Young John Belushi Begins His Comedy Career Performing Live on Stage at Second City (1972) — openculture.com

The towering giants of 80s comedy—Harold Ramis, Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short, John Candy, Rick Moranis, Gilda Radner, Dan Ackroyd, Bill Murray—seem to have emerged as fully-formed geniuses on the soundstages of Saturday Night Live and in major comedy films and TV shows. Likewise more recent names like Bob Odenkirk, Tina Fey, Steve Carrell, Amy Sedaris, and Stephen Colbert. But the fact is, like most artists, these stars got their start on humbler stages—those of the Second City improv theater, the longest running troupe of its kind in the U.S. and Canada. Operating in Chicago, L.A., and Toronto, Second City began with a small group of University of Chicago actors, including the late Mike Nichols and his wife and comedy partner Elaine May. The first theater opened in 1959, and during the sixties Second City nurtured actors and comics like Alan Arkin, Del Close, Joan Rivers, and Peter Boyle.

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