Customer Reviews

Second To None [VHS]

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Simply put, if you have the slightest bit of interest in the Second City, improv, or good comedy in general, this tape is a must own. As stated elsewhere, the Second City is a legendary comedy theatre which has spawned some of our country's greatest comic minds (John Belushi, Alan Arkin, Mike Myers, Robert Klein, Joan Rivers, John Candy, Catherine O'Hara, etc.). This vid is a doc of the making of one of the troupe's most successful and innovative reviews in recent years, "Paradigm Lost." It also presents scenes from the show which won many top Chicago theatre awards. It was so hilarious, in fact, that two of the revue's performers, Tina Fey & Rachel Dratch, were immediately scooped up by "Saturday Night Live." It's a fascinating portrait, letting us see the process from the very first day of rehearsals to the opening night. Interviews with the cast and very talented director, Mick Napier, are sprinkled throughout and, if you listen to what they have to say, you can learn as much here as you could sitting in on a good improv class for a few days. All the performers are fantastic and all the scenes are genius. Most all of the cast has popped up elsewhere in recent years and deservedly so. In addition to Dratch & Fey, the performers are Jenna Jolovitz (now a writer for "Mad TV" & the failed "The Downer Channel"), Kevin Dorff (writer & sometime performer on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien"), Jim Zuvelic (last seen in a guest shot on "Curb Your Enthusiasm"), and, in my opinion, the funniest of all, Scott Adsit, who was in the cast of "Mr. Show with Bob & David" and has been seen on "Tenacious D" and "Friends." This title is as informative as it is hilarious. Host Jim Belushi doesn't even manage to bring things down (thank God he's not called on to be funny)!

This brilliant documentary manages to bring the viewing audience behind the scenes of the creation of a very funny Second City show titled Paradigm Lost. Second City is Chicago's famous comedy improv theater which has produced many of American comedy's great stars ever since the classic Saturday Night Live cast of the 70's.In fact comedians shown in this Second to None video are now writing and acting in SNL.We see hilarious ideas unfold and emerge as full blown skits, while learning,in wonderfully interspersed vignettes,how the actors learn to relate to and trust each other and the director. Don't miss the unforgettable first day of a baby gargoyle in school.Yes,it's far out sometimes but always entertaining, while we learn about theater direction and production at the same time. The writing,direction and production of this video by HMS, a Chicago based company with six Emmy awards to its credit, is skillful and unobtrusive.It's hard to think of a documentarty that was as much fun as this.

For all that has been written about Second City (including my own splendid book, SOMETHING WONDERFUL RIGHT AWAY), there has been little to document how the shows are put together at this remarkably influential theatre. The big exception has been Scott Silberstein's SECOND TO NONE, which, in its original form, was an hour-long documentary narrated by Jim Belushi that followed the creation of a particularly good show called PARADIGM LOST. Belushi's narration has been cut and new footage added to make an even richer presentation. Add to this out-takes, a couple of complete scenes from the final show, and an audio track featuring the surviving members of the cast, and you have a package that no serious student of improvisation should be without. This is one of the rare instances in which a hell of a lot of lightning has been caught in a bottle.

This is an amazing documentary about a great show, with a lot of wonderful moments. It's very appropiate to laugh, to think and to learn about how to make a very good comedy.

Great look at how improv comedy works and how many talented comedians got their start.

For the first time ever, Second City allowed cameras to film the process of creating a revue. The fact that it was the amazingly talented director Mick Napier and a stellar cast that included Rachel Dratch, Tina Fey, Scott Adsit, Kevin Dorff, Jim Zulevic, & Jenna Jolovitz - along with Ruby Streak and Craig Taylor - being filmed, made the whole thing historic as well as funny and enlightening. Anyone who wants an insider's peak at this process should get this video.