Kicking off Parents Weekend with howling laughter Friday night, Chicago-based sketch-comedy and improvisation group Second City entertained a sold-out crowd of 1,500 Boston University students and families in the George Sherman Union’s Metcalf Hall.
Founded in the late 1950s, The Second City operates several touring companies and theaters in the U.S. and Canada. The troupe has produced comics including John Belushi, Mike Myers and Bill Murray.
Performers at Friday’s show mixed current-event satire with improv and sketch comedy, encouraging the audience to participate. The six-person cast charged onstage and immediately broke into song, asking, “If you could send America an email, what would it be about?”
“In college, everybody needs to let go,” Second City comedian Dana Quercioli said after the show. “It’s a high-pressure situation.”
The Second City often performs at college campuses, fundraisers and theaters, but performers said they keep the show the same.
“We change a few things here and there, but we don’t feel college kids are stupid and won’t get the jokes,” Quercioli said.
The annual event, sponsored by Programming Council, gave parents and new students a chance to see the kind of programming BU brings to campus.
“We plan original acts like comedy and lecture series,” event co-coordinator and School of Management sophomore Jimmy Buck said.
Audience members said they anticipated an exciting show before it started.
“We’ve been to Second City before, and it was fantastic,” College of Fine Arts freshman Evan Sanderson said.
With the group’s history of launching the careers of comedians, the performers faced high expectations from the crowd.
“With sketch comedy, some of it hits real well, and some doesn’t for some people,” Doug King, father of CAS freshman Johanna King, said.
To one audience member, the musical quality of the act was an unexpected delight.
“I am impressed with the voices,” Debbie King, mother of Johanna King, said.
Aside from the singing, a variety of quick dialogues and snippy interactions kept the show fresh. After intermission, the group performed improv with an audience member, who played the role of an ex-boyfriend of one of the cast members. The group also joked about current issues, including FEMA, liberalism and conservatism, homelessness and homosexuality.
The audience responded well and warmed up to the animated group quickly.
“I wanted it to turn out this way, and it turned out the way I wanted,” event co-coordinator and Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences junior Manny Grewal said.
The Second City’s popularity at BU will probably allow for the group to return next year, Buck said. The group first performed at BU six years ago, and has come back every year since 2004.
“In the past, it has been a really good draw,” he said. “As long as people come to the show and have the same demand, we will ask them back again.”