The Second City Training Center

The Second City Training Center was founded in the mid-1980s to facilitate the growing demand for workshops and instruction from the Second City theatre. The Training Centers are located in Chicago and [1] Toronto.[2] Satellite Centers formerly existed in Metro Detroit, Las Vegas, Cleveland, New York City[3] and Los Angeles.[4]

History

Former Training Center students include Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Scott Adsit, Anders Holm, Amy Poehler, Cecily Strong, Mike Myers, Chris Farley, Tim Meadows, Bonnie Hunt, Stephen Colbert, Halle Berry, Sean Hayes, Jon Favreau, Hinton Battle, Jack McBrayer, Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald and Josh Willis.[5][6][7][8][9]

From 1985 until his death in 2001, the Second City Training Center was headed by Martin de Maat. The Chicago Training Center facility is now dedicated to him and features a plaque bearing one of his most famous quotes, "You are pure potential."

The Second City Training Centers currently operate under the leadership of Kevin Frank (Artistic Director, Toronto), Nancy Hayden (Artistic Director, Chicago) and Kerry Sheehan (President, Second City Training Centers).[10][11][12] The Artistic Director of the now closed Hollywood facility was Joshua Funk.[13]

References

  1. ^ The Second City. "Take a Comedy Class! - The Second City Chicago". secondcity.com. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  2. ^ The Second City. "Take a Comedy Class! - The Second City Toronto". secondcity.com. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  3. ^ The Second City. "Sitemap". secondcity.com. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  4. ^ "Legendary comedy institution Second City to open new location in Williamsburg". Brooklyn Eagle. October 16, 2023. Archived from the original on October 25, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  5. ^ "Using Comedy to Communicate Climate Change". aaas.org. 11 April 2017. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  6. ^ Willis, Joshua. "Science - Sea Level And Ice (329C): People: Joshua Willis". science.jpl.nasa.gov. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  7. ^ "Josh Willis". YouTube. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  8. ^ "Watch a NASA scientist and a yellow puppet explore Greenland's melting glaciers". motherjones.com. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  9. ^ "Josh Willis (@omgnasa) - Twitter". twitter.com. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  10. ^ "chicago/improv-program". staging.secondcity.com. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  11. ^ "The Second City Training Center - Chicago". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  12. ^ "The Second City Training Center - Lincoln Park - Chicago, IL". Yelp. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  13. ^ "Joshua Funk - The Second City". The Second City. Retrieved August 29, 2024.