Andrew Alexander: Last News

In July, The Second City was facing an existential crisis. Its namesake improv theaters in Toronto, Los Angeles and Chicago had shuttered amid the COVID-19 pandemic, effectively eliminating all revenue overnight.

The Second City, the Chicago-based improv and sketch comedy brand that spawned Hollywood talent like Tina Fey, John Belushi, Bill Murray and Keegan-Michael Key, has put itself up for sale. “I have had an extraordinary 47-year run guiding this wonderful living, breathing, dynamic comedy institution.

Greg Evans Associate Editor/Broadway CriticSaturday Night Live‘s Chris Redd, Veep‘s Sam Richardson, Late Night With Seth Meyers writer Amber Ruffin and Space Force writer Aasia LaShay Bullock are among a group of 19 black alumni and current employees of The Second City improv company demanding an investigation into what they say is the comedy institution’s history of racism and sexual misconduct.After last week’s resignation of Second City CEO and co-owner Andrew Alexander over accusations of institutional racism, the group of 19 current and former Second City associates have signed an open letter accusing the improv company of “erasure, racial discrimination, manipulation, pay inequity, tokenism, monetization of Black culture, and