Displaying items by tag: sketch comedy

Paramount Theatre is proud to host the world’s most influential name in comedy, The Second City, back for for a three-week limited engagement with The Second City presents Laughing For All The Wrong Reasons at Paramount’s intimate Copley Theatre, 8 E. Galena Blvd. in downtown Aurora, May 28-June 20.

Celebrating its 67th anniversary in 2026, Second City’s Laughing For All The Wrong Reasons features classic sketch comedy and songs from the company's rich history, fresh new favorites, and the signature brand of irreverent improv that The Second City is famous for. With alumni such as Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert, Keegan-Michael Key and Tim Robinson, The Second City has an unmatched track record of launching the careers of comedy superstars.

The cast that’ll have you laughing for all the wrong reasons features Second City’s “stars of tomorrow,” the current Second City Touring Company, featuring Emily Anderson, Avery Ford, Dani James, Max Lazerine, Dave Lyzenga, Julia Morales, and Cassidy Russell. Musical director is Sam Scheidler. Stage manager is Amanda Leo.

Performances are Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m., and Saturdays at 2:30 and 8 p.m. in Paramount’s Copley Theatre, 8 E. Galena Blvd. in downtown Aurora. Tickets are $46. For tickets, visit ParamountAurora.com, call (630) 896-6666, or stop by the Paramount box office Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., or until show time on show days. For group discounts, contact Melissa Striedl, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or (630) 723-2461. *Prices are for in-person purchases. Additional fees apply for phone and online orders.

With six women onstage pulling no punches and taking no shit – like The Vagina Monologues, if it were freaking hilarious – She the People is the show we need right now. Written, designed, and performed by the women of The Second City, these funny and talented actresses use their wits and comedy chops to send up sexism in advertising, politics, and pop culture.

With sketches ranging from 10 seconds to 10 minutes, She the People parodies all kinds of situations in which women regularly find themselves. A lady in a parking lot is cat-called and, hit with a sudden burst of pink light and romantic music, turns around to face her verbal assaulter, instantly in love. A group of single female wedding-goers slow-motion fight for the thrown bouquet to Mozart's Lacrimosa. A businesswoman gives a boardroom presentation in a dinosaur costume, irritated that her colleagues are focusing on what she's wearing instead of her ideas: "If Bob came up here dressed as a coelurosaurian theropod from the Cretaceous Period, nobody would bat an eye!" I bet if Bob grabbed people by the pussy, too, he would be let off the hook. 

This is a refreshingly feminist show, giving women the space to share their experiences without a devil's advocate constantly undermining them. On the other side of the coin, the show doesn't shy away from critiquing postmodern feminism as well. A scene comes to mind of a group of twenty-somethings out to brunch discussing social issues only to constantly get distracted by, "Mimooooosaaaaas!" 

Beyond that, She the People fearlessly takes on male-dominated politics – a roomful of all-male politicians sanction laws on female healthcare while giggling at the mention of "boobs" – the sugarcoating of women in media – "I'm a woman in a maxi pad commercial, and I'm going to the emergency room because there's some blue Windex stuff coming out of me," – and systematic racism – a group of friends play a board game called "Privilege"; guess which girl gets five tokens for getting into the same Ivy League school as her parents and which gets zero tokens for getting detained at the airport for no reason.

So, grab your friends, male and female alike, grab a drink, and enjoy two hours of woke comedy. If you're a man and bring your girlfriend or wife to this show, she will appreciate you, not only because of the sweet date idea, but because she identifies with those women onstage, and if you hear them and understand them, you've heard and understood her.

She the People is playing at Second City's Up Comedy Club Thursdays through Sundays until April 1st. Tickets can be purchased at the box office at North & Wells or on the Second City website.