Discover the behind-the-scenes story of how The Second City theater created a generation of world classgreat actors, directors, and writers.

In the late Fifties and Sixties, iconoclastic young rebels in Chicago opened two tiny theatersThe Compass and The Second Citywhere they satirized politics, religion, and sex. Building 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 Dont Look Up. Many of them also became stars on Saturday Night Live.Something Wonderful Right Away features the pioneers of 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 books author, playwright Jeffrey Sweet, became so involved in the community he covered that he was captured by it.