This city’s second to none

By Mark Pietrowski

A man was shot at 7:03 p.m. Tuesday night at the Holmes Student Center’s Duke Ellington Ballroom, and Brooks & Dunn weren’t even in town.

Actually, 650 people packed the ballroom to laugh at a touring comedy troupe from Second City in Chicago.

-Second City was established in 1959 as a Chicago landmark and has launched the careers of comedy stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Mike Myers.

During the opening skit, a Second City member did a song-and-dance routine about being a morning person, after which he promptly was shot in the back by an angry woman in a robe.

It became apparent when the first f— was uttered that the show was geared toward a college audience.

The troupe consisted of six performers — three males and three females.

“It fulfilled our expectations, and it looks like it fulfilled the expectations of many in the audience as well,” said Tiffany Gonzales, Campus Activities Board speaker coordinator.

The Second City troupe proved it wasn’t afraid to make political statements.

Another skit portrayed a mock press secretary conference. When a member of the press asked if the United States ever would find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, the press secretary responded, “Of course. We bought them for Iraq in the 1980s; we just have to locate all of the receipts.”

“My favorite part [of the show] was in the beginning with the press conference stuff because it dealt with current events,” said Christina Wadman, a junior communication health major.

-During another political skit, the troupe performed a song about the “terrorism rainbow,” referring to the government’s color-coded terror alert chart.

“These guys are genius. They’re hilarious,” senior English major Robert Trefil said.

The troupe performed some of its best sketches from the past 44 years of Second City and also involved the audience in improv.

Two skits, one resembling a Spanish channel talk show and another a game of Pictionary gone wrong, garnered the greatest crowd reactions.

Gonzales said the event went well and CAB may consider bringing back Second City or a similar group.

The Second City troupe received a standing ovation at the end of the show. However, the troupe wasn’t satisfied with ending the show just then and asked the crowd if it wanted to see more. The crowd responded with a loud round of clapping and hollering.

During the encore, the troupe asked an audience member’s name, major, what he ate earlier and what he did during the day. The troupe then transformed into a fourth grade class who celebrated “Andrew Day” after the chicken-eating criminal justice major from Aurora.

Jenny Hagel, a member of the Second City troupe, said she would give the performance a 10 out of 10 and said they all had a good time.

Hagel has been performing with the troupe for two years and said college audiences always are really fun and energetic.