Second City discover YouTube after 25 years of trying

The Second City has a channel on YouTube — four years after one was set up by Monty Python, who claimed a 23,000 per cent increase in DVD sales as a result of recycling their ancient sketches online. And the legacy responsible for SCTV is still a going concern, right? Which means the vintage clips are presented alongside new bits designed to go viral. Their next local stage revue, Second City For Mayor premieres at their 70 Peter Street mainstage this spring. But last December, as the original Chicago company celebrated its 50th anniversary with a reunion that included the original 1970s Toronto troupe from the Old Firehall, waning influence of the Second City on Canadian show business was starting to show. Andrew Alexander, the Second City CEO, cited the fact that their mid-1990s application to launch a cable channel was rejected in favour of the parties responsible for The Comedy Network, was a blow to the prospects of reviving the glory days — or at least gaining a bigger stake in the career of the next Mike Myers. In fact, Myers was only just wrapping up his post-high school stint with the Second City Touring Company when plans for the second coming of SCTV were originally being sketched out around Hollywood.

The road to the first official Second City production to appear online — poking fun at cat videos — took close to a quarter-century. Alexander announced his plans to take Hollywood in late 1985, with the belief that no one down there would pay attention to Canadians who didn’t relocate — his idea involved opening an improv-oriented theatre that provided a place for successful Toronto players to hang out, along with ones from the Chicago theatre, which he bought in the year after SCTV ended production. But expansion remained elusive in 1988, when he produced a late-night pilot for CBS — this one co-starring Mike Myers — named for the Old Firehall’s address, 110 Lombard Street. A club finally opened in Santa Monica in 1989, amidst talk of a feature film project, to be overseen by Second City alum Harold Ramis. Ten years later, the laments about talent slipping away remained, as Colin Mochrie and Ryan Styles were plucked from that L.A. stage to co-star in Whose Line is It Anyway? The Y2K solution, naturally, was a website: “We’re planning on doing live broadcasts, improv and experimentation with that next year,” Alexander told the Toronto Star. “It’s not very far away” So, what took so long? Well, when YouTube was becoming an essential platform for new ideas in comedy, the organization was busy producing The Second City’s Next Comedy Legend for CBC Television — a reality show contest whose winner didn’t last long in the Touring Company they won a role with. Now, the online channel promises 7 Day Shorts, quickie films based on audience suggestions proffered in Chicago, Detroit, Hollywood and Toronto. How to get anyone to pay attention to them on YouTube, though? With just 28 sketches uploaded so far from the original SCTV, expectations for a 23,000 per cent increase in enthusiasm have some distance left to go.