Second nature improv
Encyclopedia
Improvisational theatre
Improvisational theatre takes many forms. It is best known as improv or impro, which is often comedic, and sometimes poignant or dramatic. In this popular, often topical art form improvisational actors/improvisers use improvisational acting techniques to perform spontaneously...
troupe based in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
at the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
.
Second Nature was founded on November 19, 2002. The troupe performs every Friday night at USC's Ground Zero Performance Cafe, providing free, comedic, one-hour shows. Second Nature regularly performs with other improv troupes from all over Los Angeles, and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The collegiate
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
troupe is known for the Fracas! Improv Festival
Fracas! Improv Festival
The Fracas! Improv Festival is a three-day annual improvisational theatre festival held at The University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. The festival is hosted by Second Nature Improv, one of USC's improv troupes...
, one of the largest intercollegiate improv comedy festivals in the world. Additionally, Second Nature pioneered The Facebook Show, an improvised comedy show based entirely on the Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
profiles of audience volunteers.
Since its debut, Second Nature has become a regular part of campus life at USC, and has begun the careers of several comedians, actors, and directors.
History
Second Nature was founded in 2002 by a group of USC students interested in performing improvised comedy. The troupe is a recognized student organization within the University of Southern California. The group chose the name Second Nature based on the idea that performing spontaneous theatre should become "second nature" to the cast.The style of Second Nature's comedy has changed with time, as the students have become more passionate and knowledgeable about improvisational theatre. Originally, Second Nature performed ComedySportz
ComedySportz
ComedySportz is an improvisational comedy organization started in 1984 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, by a group of local comedians including Dick Chudnow, Bob Orvis, Brian Green and many others.-Format:...
style shows, with the troupe split into two competing factions. After being influenced by The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre and The Groundlings
The Groundlings
The Groundlings are an improvisational comedy troupe based in Los Angeles, California. The troupe was formed by Gary Austin in 1974 and uses an improv format influenced by Viola Spolin to produce sketches and improvised scenes...
with whom the troupe had taken workshops, Second Nature adopted a more free flowing scenic style of improvisation. For the past two years, the troupe has been performing predominantly long-form improvisation, focusing on The Harold, The Armando, and The Montage.
Though Second Nature is fairly young, a number of professional performers began their careers with the troupe.
The Fracas! Improv Festival
The Fracas! Improv Festival, or Fracas!, is an improvisational theatre festival created and hosted by Second Nature, and held annually at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles since 2004.Over the past few years, Fracas! has grown into a national festival with more than a dozen participating universities, as well as workshops and panels with professionals from The Upright Citizens Brigade, The Groundlings
The Groundlings
The Groundlings are an improvisational comedy troupe based in Los Angeles, California. The troupe was formed by Gary Austin in 1974 and uses an improv format influenced by Viola Spolin to produce sketches and improvised scenes...
, The Office, Mad TV
Mad TV
Mad TV may refer to:*MADtv, an American sketch comedy television series based on Mad magazine*Mad TV , a 1991 German television station management simulation game*MAD TV , a Greek music channel-See also:...
, ImprovOlympic and more. Beginning with its 4th year in 2007, the festival is sponsored by The Onion
The Onion
The Onion is an American news satire organization. It is an entertainment newspaper and a website featuring satirical articles reporting on international, national, and local news, in addition to a non-satirical entertainment section known as The A.V. Club...
, a popular national humor newspaper.
The Facebook Show
The Facebook Show consists of three segments, roughly twenty minutes each. Each segment begins with an audience member voluteering to be interviewed by Second Nature. During the interview, the audience member logs on to their Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
profile, which is projected on a screen, and explored in front of the live audience. Finally, Second Nature uses material from the volunteer's Facebook profile as the basis for their improvisation.
Second Nature's first Facebook Show was performed in 2005, when Facebook was open only to college students. However, since the social networking website has been opened up to the public, the show has become popular with a larger audience.
Influenced by Second Nature, other groups have begun performing the Facebook Show around the world, including at the University of California, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara, commonly known as UCSB or UC Santa Barbara, is a public research university and one of the 10 general campuses of the University of California system. The main campus is located on a site in Goleta, California, from Santa Barbara and northwest of Los...
