The Second City is a comedy theater in locations such as New York, Toronto, Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and the mainstage in Chicago. December 16, 1959 saw the opening of The Second City mainstage in Chicago with the opening production of 'Excelsior and Other Outcries'.

Many of the great people that have been successful in the comedic movie industry and programs such as Saturday Night Live, have all appeared on Second City stages at some point. Some of these people include Jim Belushi, Chris Farley, Tim Meadows, Tina Fey, Rachel Dratch, Mike Meyers, Martin Short, Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, Amy Sedaris, Bob Odenkirk, Colin Mochrie, Ryan Stiles, and Stephen Colbert, just to name a very small number of The Second City's distinguished alumni.