Audiobook18 hours
Something Wonderful Right Away: The Birth of Second City - America's Greatest Comedy Theater
Written by Jeffrey Sweet
Narrated by Peter Berkrot
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
()
About this audiobook
Discover the behind-the-scenes story of how The Second City theater created a generation of world class great actors, directors, and writers.
In the late Fifties and Sixties, iconoclastic young rebels in Chicago opened two tiny theaters-The Compass and The Second City-where they satirized politics, religion, and sex. Developing scenes by improvising based on audience suggestions turned out to be a fine way to develop great actors, directors, and writers. Alumni went on to create such groundbreaking works as The Graduate, Groundhog Day, and Don't Look Up. Many of them also became stars on Saturday Night Live. Something Wonderful Right Away features the pioneers who founded the empire that transformed American comedy.
This new edition tells even more of the story. Included for the first time is an interview with Viola Spolin, the genius who invented theater games that were the foundation of improvisational theater. Also included are dozens of follow-up stories about Mike Nichols, Barbara Harris, Del Close, Joan Rivers, Alan Arkin, and Gilda Radner, plus "You Only Shoot the Ones You Love," the story of how this book's author, playwright Jeffrey Sweet, ended up being so involved in the community he covered that he was captured by it.
In the late Fifties and Sixties, iconoclastic young rebels in Chicago opened two tiny theaters-The Compass and The Second City-where they satirized politics, religion, and sex. Developing scenes by improvising based on audience suggestions turned out to be a fine way to develop great actors, directors, and writers. Alumni went on to create such groundbreaking works as The Graduate, Groundhog Day, and Don't Look Up. Many of them also became stars on Saturday Night Live. Something Wonderful Right Away features the pioneers who founded the empire that transformed American comedy.
This new edition tells even more of the story. Included for the first time is an interview with Viola Spolin, the genius who invented theater games that were the foundation of improvisational theater. Also included are dozens of follow-up stories about Mike Nichols, Barbara Harris, Del Close, Joan Rivers, Alan Arkin, and Gilda Radner, plus "You Only Shoot the Ones You Love," the story of how this book's author, playwright Jeffrey Sweet, ended up being so involved in the community he covered that he was captured by it.
More audiobooks from Jeffrey Sweet
I Sent a Letter to My Love: A Musical Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5With and Without Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Flyovers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Value of Names Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related to Something Wonderful Right Away
Related audiobooks
The Lost London Tapes John Lennon: Living Is Easy With Eyes Closed Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStill Laughing: A Life in Comedy (From the Creator of Laugh-In) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStarstruck: My Unlikely Road to Hollywood Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hello, Lied the Agent: And Other Bullshit You Hear as a Hollywood TV Writer Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTell Them It's A Dream Sequence: And Other Smart Advice from Top Filmmakers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSurely You Can't Be Serious: The True Story of Airplane! Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Improv Nation: How We Made a Great American Art Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Enchanted New York: A Journey along Broadway through Manhattan's Magical Past Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAll in All: An Actor's Life On and Off the Stage Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWrapped in Plastic: Twin Peaks Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIcons and Instincts: Choreographing and Directing Entertainment's Biggest Stars Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEighty Is Not Enough: One Actor's Journey Through American Entertainment Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHollywood Forever Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Producer: A Memoir Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow Taylor Swift Became Famous Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAnything Goes!: What I've Learned from Pundits, Politicians, and Presidents Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJoan Crawford and Bette Davis: The Lives and Careers of the Actresses Who Became Hollywood’s Most Famous Rivals Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAn Unseemly Man: My Life as Pornographer, Pundit and Social Outcast Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRobin Williams, American Master: The Movies and Art of a Lost Genius Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Diaries 1969-1979: The Python Years Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Remembrance: Selected Correspondence of Ray Bradbury Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Helluva High Note: Surviving Life, Love, and American Idol Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Big Bad Book of Bill Murray: A Critical Appreciation of the World's Finest Actor Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Early UFO Sightings: The History of Accounts of Unidentified Flying Objects from Antiquity to the 20th Century Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhat Would Susie Say?: Bullsh*t Wisdom About Love, Life and Comedy Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5John Barrymore: The Life and Legacy of Early 20th Century America's Most Famous Actor Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hollywood Sign Girl Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Humbugs of the World: An Account of Humbugs, Delusions, Impositions, Quackeries, Deceits, and Deceivers Generally, in All Ages Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings500 Quotes of Humour: intégrale Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSeven Games of Life: And How to Play Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Performing Arts For You
Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Power of Myth Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Save the Cat! Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Gielgud's Hamlet: (Dramatized) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hamlet: Fully Dramatized Audio Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Romeo and Juliet: The Fully Dramatized Audio Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5NPR Funniest Driveway Moments: Radio Stories That Won't Let You Go Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Macbeth: Fully Dramatized Audio Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Midsummer Night's Dream: Fully Dramatized Audio Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Othello: Fully Dramatized Audio Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Science of Storytelling Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Death of a Salesman Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Julius Caesar: A Fully-Dramatized Audio Production From Folger Theatre Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Jim Gaffigan: Quality Time Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Black Privilege: Opportunity Comes to Those Who Create It Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee Book Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Create: Tools from Seriously Talented People to Unleash Your Creative Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dying of Politeness: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Grapes of Wrath Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Being Henry: The Fonz . . . and Beyond Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5When I Was Your Age: Life Lessons, Funny Stories & Questionable Parenting Advice From a Professional Clown Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Still Foolin' 'Em: Where I've Been, Where I'm Going, and Where the Hell Are My Keys? Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Stories I Only Tell My Friends: An Autobiography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of Racing in the Rain Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Is this Anything? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dirty Daddy: The Chronicles of a Family Man Turned Filthy Comedian Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Way I Heard It Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Burn It Down: Power, Complicity, and a Call for Change in Hollywood Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Life in Parts Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Pure Drivel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Something Wonderful Right Away
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings
0 ratings0 reviews