, by jericho! at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, and in England by the Canterbury based troupe, Noise Next Door
Noise Next Door
The Noise Next Door are a five-man, improvised comedy troupe based in Brighton, England. Having performed together since 2005, the troupe now perform regularly on the London comedy circuit and at comedy clubs and theatres nationwide.- History :...
.
Guest Monologists
One of the many show formats Second Nature performs is The Armando. This format - developed at ImprovOlympic - involves a guest monologist (frequently a celebrity) who uses a suggestion from the audience to inspire a truthful, personal monologue. The improvisers then use the monologue as inspiration for a series of scenes, which in turn inspire a response from the monologist.Second Nature has performed The Armando with the following guest monologists:
- Dan OsterDan OsterDaniel "Dan" Oster is an American comedic actor and improv artist. He is most famous for being a member of Boom Chicago and a member of the MADtv cast.-Early years:...
, MADtvMADtvMADtv is an American sketch comedy television series. It licensed the name and logo of Mad, but otherwise had no connection with the humor magazine outside the animated Spy vs. Spy and Don Martin cartoon shorts and images of Alfred E. Neuman that the show featured during the late 1990s. Its first... - Kate FlanneryKate FlanneryKatherine Patricia "Kate" Flannery is an American actress best known for playing the role of Meredith Palmer on the NBC hit series The Office.-Personal life:...
, The Office - June Red, Los Angeles rock band
- Paul WolffPaul WolffPaul Wolff is a screenwriter, actor, producer and popular screenwriting instructor at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. He has taught at the university for over fourteen years...
, screenwriter, Family TiesFamily TiesFamily Ties is an American sitcom that aired on NBC for seven seasons, from 1982 to 1989. The sitcom reflected the move in the United States from the cultural liberalism of the 1960s and 1970s to the conservatism of the 1980s. This was particularly expressed through the relationship between young...
, Little House on the PrairieLittle House on the Prairie (TV series)Little House on the Prairie is an American Western drama television series, starring Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert, about a family living on a farm in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, in the 1870s and 1880s. The show was an adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder's best-selling series of Little House books...
, Home Improvement ; executive story-editor, Remington SteeleRemington SteeleRemington Steele is an American television series, co-created by Robert Butler and Michael Gleason. The series, starring Stephanie Zimbalist and Pierce Brosnan, was produced by MTM Enterprises and first broadcast on the NBC network from 1982 to 1987. The series blended the genres of romantic... - Tom Lennon, Reno 911!Reno 911!Reno 911! is an American comedy television series on Comedy Central that ran from 2003 to 2009. It is a mockumentary-style parody of law enforcement documentary shows, specifically COPS, with comic actors playing the police officers. Most of the material is improvised, using a broad outline, and...
, The StateThe State (TV series)The State is a half-hour sketch-comedy television show, originally broadcast on MTV between December 17, 1993 and July 1, 1995. The show combined bizarre characters and scenarios to present sketches that won the favor of its target teenaged audience... - Will SassoWill SassoWilliam "Will" Sasso is a Canadian comedian and actor. He is most notable for his membership in the recurring cast of comedians on the American sketch comedy series MADtv, spending five seasons on the show.-Early life:...
, MADtvMADtvMADtv is an American sketch comedy television series. It licensed the name and logo of Mad, but otherwise had no connection with the humor magazine outside the animated Spy vs. Spy and Don Martin cartoon shorts and images of Alfred E. Neuman that the show featured during the late 1990s. Its first... - Lauren Weedman, correspondent, The Daily ShowThe Daily ShowThe Daily Show , is an American late night satirical television program airing each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central. The half-hour long show premiered on July 21, 1996, and was hosted by Craig Kilborn until December 1998...
- MidoriMidori (author)is a prominent human sexuality writer, speaker, and sex educator based in San Francisco, California. Her writings and contributions have appeared in many books and magazines...
, prominent human sexuality writer, speaker, and sex educator - Andrew Leland, managing editor of The BelieverThe Believer (magazine)The Believer is a United States literary magazine that also covers other arts and general culture. Founded and designed in 2003 by the writer and publisher Dave Eggers, it is edited by Vendela Vida, Heidi Julavits and Ed Park...
