The Second City performed at Washington Hall Saturday night to a packed house of enthusiastic audience members. The North American comedy institution entertained the student body (or at least those lucky enough to get tickets) with both preplanned and on the spot humor encompassing a wide variety of subjects.

The Second City originated in Chicago, and the group takes its name from a derisive article about the city once printed in the New Yorker magazine. The group's routines are a mix of pre-written skits and improvisational sketches based on audience suggestions, usually with the goal of satirizing someone or some event.

This rag-tag group of University of Chicago students began performing in various locations around the city in 1959 until they bought an old Chinese laundry and turned it into a permanent theater.

The theater is still there today, and is considered a landmark of satirical comedy. The company now has theatres in Toronto, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Detroit and Cleveland and training centers across the country. Touring companies bring The Second City's humor to places across the continent, including Notre Dame's campus.

In 1973, The Second City expanded up north into Canada, where the group found great success. It spawned a television show, "SCTV," and a vast array of famous comedians including John Candy, Catherine O'Hara, Rick Moranis and Eugene Levy started their careers performing in the group. Other notable alumni of both the American and Canadian branches of the group include Martin Short, Dan Aykroyd, "Who's Line is it Anyway?" performer Ryan Stiles, Bill Murray and current "Saturday Night Live" performer Rachel Dratch.

The Second City's performance at Notre Dame, in true Second City style, included a variety of pre-written skits, both short and lengthy, and several improvisational skits based on audience suggestions. The six performers of mixed gender and ethnic background brought energy, creativity and a little bit of profanity to the stage. There was even a guest appearance by a Washington Hall bat that disrupted the performance and captured the audiences' attention.

A good portion of Saturday evening's performance focused on the political landscape of America and its culture, especially the idea of race. Though it sounds serious, the performance was hardly a State of the Union address, unless it was one seen on "Saturday Night Live."

The evening opened with a bang, as the troupe debated the labeling of people based on their heritage (such as "African-American") by asking imperative questions such as: "If I'm from Gary, [Ind.] does that make me a Gary-American?"

The group poked fun at the flag-waving tactics of politicians and advertisers by setting random, and sometimes strange, events to patriotic music. An overly patriotic taxicab driver debating with a passenger highlighted many opinions of America's "War on Terror," and a skit about random gun violence focused on the firearms debate.

None of the skits were even remotely serious, so there was no danger of feeling like being in class despite the topics. The group dealt with the subjects in a delicate enough manner so as not to offend.

The best piece of politically motivated satire came in a musical montage involving Ariel Sharon and Yassar Arafat coming together over a mutual love of Disney movies. Unconventional and politically incorrect insight on serious subjects is definitely a more interesting look at culture and current events than a class lecture.

The Second City took time to look at questions and situations particularly important to college students, and they even integrated pieces of local Notre Dame lore, such as the infamous Boat Club and Grape Road, into the skits. The Observer even made a special guest appearance.

Many of the skits focused on the dating scene, most notably in the Dating Game, which starred an audience volunteer and used questions from the audience. A particularly poignant skit for anyone who has ever been at school focused on Student Health Services and the misadventures students could possibly have there. The relationships between parents and children also received a great deal of attention, and the group looked at everything from how mom really feels when she's serving dinner (it involved profanity), to how each of us turns into our parents no matter how hard we may fight it. There are plenty of frustrations inherent in college life, and it's nice to have the chance to step back and laugh at them.

Though the skits were good, the most impressive and entertaining part of the evening was the group's improvisational work. A game where the last line of one skit became the first line of another took some strange turns placed in the contexts of a unisex bathroom, a blind date, and with two people passing on the street. At the ring of a bell performers had to come up with a new line to replace another, usually eliciting laughs and changing the entire context of the skit. The evening culminated with an encore of improvisation based on audience suggestions. The laughs came from both the performers and some of the strange suggestions of the audience members.

The Second City has a rich history and famous alumni to its name, but the laughs that they bring to the audience are what will remain once they leave.

• The Faces of Comedy
  
• Proud alumni of The Second City