Duffy talks Second City

Kate Duffy was interviewed last week a few days ahead of TourCo's stop at the Ridgefield Playhouse. She talks about how she got her start with Second City, amongst other things.

Q: How did you start performing with Second City?

A: It's funny, because if you asked every actor that, their paths and their journey would probably be different. I'm from the East Coast. I'm from Massachusetts originally and I've always wanted to be an actor or a comedian, and I knew Second City was the launching pad for all the greats. After college I tried to live in Boston for a while and have a normal 9 to 5 job and it just didn't stick, so I packed it all in and headed out here (to Chicago), and I just started by taking classes there actually, about 10 years ago now. So I went through their training center and then I started teaching there, and then I started touring with them about eight months ago.

Q: What's the show like?

A: The show is a two-act. In any show that we do you're going to have archive scenes from the last 50 years; these are best-of scenes that our past casts have written. We also do some of our original stuff that we're writing as a cast. And you'll probably get a little bit of music and some improvisation, as well. And Second City is known for its political and social satire, so nothing is sacred and we poke fun at just about everything.

Q: So many comedians have gotten their start at Second City and then gone on to "Saturday Night Live" and stardom. Is that something the cast is conscious of?

A: I think for a lot of people in Chicago, Second City is often the destination they're going for. There's always the what's next and what's after, and the great thing about Second City is that it has been such a launching pad for such talent, that people do come there to look for talent quite a bit. So you will have Lorne Michaels coming through Second City once a year if he's looking, or L.A. producers will come out, so there is a great opportunity for connections.

Q: Any favorite sketches that you're performing in?

A: Right now a sketch that we're doing is an archive scene that Tina Fey and Rachael Dratch (the "Saturday Night Live" alumna who played Debbie Downer) did back in the '90s called "Wicked." It's basically a mom and a daughter that go shopping at the mall and it's a very Boston-based scene; they have very thick Boston accents. It's really fun for me because I'm from Boston and I know a lot of people that sound like that, but it's also just a very well-written scene that Tina and Rachel put together.

Public Service Announcement

Dress warmly and in layers. Wind chills being called for 25 below zero tonight.

Free show at IO Next Wednesday

Via IO:

TJ & Dave will be taking a rare night off next Wednesday, and seeing as they're irreplaceable, we'll be bringing inone of our favorite performers for a free solo set starting at 10:30. iO fans will recognize Steve Waltien from the Improvised Shakespeare Company, Whirled News Tonight, and Bullet Lounge/Chaos Theory. Steve will be presenting material from his new one man show, "Stand-Up to Live: A Work In Progress", partially inspired by the sudden death of his father this past April.

Shad leaving BlueCo

Shad Kunkle is moving on from the Second City Touring Company. His final show with BlueCo will be Monday, December 20, 2010.

Beard promoted

Karla Beard has been promoted to the Second City ETC stage with Christina Anthony's depature last week. She was previously in Rush Limbaugh: The Musical.

O'Brien helped write bar sketch

If you had your suspicions that someone from Chicago was involved with the bar sketch at the end of this weekend's SNL with Robert DeNiro, you'd be correct. Pat O'Brien said he was 1/3 responsible for it. You can view the "It's a Living" sketch at NBC.com

Yeah...

Unless I am losing it, Brad Morris can currently be seen in a Blockbuster commerical and a Sony commercial.

Pat O'Brien appeared during the monologue segment of tonight's episode of Saturday Night Live hosted by Robert DeNiro.