People

Second City / UCB co-founder / SNL head writer / director of The Big Short, Vice, Anchorman — an improviser who became one of the most politically pointed filmmakers of his generation.

UCB co-founder, SNL Weekend Update anchor, Parks and Recreation star, and the improv-world celebrity most responsible for keeping UCB financially alive through its 2020s restructurings.

Co-founder of iO Theater and keeper of the Del Close legacy; built the institution that trained Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Stephen Colbert, and most modern longform practitioners.

Creator of the Harold and the most influential improv theorist of the 20th century — mentor to Belushi, Murray, Fey, Poehler, Colbert, Farley, Myers, and a generation of UCB founders.

Founder of The Groundlings, the Los Angeles improv institution that launched Pee-wee Herman, Phil Hartman, Will Ferrell, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, and Melissa McCarthy.

Second City head writer who wrote Animal House, Caddyshack, Ghostbusters, and Groundhog Day — the Chicago improviser most responsible for shaping American film comedy.

UCB co-founder and the theater's longtime artistic director of LA; one of the principal authors of the UCB Manual and a definer of long-form UCB-style improv.

British-Canadian theorist whose Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre (1979) is the 'improviser's bible' outside the US; creator of Theatresports, Maestro, Gorilla Theatre, and the philosophical counterweight to Del Close's Harold.

Co-founder of UCB; host of the improv4humans podcast; arguably the most outspoken of the UCB Four about longform theory.

UCB co-founder and Veep star; the one of the UCB Four with the longest post-UCB acting career.

Founder of The Annoyance Theatre, director of a dozen Second City mainstage revues, and author of the most-read dissent against 'yes-and' orthodoxy (Improvise: Scene from the Inside Out).

Director, co-founder of the Compass Players and Second City, creator of Story Theater, and the man who took his mother Viola Spolin's games and built American improv on them.

Second City / Daily Show / Colbert Report / Late Show — the longform-trained character comedian who made political satire his Harold for 20 years.

First female SNL head writer, 30 Rock creator, Mean Girls writer — the avatar of the Chicago-improv-to-American-comedy-power-broker transition.

Creator of Theater Games and author of Improvisation for the Theater — the foundational pedagogical system behind modern American improv.

UCB / Broad City co-creator / A League of Their Own — the audience-surrogate half of Broad City.

Early Second City ensemble member who went on to an Oscar-winning Hollywood career (Little Miss Sunshine, Argo).

Strangers with Candy's Jerri Blank; Second City alum, craft-book author, and the queen of absurd character comedy.

SCTV dynamo (Edith Prickley, Perini Scleroso) and Tony-winning Broadway star.

Co-founder of Boom Chicago in Amsterdam (1993); creator of the Dutch-English improv pipeline that fed Jordan Peele, Jason Sudeikis, Seth Meyers, Amber Ruffin.

UCB NY original-generation character specialist / Review's Forrest MacNeil / Comedy Bang! Bang! MVP.

Improv Olympic / Annoyance / Conan O'Brien sidekick for 20+ years — the calm, bookish counterweight to Conan's flailing.

UCB / Parks and Rec's April Ludgate / White Lotus Season 2 / Emily the Criminal — deadpan queen.

Original Compass Player and founding Second City cast member who crossed over to Broadway, winning a Tony for The Apple Tree (1967).

UCB / Jean-Ralphio on Parks and Rec / Sonic the Hedgehog voice / Middleditch and Schwartz.

Co-founder and longtime producer/director of The Second City, and co-creator of SCTV — the producer who kept the Chicago improv institution alive for four decades.

Caddyshack / Ghostbusters / Groundhog Day / Lost in Translation — Chicago's deadpan-king who trained under Del Close and made a religion of improvising even on scripted sets.

Second City / SNL writer / Mr. Show / Better Call Saul — the improv-trained writer who became a dramatic lead at 50.

UCB / SNL 2008-2017 (Drunk Uncle, Riblet) / DuckTales / Me, Myself & I.

Bill Murray's older brother; Second City performer, SNL writer, and the one who brought Bill into the improv world.

Toronto Second City / SCTV founding member / Moira Rose in Schitt's Creek / the mom in Home Alone — a 50-year career that never left improv behind.

UCB / Parks and Rec writer / Gina Linetti on Brooklyn Nine-Nine / Call Chelsea Peretti podcast.

Groundlings / Cheryl David on Curb Your Enthusiasm — the straight-woman anchor of one of TV's defining improvised sitcoms.

Second City / SNL physical-comedy supernova — Matt Foley, Chippendales, Tommy Boy — gone at 33 with the Belushi trajectory he openly emulated.

UCB stalwart / The Chris Gethard Show / Career Suicide / Beautiful Stories from Anonymous People — the UCB vulnerability-in-public poster child.

Original SNL Not Ready For Prime Time Player, co-creator of The Blues Brothers and Ghostbusters — Toronto's Second City contribution to SNL's founding.

