Second City NYC starts ticket sales before opening
Williamsburg, prepare to be entertained.
Chicago’s popular comedy ensemble The Second City has arrived in the boroughs.
The Midwest sketch and improv institution announced last October that it would be opening its first location in New York City this year, and now, less than 12 months later, tickets are going on sale at The Second City New York started online.
“For more than six decades, we have trained and nurtured talent on our stages in Chicago and Toronto, many of whom come to us from New York. “Although The Second City has toured the city regularly since the 1960s, we never put down roots,” Ed Wells, CEO of The Second City, told The Post on Tuesday. “This is a time when demand for great live comedy is growing, and we’re excited to lead the way in New York City.”
Wells previously blamed the end of the coronavirus pandemic for the decision to finally open a branch in Brooklyn after 63 years in the Windy City and 50 years in Toronto.
(There were also branches in Detroit and Las Vegas, but both are now closed.)
“As we came out of the pandemic and saw the resurgence of our stages and our consumer demand and the fact that we were selling out every night, it became more immediate for us to think about expanding,” he explained last year, adding “New York just feels obvious.”
The nearly 12,000-square-foot funny house complex at 64 N. Ninth St. will officially open Nov. 16.
Eager fans can secure entry now by purchasing a seat to the venue’s first shows, including “The First City Revue,” a celebration of NYC through improvisation and sketch comedy; “Jack Frost Roasting On an Open Fire,” an interactive comic holiday revue; and “Improv Holiday Brunch,” a seasonal comedic experience paired with a la carte dining and mimosas.
The Second City – whose alumni include Stephen Colbert, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Keegan-Michael Key and is known for nurturing talent – will also have a restaurant and training center in the new space, complete with a bar full-service restaurant, two live cabaret-style theaters and seven classrooms.
Registration for certain center classes at the hub is now also possible online.
