touring troupe): Comedian-turned-Oscar fashion commentator. She recently hosted the TV reality series "How'd You Get So Rich?" and was declared the winner on the second season of Donald Trump's "The Celebrity Apprentice."
Horatio Sanz (1996, Chicago e.t.c. stage): Former cast member of "Saturday Night Live." He has appeared in the movies "Road Trip," "Boat Trip" and "Tom Cats" and is a founding member of long-form improv group "The Upright Citizens Brigade."
Amy Sedaris (1990, Chicago Mainstage): Best known as a writer and performer on the TV show "Strangers With Candy." She has written several books including "I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence."
Dave Thomas (Co-founder of "Second City TV" comedy series in 1976): Actor, TV writer and producer, he and Rick Moranis co-created the characters Bob and Doug McKenzie, who later were featured in the 1983 film "The Adventures of Bob & Doug McKenzie: Strange Brew."
Nia Vardalos (1991, performed at Second City in Canada and Chicago): Star of "My Life in Ruins" and "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," which she also wrote.
George Wendt (Served for six years as an actor and comedy writer in Chicago starting in 1974): For 11 years, played Norm on "Cheers" and received six Emmy nominations.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Additional Information:Second City's 50th Anniversary Tour
Presented by: Pittsburgh Public Theater
When: 8 p.m. today and Friday, 5:30 and 9 p.m. Saturday
Admission: $28-$48; $15 for students and age 26 and younger
Where: O'Reilly Theater, 621 Penn Ave., Downtown
Details: 412-316-1600 or Web site
