Second City is opening its first-ever location in New York
The Chicago-based comedy school that has launched the careers of countless comedians, is opening in Williamsburg next summer
Second City, the comedy school that has launched the careers of countless comedians — from Bill Murray to Eugene Levy to Steve Carell to Tina Fey to Amy Poehler to Mike Myers to Chris Farley to … you get it — is opening in Brooklyn.
The institution recently announced that it’s opening an 11,900 square-foot entertainment complex with several classrooms, a theater for performances and full-service bar and restaurant next summer in Williamsburg. An exact address wasn’t revealed.
“New York City is a renowned hub for talent and culture, and we could not be more thrilled to bring The Second City’s unique brand of improv-based entertainment and education to the city as we continue to foster the next generation of comedy,” said The Second City CEO Ed Wells in a disappointingly unfunny press release.
Wells told the New York Times that opening here “just feels obvious” and that the city is its third-largest market for virtual classes after Chicago and Hollywood.
Perhaps surprisingly, this is the first time the Second City has had a New York location, with its others currently located in Chicago and Toronto. The Chicago Tribune hypothesizes that Brooklyn, rather than Manhattan, was chosen because “many people argue is somewhat similar to Chicago” and that it’s cheaper than Midtown. (The Second City didn’t immediately return our question if that’s true…)
Founded in 1959, the comedy institution is the oldest ongoing improvisational theater troupe in Chicago and has influenced the trajectory of American comedy consistently ever since.