Second City mainstage veteran and half of TJ & Dave — the elder half of the duo whose organic, character-first approach redefined longform.

Second City Chicago and Hollywood veteran / A Subversive's Guide to Improvisation author / international improv teacher.

SCTV cast member and half of the Bob & Doug McKenzie duo — the face of Canadian comedy's global moment.

Producer and theorist who co-founded the Compass Players with Paul Sills, envisioning a 'people's theater' rooted in working-class stories and improvisation.

The Spontaneity Shop co-founder / The Guilty Feminist host / Off the Mic and The Improv Handbook co-author.

UCB / Derrick Comedy / 30 Rock writer / Community / Atlanta creator — the most multi-hyphenated improv-rooted artist of his generation.

Seven-time Emmy winner and Mary Tyler Moore Show star whose training began at Chicago's Playwrights Theatre Club — a Sahlins/Sills precursor to Second City.

UCB / Daily Show correspondent / Andy Bernard on The Office / Stu in The Hangover trilogy.

Compass Players alumna, half of Nichols and May, and groundbreaking director-screenwriter (A New Leaf, The Heartbreak Kid, Ishtar) whose improvisational sensibility shaped American comedy writing.

UCB / The Office's Erin Hannon / Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt — the cheerful naïf to the 30 Rock era.

SCTV founding cast member, American Pie dad, and Schitt's Creek co-creator — six decades of bushy-eyebrowed comedy genius.

Founding SNL cast member and creator of Emily Litella and Roseanne Roseannadanna; widely cited as the template for every female sketch performer since.

Co-founder and director of The Free Association — currently the largest provider of improv training in the UK.

UCB founding member / SNL's first Hispanic cast member (1998-2006) — the Chilean-born Chicago comic who helped define early UCB.

Third co-founder of The Second City who coined the theater's name, later pivoted to radical documentary filmmaking with Bob Dylan.

UCB / Broad City co-creator — the stoner half of the millennial UCB generation's breakout show.

Groundlings Sunday Company / UCB / impressionist extraordinaire (Bernie Sanders, George W. Bush, Gary Busey) — the thinking fan's impressionist.

UCB teacher-performer / How Did This Get Made? / The Good Place / Big Mouth's Jay — one of the most prolific improv-rooted podcasters and character actors of the 2010s.

Second City / SNL / Ted Lasso — Kansas City improviser who became Apple TV+'s biggest star.

Groundlings / Stifler's Mom / Christopher Guest mockumentary regular / The White Lotus — the most celebrated second-act of the 2020s.

UCB / Best Friends Forever / Playing House co-creator — one half of one of UCB's great female duos.

Annoyance / Second City Conservatory faculty / The Reckoning at iO / Clown Church — clowning-inflected improviser and director.

Improv Nerd podcast / The Art of Slow Comedy method — Chicago's most widely listened-to improv interviewer.

Second City Chicago stalwart, SCTV founding cast, and Freaks and Geeks' world-weary dad.

Second City/SNL/Blues Brothers/Animal House whirlwind — the archetypal Chicago-improv-to-movie-star trajectory, gone too young.

SCTV breakout star and beloved Planes, Trains & Automobiles / Uncle Buck leading man — the biggest Canadian comedy heart of the 1980s.

Groundlings / SNL (Tommy Flanagan, Hanukkah Harry) / Simpsons (Artie Ziff, Jay Sherman) — late-80s SNL MVP.

Boom Chicago / MADtv / Key & Peele / Get Out — improviser-turned-Oscar-winning horror auteur.

Protégée of Viola Spolin, Second City understudy, and founder of the Players Workshop — the original independent improv training center in Chicago.

Co-founder and former artistic director of The Nursery Theatre London; Maydays member; Impromptu Shakespeare co-creator.

Groundlings / Garfunkel and Oates / Scooby-Doo's Velma voice.

Groundlings alumna / D-List / two-time Emmy winner — the stand-up whose improv roots are often overlooked.

Detroit/Chicago Second City / MADtv / Key & Peele — the improv-trained half of a sketch duo that redefined TV sketch comedy in the 2010s.

iO original-auditioner / UCB NY artistic director 2001-2003 / coiner of the term 'monoscene'.

Improv journalist, Del Close biographer, and co-author of Truth in Comedy — the third name on the book that codified the Harold.

Groundlings / 7-season SNL cast / Bridesmaids co-writer — the Target Lady / Gilly / Penelope character factory.

Groundlings founding member and original SNL cast member (1975-1980).

iO / UCB / Orange Is the New Black / With Special Guest Lauren Lapkus — improv-podcast pioneer.

UCB / Best Friends Forever / Playing House / Mom, Guide to Divorce — Jessica St. Clair's partner in the UCB improv-couple genre.

Groundlings / Phoebe Buffay on Friends / The Comeback's Valerie Cherish — Groundlings-trained improviser who built a career on brilliantly specific characters.

