A fun and uniquely Chicago place to hold an event or meeting.
The Second City is available for private parties, corporate meetings, and special events of all kinds. We offer a number of theater spaces, food and beverage service, restaurant dining, customized entertainment and workshops – all under one roof, just minutes from the heart of downtown Chicago.
The Second City has three theaters with shows 7 nights a week. We can accommodate groups of 15-500 across our event spaces, and offer incredibly tasty food through our in-house Bentwood Catering.
Second City Facts
- Legendary comedy theater with resident stages in Chicago, Toronto, and Touring Ensembles entertaining over 1,000,000 guests each year.
- Training ground for a host of famous alumni including John Belushi, Mike Myers, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, John Candy, Catherine O’Hara, Tina Fey, Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, and over 500 more.
- Presents over 400 corporate engagements a year through Second City Works, with a focus on live event support and entertainment as well as designing and facilitating workshops on team building, communication and presentation skills.
- The exclusive provider of improvisational comedy revues for Norwegian Cruise Line, with six ships currently hosting Second City companies – performing to 14,000 passengers per week.
The Second City offers an unforgettable experience, all under (or on top of) our roof. Plan your next celebration or non-boring corporate event at The Second City, and we’ll handle the rest, like…
- Totally unique event spaces
- Full-service catering & diverse menus
- World- class entertainment
- Dedicated client services team
- AV & tech equipment and support
- Bespoke production & custom content creation
- Professional workshops & meeting facilitation that are interactive, educational and fun
Delivering 75 sketch comedy revues every week and improvising in front of over 1,000,000 audience members every year since 1959 making Second City the most influential and prolific comedy theater in the world.
Testimonials:
Here’s a link to a case study / video we did with MPI.
And the Qdoba event.
And link to ReFED post
At Second City, having a blast is mandatory... and so is staying safe.Below are the following health & safety measures we are taking to keep our focus on laughter.
How We’re Staying Safe:
- The Second City is following all city, county, and state capacity protocols
- All touch points and common areas are disinfected continuously throughout the evening
- Our theatre is regularly being disinfected before, in between and after all shows and classes using hospital-grade electrostatic spray disinfectant EnviroShield. This includes all days that an audience will be present.
- All theater patrons and adult in-person students are required to be fully vaccinated, and show proof, to attend a Second City show or class.
How We’re Asking You to Help:
- Please bring your proof of vaccination when visiting The Second City. This can be your vaccination card, a photo of it on your phone, and your identification.
- If you have a fever, cough, sore throat, or any symptoms of illness, please stay home.
Total Capacity of Venue
500
Private or Semi Private Space Available
Both Private and Semi Private Available
Total Capacity and Names of Group Rooms (if applicable):
1. Mainstage- Capacity 290
2. UP Theater- Capacity 280
3. e.t.c. Theater- Capacity 185
4. The Loft event space- 100 seated, 125 reception
5. The Corner event space, only available on weekends- Capacity 150
6. Roots Pizza- 160 seated, 250 reception
7. Roots Pizza Private Dining Room- 85 seated, 125 reception
8. Utopian Tailgate- Full capacity 450, Interior 200, Rooftop 300, Outdoor Field Space 150
9. 1959 Kitchen + Bar- 70 seated, 100 reception
10. Private Classrooms- Capacity 10-50
Unique views
Located in the heart of Old Town, we embrace the neighborhood charm and have a south facing view of the Chicago skyline.
Our most Important Target Market is?
We only want to connect with innovative and creative leaders who are looking to upend conventional approaches to meetings and events content and learning programming.
Basically, if you want to make your meeting or event less boring, we are a fit for you!
We are famous with customers for our ability to?
We use The Second City’s legendary comedic sensibility and its unparalleled expertise in improvisation to engage and develop your talent in order to improve performance.
So whether we’re getting your employees up on their feet building valuable new skills in an entertaining and interactive way, or getting them on board by making your messages more relatable, resonant and really, really funny, Second City helps you break through!
We would like our customers to tell their friends that we provide the best?
The most unique, engaging, inspiring, gut-busting, knee-slapping, high-fiving, performance-improving meetings and events experiences in the market.
Our company enhances customer lives by offering?
A legendary comedy experience in an inviting and comfortable atmosphere.
We offer our customers the best?
Service and quality entertainment that will leave groups laughing.
Recent Clients
1. Nike
2. Bombay Sapphire
3. IBM
4. Google
5. Aon
Awards/Achievements
Winner of over 30 Joseph Jefferson Award nominations in Chicago and over 35 Dora Award nominations in Toronto honoring excellence in professional theatre.
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