Never the same show twice

Published 1:00 pm Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Yes, this is how Bill Murray got his start in comedy. And Steven Colbert and Julia Louis-Dreyfus and a host of other comedians considered to be the funniest of the funny.

The Second City National Touring Company has spawned many great comedians, quite a few who have gone on to the Second City permanent stages in cities such as Chicago and Toronto. From there they have spun off to Saturday Night Live, movies and cable comedy shows.

One Second City touring company is coming to the Admiral Theatre in Bremerton Oct. 21 with “Truth, Justice, or the American Way,” a performance featuring some of the best sketches, songs and improvisations from Second City’s 45-year history.

That’s right, 45 years. While Second City burst into the average American home with the advent of the TV show SCTV in 1977, the ever-changing troupe of comedians has been around since the 1950s.

Second City has gone through many changes in the past four decades, moving from a small group of University of Chicago students to television, radio, film and touring companies.

The Second City Touring Company first began bringing improvisational comedy to American cities in 1967 and it’s been touring ever since.

Inaugural Second City members included Alan Alda, Alan Arkin, Ed Asner and Jerry Stiller, but without question the most famous comedians to come out of the Second City stable are the ones who crossed over to Saturday Night Live in 1975: John Belushi, Dan Akroyd, Gilda Radner and Bill Murray. Others followed the well-worn path, including Tina Fey, Steven Colbert and Steve Carell.

They may not be household names yet, but for the six actors coming to Bremerton, this could be their big break. All of them come with serious comedy resumés.

Tim Baltz has been doing improv in Chicago for four years, where he also assistant coaches a college improv team and appears in a two-person show called Nogoodnicks.

Rebecca Hanson co-founded the first improv group at Northwestern College and developed a one-act play based on her life story that ended up touring nationally.

Hans Holsen keeps his wit sharpened by improvising at ImprovOlympic with the resident companies Baby Wants Candy and Little Room, and in the late-night show Lanky.

Brendan Jennings calls being in the Second City troupe “a dream come true,” and has performed in a host of improv groups including Streetmosphere at Walt Disney World and Mission Improvable.

Mary Sohn trained at the Second City conservatory and recently performed on the Norwegian Cruise Lines with Second City.

Dana Quercioli performed in two mainstage revues with the Second City Cleveland and performs with several improv groups in Chicago, including BabyMakers and Showpony.

“Truth, Justice, or the American Way” is a mixture of semi-improvised and scripted scenes. As with all the Second City revues, new material is developed during unscripted improv sessions in which scenes are created based on audience suggestions. Second City also incorporates live, improvised music into the performance. Joe Grazulis provides the musical accompaniment for this troupe.

The Second City performs 8 p.m. Oct. 21 at the Admiral Theatre, 515 Pacific Ave., Bremerton.

Tickets are $20 main floor, $15 loge, $12 balcony, available at the box office or by phone at (360) 373-6743.