Artistic director of The Second City Training Center (1985-2001) and the nurturing teacher who shaped Tina Fey, Chris Farley, Scott Adsit, and Rachel Dratch.

SCTV / SNL / Primetime Glick / Only Murders in the Building — the Canadian character-comedian-in-chief.

Groundlings / SNL (Beyoncé, Kamala Harris) / Big Mouth / Loot — the voice, the impressions, the poise.

Groundlings main company for nine years / Gilmore Girls / Bridesmaids Oscar nomination — the physical-comedy dynamo of her generation.

Second City mainstage veteran, SNL writer 2009-2015 and one-season featured player; creator of A.P. Bio.

SNL / Wayne's World / Austin Powers / Shrek — the rare Second City Toronto alum who also trained at iO in Chicago with Del Close.

Compass Players alumnus who, with Elaine May, became the first improv-to-stardom act; later an EGOT-winning director of The Graduate and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?.

Chicago Sun-Times journalist and author of The Second City Unscripted — the definitive oral history of the Second City.

iO institutional memory / member of The Family under Del Close / co-creator of The Armando format / founder of the Miles Stroth Workshop and Pack Theater.

Keith Johnstone's most prominent teaching heir; Australian / Canadian improv eminence and Impro Melbourne artistic director.

Second City Chicago performer who co-created Exit 57 and Strangers with Candy with Stephen Colbert and Amy Sedaris, and writer/EP on The Colbert Report and Late Show.

Mr. Show / Spontaneanation / Mr. Peanutbutter on BoJack Horseman / the most-invited guest in modern improv podcasting.

Groundlings member who improvised Pee-wee Herman into existence in 1978 — one of the most enduring comedy characters of the 20th century.

UCB / Human Giant / How Did This Get Made? / The League — the UCB generation's prolific podcaster-producer-performer.

Co-founder of Boom Chicago and long-time performer/writer/teacher in the Amsterdam English-language comedy scene.

Second City Touring Company / Baby Wants Candy founder / Colbert Report head writer (2 Emmys, 2 Peabodys, 3 WGAs).

Groundlings / SNL / Simpsons (Lionel Hutz, Troy McClure) — SNL's 'Glue' player and the co-creator of Pee-wee Herman.

Core Showstopper! The Improvised Musical cast / Comedy Store Players / Improv Your Life author.

Second City / SNL (Debbie Downer) / 30 Rock — and Tina Fey's earliest stage partner.

Founding member of Seattle's Unexpected Productions (1983); Artistic Director 1988-2021; creator of the Spoken, Campfire, and Threads formats.

SCTV's radio-personality-turned-comic, half of Bob & Doug McKenzie, and the only SCTV star not to come out of Second City proper.

UCB performer / Human Giant / Transparent / Children's Hospital — the 'fake jock' UCB-era utility man.

Marine-turned-UCB-improviser / Daily Show correspondent / The Hangover / 21 Jump Street — the UCB generation's most unlikely comic.

Cultural historian and author of Improv Nation (2017) — the single most comprehensive history of American improvisational theater.

Second City / 30 Rock's Pete / the voice of Baymax — the Chicago lifer who also made it to UCB and SNL-adjacent television.

Mr. Show / Comedy Bang! Bang! podcast and TV show / Between Two Ferns co-creator — Earwolf founder and godfather of the modern improv-podcast ecosystem.

Loose Moose veteran since 1984 / Keith Johnstone lineage / world-touring workshop leader in impro, mask, mime, and contact improvisation.

Second City's first stage manager and longtime artistic director; founding chair of Columbia College Chicago's Theatre Department — the academic arm of Chicago improv.

Author of The Second City: Backstage at the World's Greatest Comedy Theater (2000) — the first insider history of Second City.

Compass Players alumnus and pioneer of 'sit-down' comedy — his improvised telephone monologues won the first Grammy for a spoken-word comedy album.

The Office / Daily Show / Foxcatcher — the Second City understudy who beat his own understudy (Colbert) to household-name status.

Chicago's 'Funniest Woman' and the teacher whose 'Messing with a Friend' show and strong-character philosophy defined a post-yes-and generation of Chicago improvisers.

iO / Second City / UCB / Silicon Valley's Richard Hendricks / Middleditch and Schwartz — one half of Netflix's first improv special duo.

Second City / 10-season SNL veteran / Mean Girls' Principal Duvall — Chicago's longest-tenured SNL cast member until surpassed.

Half of TJ & Dave — arguably the most influential and revered long-form improv duo working today; star of the Sonic the Hedgehog 'Two Guys' Sonic Drive-In commercials.

Groundlings / SNL / Anchorman / Elf / Step Brothers — the most commercially successful Groundlings alum.

Groundlings / SNL / Last Man on Earth creator — MacGruber's dad, Tim and Eric's friend.

UCB / The Office's Gabe / Silicon Valley's Jared / Veep's Ed — improv-trained master of the cringing beta.