- Daniel HandlerDaniel HandlerDaniel Handler is an American author, screenwriter and accordionist. He is best known for his work under the pen name Lemony Snicket.-Personal life:...
, aka Lemony SnicketLemony SnicketLemony Snicket is the pen name of American novelist Daniel Handler . Snicket is the author of several children's books, serving as the narrator of A Series of Unfortunate Events and appearing as a character within the series. Because of this, the name Lemony Snicket may refer to both a fictional...
, author of A Series of Unfortunate EventsA Series of Unfortunate EventsA Series of Unfortunate Events is a series of children's novels by Lemony Snicket which follows the turbulent lives of Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire after their parents' death in an arsonous house fire...
Current Cast
- Rhiannon Brogan
- Ian Carr
- Christian Daly
- Shelby Fero
- Devin Field
- Charlie O'Connor
- Lila Scott
- Sam Sonenshine
- Tommy Waas
Class of 2008
- Annie Baria
- Alex Garcia, actor and producer
- Justin Michael, of the sketch comedy troupe TremendosaurTremendosaurTremendosaur is a Los Angeles based sketch comedy troupe founded in 2006 by Justin Michael and Jacob Reed. Tremendosaur has created numerous comedic films, shorts, and parody videos. The group operates a web site under the same name that showcases their collaborations...
- Jacob Reed, of the sketch comedy troupe TremendosaurTremendosaurTremendosaur is a Los Angeles based sketch comedy troupe founded in 2006 by Justin Michael and Jacob Reed. Tremendosaur has created numerous comedic films, shorts, and parody videos. The group operates a web site under the same name that showcases their collaborations...
Class of 2007
- John Dardenne, stand up comedian featured by CNNCNNCable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, Time Magazine, and The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format... - Clay Elliott
- Jacqueline Gabardy
Class of 2006
- Dave Crabtree, of the sketch comedy troupe TremendosaurTremendosaurTremendosaur is a Los Angeles based sketch comedy troupe founded in 2006 by Justin Michael and Jacob Reed. Tremendosaur has created numerous comedic films, shorts, and parody videos. The group operates a web site under the same name that showcases their collaborations...
- Nick Daze, founder of Life Preserver
- Clay Larsen, The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre
- Tom McMillan
- Eddie Quintana, director of The Magnificent Charlie Greene
- Jaimey Weiner
See also
- Improvisational theatreImprovisational theatreImprovisational theatre takes many forms. It is best known as improv or impro, which is often comedic, and sometimes poignant or dramatic. In this popular, often topical art form improvisational actors/improvisers use improvisational acting techniques to perform spontaneously...
- List of improvisational theatre companies
- I.O.I.O.iO, or iO Chicago, is a theater located at 3541 N. Clark St., in Chicago, Illinois, one-half block south of Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs baseball team. The theater both has performances of, and teaches improvisational comedy. It was founded in the 1980s by Del Close and Charna Halpern...
- The GroundlingsThe GroundlingsThe Groundlings are an improvisational comedy troupe based in Los Angeles, California. The troupe was formed by Gary Austin in 1974 and uses an improv format influenced by Viola Spolin to produce sketches and improvised scenes...
- ComedySportzComedySportzComedySportz is an improvisational comedy organization started in 1984 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, by a group of local comedians including Dick Chudnow, Bob Orvis, Brian Green and many others.-Format:...
- Upright Citizens Brigade TheatreUpright Citizens Brigade TheatreThe Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre or UCB Theatre is an improvisational theatre and associated UCB Training Center with locations in Chelsea, New York, the EEast Village, New York and Hollywood, California.....
- Chicago TheatreChicago TheatreThe Chicago Theatre, originally known as the Balaban and Katz Chicago Theatre, is a landmark theater located on North State Street in the Loop area of Chicago, Illinois. Built in 1921, the Chicago Theatre was the flagship for the Balaban and Katz group of theaters run by A. J. Balaban, his brother...
- Del CloseDel CloseDel Close was an actor, improviser, writer, and teacher. Considered one of the premier influences on modern improvisational theater, Close had a prolific career, appearing in a number of films and television shows...
- Viola SpolinViola SpolinViola Spolin was an important innovator of the American theater in the 20th century. She created directorial techniques to help actors to be focused in the present moment and to find choices improvisationally, as if in real life...