It’s been sixty-five years since the curtain first rose on the Second City, and a comedy revolution was set into motion. Picture it: a small cabaret theater in 1959 Chicago. You pay your $1.50 to see the show. You go inside, stamping the snow off your boots, and enjoy a night of improv, satire, music, and burgers, which are being flipped in the kitchen in the back. You leave a few hours later with a smile on your face. 

That was the beginning. That little company, named for its home city of Chicago (a.k.a. the Second City), eventually expanded to include multiple touring companies as well as a resident cast. It’s made it to Broadway, won numerous awards, grown to include a second location in New York, and spawned such comedy greats as Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, Martin Short, Tina Fey, Steve Carrell, Catherine O’Hara, and the Belushi brothers, to name only a few.

And this year, the Second City celebrates sixty-five years of laughs—which they’re bringing to Texas Lutheran University on Wednesday, March 26, with The Best of the Second City: 65 Years of Funny. 

The show promises to be the ultimate comedy party, featuring hilarious songs, unforgettable characters, and reimagined iconic sketches written by the greats. It is brought to the community by TLU’s Brown Event, sponsored by the Jessie S. and Jack Harold Upton Brown Cultural Enrichment Endowment Fund. The Brown Event is a multi-event series that has taken place every year since 2010, bringing world-class speakers and entertainers to campus and sharing them with the whole community. The Second City show, which is free and open to the public, is scheduled for Wednesday, March 26, at 7 p.m. in Jackson Auditorium. Please be aware that the show may contain adult or mature content, and the material is often more appropriate for an audience aged 17 and older.