Advertise on podcast: Second Citizens

In Basketball there is a type of player that comes along once or twice in a generation that they call a Unicorn. As you might guess the Unicorn is unique, mainly because they can do a variety of things that haven’t been done before. They stand out in a sport where there are a lot of talented and versatile performers. My guest today, Angela Shelton, fits the definition of a Second City Unicorn, having accomplished things that no one else in the Sixty plus years of the theater’s existence has achieved.  Her Second City experience started when she opened the first ever show at the Second City Detroit in 1993.  After writing four shows there she moved north to the Second city Toronto where she became only the second African American performer in that theaters 20 plus year history (more on that later).  Having worked at Two different theaters in two different countries is enough to Put Angela into Rare air, but she was barely half way done as she then moved to Chicago writing shows  on both the ETC and Mainstage, making her the only person to open a show on Three Second city Stages. And if you are keeping score, you’ve figured out she’s also the only person to open a resident company show on FOUR Second City stages.   I am thrilled to welcome the unicorn that is Angela Shelton.

One of the essential experiences for a second city performer is to be a member of the national touring company.  Although not every person who ends up writing a show for the second city starts in the touring company, for the vast majority of us Touring was our first major indoctrination in “The Second City Way" Traversing the country with a van full of idiots, who’s only job is to make people laugh can be a lot of fun and at times can be almost no fun at all. But it’s rare to find an alum who doesn’t cherish their touring days. Todays guest, Matt Craig was already in Blue Co when I joined in 2000 and he was in every show with me for the year that I toured and I’m sure we’ll get into some of those stories and though we never shared a second city stage together after touring, I will always consider Matt to be vital to my experience at second city and it really wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that I probably would never have been on the main stage if not for Matt,  and now Matt Craig

Now that we are several episodes into our podcast, we’ve had an opportunity to discuss a wide variety of the second city world.  We’ve had actors from Toronto, Detroit, Vegas, Chicago. We’ve talked about writing shows for cruise ships and college crowds and corporate audiences.  But there is a vital element we’ve left out to this point. Who is directing these shows? Today we remedy that, with our guest and my first director of a second city show, Marc Marzecha. However Marc’s work at the second city goes far beyond anything he did with me. As one of the first second city actors in Detroit, Marc had a complete immersion into the second city by the time our paths crossed. 

Even semi regular listeners to our pod know what a landmark event the 50th anniversary show was for the second city. And if you know that, you’ve likely heard me joke about my lament over quitting right BEFORE that show. Ha ha, funny joke. But after doing 4 shows on the main drain, it was time. Luckily, today I’m gonna find out exactly what I missed from our guest today, Andy St. Clair Before joining the main stage for the 50th anniversary show Andy had worked with 4 directors to write 5 Shows in the etc.  Loyal listeners know my penchant for mentioning Second city records and statistics and I believe this is at least tied for the ETC record.  Because I love sports analogies and because he’s tall, , I’d like to discuss  Andy’s time at the Second city in a way i’m sure we all understand by using the metaphor of Professional basketball in the 70’s.  The Etc theater has always been considered the less buttoned up counterpart to the Main Stage, less about structure and convention and more free wheeling and fun. Not unlike the ABA, the successful counterpart to the NBA that existed from the mid 60’s to the mid 70’s. Many hall of fame players started in the ABA before joining the NBA when it absorbed their league.  I tried to look for a Basketball comp for Andy amongst the ABA players. This obviously led me down a rabbit hole that I will spare you the details of, other than to say Artis Gilmore, Dr. J and lesser known Mel Daniels were the best matches.  But back to Andy, who I suspect wouldn’t have done another ETC show after his 5 show run there, but was intrigued by the main stage opportunity regardless of the 50th anniversary.  And so, not unlike Bill Walton joining the 86 Celtics for their Championship run, Andy took the leap and threw himself into what surely was one of the most pressure filled processes and  impactful shows in the history of the theater.   And while I could continue to draw parallels to George McGinnis and George Gervin, I think it’s better to end the intro and turn our attention to Andy St. Clair.  

When you hear the word “Artist” it likely evokes any number of thoughts. Creator, free thinker… unemployment and on and on.   While everyone who has worked at the second city certainly was an Artist, creating art for the public to consume, very few of the performers at the second city, especially men would ever be described in that way.  Words like “wise ass”, “Jock”, “bully” and “maniac” are all much more accurate descriptors for the bulk of us.  But Artist is the word that keeps coming into my head when I think of Alex Fendrich, our guest today.  He’s a man of many talents a man who isn’t afraid to show his  emotions or to follow flights of fancy where ever they may lead. (This is of vital importance for an improviser). If you told me he was a sculptor, or a choreographer or a french horn player it wouldn’t surprise me.  Theres just something about him that gives off a creative energy.

