Chicago’s famous The Second City Training Center is now offering a college “semester abroad” in comedy history, performance, improvisation, and writing through Columbia College Chicago (suburbanchicagonews.com/newssun/entertainment/253209,5_1_WA12_ILLCOMEDY_S1.article) [EDIT (6/4/10): dead link].
There have been individual college classes in humor studies, humor in literature, comedy writing, etc. (see International Society for Humor Studies), but I think this is the first semester-length program in comedy performance and writing.
The participants should get good training (and networking opportunities). The Second City (Chicago, Toronto, and elsewhere) has given us:
Saturday Night Live performers – John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, Bill Murray, Jim Belushi, Mike Myers, Chris Farley, Tina Fey, Rachel Dratch, Tim Meadows, Brian Doyle Murray, Tim Kazurinsky, Mary Gross, Robin Duke, Martin Short
SCTV – Eugene Levy, John Candy, Joe Flaherty, Catherine O’Hara, Andrea Martin, Dave Thomas, Martin Short (here first, then SNL)
Various – Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, Amy Sedaris, Stephnie Weir, Dan Castellaneta, Bonnie Hunt, Nia Vardalos, Ryan Stiles, Bob Odenkirk, George Wendt, Shelley Long, Alan Arkin, Peter Boyle, Harold Ramis, Betty Thomas, Joan Rivers, Robert Klein, Fred Willard.
Plus from its predecessor, The Compass Players:
Alan Alda, Alan Arkin (also in Second City), Ed Asner, Valarie Harper, Shelley Berman, Linda Lavin, Barbara Harris, Mike Nichols, Elaine May, Jerry Stiller, Anne Meara.
It’s quite the half-century legacy.