Renowned comedy theater company the Second City will appear at 10 p.m. Friday in Alumni Hall in the Indiana Memorial Union.
The troupe will perform the company’s traveling show “Fully Loaded.”
The show is part of IMU Late Nite and Taste of the Union, which is 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. Friday.
IMU Program Coordinator Mara Dahlgren said the entire event is aimed at allowing students to fully experience the Union.
“A lot of people have heard of the Second City,” she said. “I’d say they are a bigger act for us, and we want to show off what the IMU can do for Late Nite.”
The Chicago-based theater, which opened in December 1959, sparked careers of famous comedic performers such as Chris Farley, Amy Poehler, Bill Murray and Mike Myers.
The Second City has locations in Chicago and Toronto, as well as a training center in Los Angeles.
“Fully Loaded” features new content from previous sold-out shows in Chicago and Toronto, as well as sketches made famous by the Second City alumni Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert and Steve Carell, according to its website.
Nate DuFort, producing director of the Second City touring companies, said the show puts these archived scenes together in a thematic way according to this cast’s interpretation.
The cast includes Jo Feldman, Julie Marchiano, Chucho Pérez, Nick Rees, Adam Schreck and Julia Weiss. It will be directed by Ryan Archibald.
“In this, we’re dealing a lot with relationships that are potentially loaded,” DuFort said.
The show examines the family unit through history and modern culture, he said.
One sketch involves looking at the world through the eyes of employees at American Apparel.
“The great thing about watching this show and this cast is that the show changes night to night,” he said.
Doors open for “Fully Loaded” at 9:15 p.m.
Though sketches featured in the show are pre-written, the cast improvises certain parts alongside the archived scenes and creates “those magical moments” that exist only one time on stage, DuFort said.
“In addition to that written material, there are improvised games and scenes where you see the cast shine their brightest,” he said.
Bridget Murray
