Second City Quotes

• There's such a freewheeling nature to 'Second City,' and the greatest thing about 'Second City' was having a sophisticated audience night after night who appreciated what it was. They knew it wasn't all going to be great when you improvised, so they were very forgiving that way.

  Steve Carell

  Night, Cities, Forgiving

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• I learned more at The Second City than I did at Yale for all that high tuition.

  Robert Klein

  Yale, Cities, Tuition

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• I act the way I talk. It probably comes from starting out in Second City, improvisational theater. I can go from take to take. I'll ask for another take.

  Samuel L. Jackson

  Cities, Starting Out, Way

  Source: www.hollywood.com

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• The alumni of Second City from John Belushi to Martin Short have changed my entire life and brought a new kind of comedy to America and the World.

  Bernie Brillstein

  Cities, America, World

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• The first time I went to see a Second City show, I was in awe of everything. I just wanted to touch the same stage that Gilda Radner had walked on. It was sacred ground.

  Tina Fey

  Cities, Sacred, Firsts

  Interview by Eric Spitznagel, www.believermag.com. November 2003.

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• There are a lot of actors that are more talented than me at Second City who quit it before they even got to a paying status. Weird luck. I had no other option.

  Bill Murray

  Cities, Luck, Actors

  "Bill Murray talks Second City, fame in uncovered 1988 interview" by Tracy Swartz, www.chicagotribune.com. October 29, 2015.

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• When I was in college my improvisation troupe and I did a road trip to Chicago, and went to The Second City to see the classic 'Paradigm Lost' revue - with Tina Fey, Rachel Dratch, Scott Adsit and Kevin Dorff. It blew my mind, and proved to me you can do sketch comedy like you're doing 'Long Day's Journey into Night.' We could treat it like theater.

  Mike Birbiglia

  Night, Journey, College

  Source: www.hollywoodchicago.com

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• I never thought of myself as a comedic actor. I didn't go to Second City, that's not my background, I'm not a comic, I studied theater and my career when I started was a lot of dramatic stuff.

  Paul Rudd

  Cities, Careers, Actors

  Source: www.rogerebert.com

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• I met a bunch of people and they said, "We're gonna do a show [Second City]." So we would buy the theater out and do a show, and we did that for five years and we ended up becoming popular. It was before sketch comedy was hipster-time - when you would hand out a flier, people would roll their eyes. Now it's kind of cool.

  Simon Helberg

  Hipster, Eye, Cities

  Source: www.chicagotribune.com

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• I always honestly dreamed of coming to Second City in Chicago, although I've never even been there to see a show. But I did a ton of sketch comedy at the Second City in LA, which (at the time, in a different location) wasn't really a theater, it was just a space where you took some classes.

  Simon Helberg

  Space, Class, Cities

  Source: www.chicagotribune.com

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• I had spent years working in radio at different stations in Toronto; I wasn't in the stage company of Second City.

  Rick Moranis

  Cities, Years, Different

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• To romp along the connected rooftops and fire escapes of Chicagos second city of garages was my young lifes passion.

  Lynn Margulis

  Passion, Fire, Cities

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• Sin in the Second City is a masterful history lesson, a harrowing biography, and - best of all - a superfun read. The Everleigh story closely follows the turns of American history like a little sister. I can't recommend this book loudly enough.

  Darin Strauss

  Book, Cities, Little Sister

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• I grew up on Don Knotts and Jerry Lewis and all the guys from Second City.

  Harland Williams

  Cities, Guy, Grew Up

  Interview with Shawn Conner, www.vancouversun.com. December 4, 2013.

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• In a one-woman show, there must be compelling material that you adore. In both of these there are conversations with you and another character. My Second City (improvisation) background comes in very handy for accent and body posture.

  Valerie Harper

  Character, Cities, Body

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• I joined an improv group in college, which was a lot of fun. After I graduated, I moved to Chicago to try to get into the Second City.

  Steve Carell

  Fun, College, Cities

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• This is not to say there are not Chicagoans. But I would suggest that they are a nomadic people, whose lost home exists only in their minds, and in the glowing crystal memory cells they all carry in the palms of their hands: a great idea of a second city, lit with life and love, reasonable drink prices at cool bars, and, of course, blocks and blocks of bright and devastating fire.

  John Hodgman

  Memories, Life And Love, Block

  John Hodgman (2012). “The Areas of My Expertise”, p.140, Penguin

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• I think a lot of studios today are run by women, and we are entering a time when a lot of women have evolved in Second City and Upright Citizens Brigade and wanted to become writers and comedians.

  Judd Apatow

  Running, Thinking, Cities

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• I'm a huge fan of John Hughes and can say that 'Planes, Trains and Automobiles' is easily a top 3 favorite. I'm also a huge fan of all the Second City talent, and I think my Dad and Bill Murray are long lost twins.

  Ryan McPartlin

  Dad, Thinking, Cities

  "Biography / Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

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• First, I wanted to be Chris Farley. When I was growing up, Chris Farley was still on the stages and fun to us. In my house, John Belushi was king. I didn't grow up when he was - I was born in '78 - the reruns of Belushi in 'Animal House,' and knowing he was at Second City, he was viewed as a king in my house.

  Jake M. Johnson

  Kings, Growing Up, Fun

  "New Girl's Jake Johnson". Interview with Marah Eakin, www.avclub.com. May 8, 2012.

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• Well, actually, the Second City thing came about because I was taking a few improv classes there. I thought that the improv classes would help with my wrestling career, which it has.

  Trish Stratus

  Wrestling, Class, Cities

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• I went to Second City, where you learned to make the other actor look good so you looked good and National Lampoon, where you had to create everything out of nothing, and SNL, where you couldn't make any mistakes, and you learned what collaboration was.

  Bill Murray

  Mistake, Cities, Looks

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• Europe becomes more and more a province of Islam, a colony of Islam. And Italy is an outpost of that province, a stronghold of that colony... In each of our cities lies a second city: a Muslim city, a city run by the Quran. A stage in the Islamic expansionism.

  Oriana Fallaci

  Running, Lying, Islamic

  "La forza della ragione (The Force of Reason)". Book by Oriana Fallaci (p. 34), 2004.

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• I grew up in Chicago and was a huge fan of 'The Second City', so when I moved to L.A., I was looking for anything that resembled that... then I started 'The Groundlings', so I went to a show and it was very much like 'Second City'. I was so impressed that that same night I went backstage and I went up to the funniest person there.

  Kathy Griffin

  Night, Cities, Chicago

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• Tina Fey is part of a generation of women who have changed the face of comedy at 'Second City,' 'SNL,' in sitcoms and in film.

  Janeane Garofalo

  Cities, Fey, Generations

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