Major LOLs

After more than half a century and over two dozen Saturday Night Live cast members, Second City continues to celebrate 50 years of improvisational comedy—three years late—with a premeditated tour. Ironic, eh? Founded by Paul Sills, Howard Alk, and Bernie Sahlins, Second City opened its first theater on a “snowy” Chicago evening in 1959 inside an ex-Chinese laundry. There, the troupe developed and perfected a uniquely creative way of performing comedy based on improvisational games created by Sills’ mother, theater teacher Viola Spolin. Second City expanded into Toronto and eventually branched out into television. John Candy, Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara were among the SCTV cast, a show about a fictional television studio and the eccentric folks behind the scene. But the list of notable Second City alumni doesn’t end there. Tina Fey, Mike Myers, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi and Marin Short were just some of the Second City main players who landed on Saturday Night Live. Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell, Alan Arkin, and Dan Castellaneta went on to huge careers outside of the SNL realm. And the list of Second City writers, producers, directors, and alcoholics could fill a book. The troupe visits Aventura Arts & Cultural Center (3385 NE 188 St., Aventura) on the Laugh Out Loud Tour, Thursday at 8 p.m. Wonder where the Laugh Out Loud cast will land?
Thu., Feb. 2, 8 p.m., 2012