When people are hired as a cast member of a Second City show, they are only contracted through the run of that single show, but by and large the expectation is that a cast member will stay for several shows.  It makes sense for everyone by limiting the amount of turnover, creating stronger bonds with casts and letting the performers build on the lessons of previous shows. There have been a few instances where a cast member didn’t work out or a new director wanted to go in another direction or perhaps they just got mad and punched a wall and quit (shout out to our first guest Dan Bakkadahl).  Today’s guest, Megan Grano, only wrote one show on the etc theater, before moving to LA. I am certain she could have done more shows if she desired and at the time the decision was certainly an unusual one. But looking back on it, there was a lot of practicality in that choice and recent years have seen many more Second City actors choose the path of “getting it on the resume” and than moving on to bigger things. 

We’ve spoken a good deal about the variety of “types” that tend to make up a second city cast.  You have the force of nature, farley types The “Sassy girlfriend” of course the Angry white guy, as represented by yours truly.. But every now and again you get a total outlier, something really unique that doesn’t fit the usual mold.  Today’s guest, Ithamar Enriquez is among  those “one of a kind’s”. He is a natural performer and entertainer, with a real throwback style that evokes The Marx Brothers, Silent Films and Vaudeville.  He is able to embody all of the mystery and intrigue of a master magician without ANY of the creepiness that almost always accompanies that energy. 

I’ve spoken several times about the “Detroit Invasion” that brought an influx of young diverse talent to the Chicago Theater around the turn of the century.  Todays guest, Josh Funk, was the Tip of the Spear of that invasion, having done it all in Detroit before immediately establishing himself as a cornerstone director during his years in Chicago. It seemed like Josh was always in the building during those years and his utility proved as valuable as ever. I would guess no one before or since has ever worked for the second city as an actor, writer,  director, musical director AND even stage manager! (no offense to stage managers for the “even” it’s probably the hardest and most thankless job at Second City. 

I’ve spoken about the Annoyance theater before on the show, especially in the episodes with Susan messing (my ex wife) and Ed Furman. ( my always improv crush).  But in all honesty, it completely slipped my mind that they had been preceded on the stages by many years by the true Annoyance pioneer, my guest today Rebecca Sohn. I think it’s important to point this out, because the Annoyance theater was always the place where truly ANYTHING went, and while that may have been incredibly psychologically damaging to everyone involved personally,  it did produce some amazing comedy.  And ironically, it was that anarchistic energy of the annoyance that the Second city seemed to want nothing to do with, writing it off as skatalogical or “dirty” or too dark.  But as the years pass, especially recently, I recognize that there is no such thing as too dark.   Especially for a theater that purports to be doing social commentary. 

Todays guest, Jean Villipique had what one might consider a “prototypical” career on the stages of the Second City Chicago, having written and performed two shows in both the ETC theater and then the Main Stage, insuring she got a solid dose of every experience offered by the Second City.  As in all of our episodes we’ll get into these experiences and Jean’s observations on them, but Jean holds a special place in my heart not for her on stage contributions, which are impressive in their own right, but rather for the gift that Jean helped give to all the performers who followed her at the Second city.   I’ve mentioned before that the positions on the stages at second city are equity jobs that pay a (barely) living wage and provide health insurance for the performers. Every cast has an equity deputy who makes sure the theater is holding up their end of the bargain on that contract and raises any issues the cast may have to the producers. It’s not a job anyone (other than me) would really want and often falls to the person who gives the least compelling reason why they would be bad at the job. While i’m not sure how Jean got the position of equity deputy, I do know she held that position during a pivotal time for the actors. Because aside from the day to day duties, every few years the equity deputies take part in re-negotiating the contract with the theater. This is where the story gets good!

The second city has always aspired to be more than just funny, otherwise they wouldn’t include the quote dubbing them “the temple of satire” in EVERY SINGLE PIECE OF PARAPHANILIA THEY PUT OUT. (this may be a slight exaggeration) Point is they need people with opinions, people who have experienced some of the things that the second city audience will relate to AS WELL AS people who have experiences that may not be so familiar to the audience, but are important to understand.  As I’ve stated over and over, one of the blind spots for Second City in it’s first 40 years was trying to do social commentary with a homogenous cast. While those performers may have been sympathetic to issues involving marginalized segments of our population there is something lacking when the information comes “second hand”.  I can only tell you what ive observed about racism, not what i’ve experienced, and there’s a great divide between those two experiences.  Growing up as a black man a short distance from Comisky park, David was as much of a Chicagoan as anyone else who has ever worked at the second city. But it was a different chicago than the one that the Murray’s or Belushi’s or most of the audience grew up in.  one that was just a few train stops, and yet a world away.   I think the Second City recognized what they had with Pompeii, as they used the hell out of him during his time at the theater, seemingly in every project that popped up and even sending him to Canada at one point. We will get into that too. But before we do i just want to add personally that anyone who Ed Furman chooses to partner and write with has got to be one funny m**********r. David Pompeii is that guy. 

As a breeding ground for satire and comedy, the second city has long had a reputation for producing comedy anarchists, and with good reason. Names like Belushi, Farley or Tim Robinson immediately conjure images of untethered, primal forces of nature wreaking havoc on anything in their paths.  But all of this unbridled energy is useless if there is no focus. A cannon is only effective when you have someone to point it in the right direction and pull the trigger at the appropriate time. To me, our guest today, Ron West, exemplifies that more considered and technical side of the Second City family.