As part of the ongoing partnership with the Arkansas Repertory Theatre, the members of the Second City comedy troupe from Chicago participated in a panel discussion at the Clinton School on Friday afternoon. The group is performing through October 23 at The Rep.
The panel, featuring cast members Lindsay Haley, Nicole Hastings, Barry Hite, Tim Stoltenberg and Chris Witaske answered questions posed by producing artistic director Bob Hupp and entertained the audience with stories of hits and misses from past shows.
The discussion focused both on the history of the Second City, one of the most famous comedy troupes in the country that has spawned the careers of comedians such as Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert and Gilda Radner, as well as the current show that is playing at The Rep. Witaske, a native Chicagoan, reminisced of his days spent as a child watching his heroes perform at Second City shows.
Each of the panelists brings a different background to the show, but they all agree on two things: that active listening is one of the most important aspects of improv, and that “comedians are supposed to hold a mirror up to society,” the panelists said.
The cast members spoke about the audition process, where up to 1,000 people might audition for one or two Second City slots, only to spend the first 18 months as an understudy before being selected as a lead.
One of the most insightful questions of the day was the query of whether a person is born funny, or if they become funny hanging around other funny people. The cast members unanimously agreed that a lot of their comedic influence has come from their families and friends and that a person can learn to be funny.
The panel touched on the different reactions the group has gotten in different locations, being met with silence in places where the same skit would have elicited laughter in other places.
“The most important thing is to instill a response from the audience; it doesn’t matter if it’s good or bad,” Stoltenberg said.
Click here to watch the video of the discussion.
This post was written by Clinton School student Veena Rangaswami (’13).
Responses