Steve Carell, Mike Myers, Tina Fey, Alan Arkin and Julia Louis-Dreyfus are just a handful of famous comedians who got their start training and performing with The Second City.

The Second City is known for pointing out the absurdity of current political and cultural situations. They are supposed to make their audience laugh and think, and this touring company succeeded in doing both on Sept. 4 at Elon.

One notable scene involved an old lady trying to enlist in the Army. The audience cracked up when she said “I figured out my own Medicare drug program…I can do anything!”

The mood turned more somber and thought-provoking when she said that the real reason she wanted to enlist was because her 19-year-old grandson was overseas. She didn’t understand why kids could be sent but she couldn’t be.

The entire third act was improvised and contained a number of references to Elon.

It was clear that The Second City had done their research and knew exactly what would make their audience laugh the most.

The audience learned from their hysterical Elon skits that the Koury Business Center fountain is made of gold, the Bio Buses run on rainbows and Smith Jackson has a secret lair where he writes all of his famous e-mails and fights the devil.

Another really funny and provocative scene involved a woman asking her husband what he thought of the new abortion bill, to which he responded “pay it.”

There was also a visit from Captain Apathy, who had “all the powers of superman but not the will to use them.”

Other noteworthy sketches involved terrorists getting all of their information from details given away by American news channels and the humorous and satirical song “Why is everybody always picking on the white guy?”

The Second City managed to touch on everything from Internet dating to overreliance on cell phones to gay marriage.

One particularly funny Iraq war skit at first appeared as though it would be a sharp political commentary but turned into a spoof of “Dirty Dancing.”

Periodically the actors would take a break from their sketches and songs and improvise scenes based on audience suggestions.

Each actor had a strong ability to come up with hilarious material on the spot and all of the actors did a great job playing off of each other’s ideas.

“One Nation Under Blog” was truly entertaining and informative. It had just the right balance of sharp wit and absurd silliness.

The minimal scenery assured that there would be no distractions from the material at hand. They had a great response from the audience. The theater was packed, people laughed continuously and the show received a standing ovation.

The production featured only six actors, a piano and a few chairs, but the small cast and simple set were still enough to make for a completely hilarious comedy revue. The content of the show ranged from silly slapstick to witty political commentary.

The Office of Cultural Programs and the Student Union Board sponsored the performance, which was a mix of planned sketches, songs and improvisation.

The comedy troupe began in Chicago in 1959 and has since expanded to Toronto, Detroit, Las Vegas and Denver. They also have training centers in New York and Los Angeles.

The six performers, Lilly Allison, Joey Bland, Anthony LeBlanc, Abby McEnany, Robyn Norris and Seth Weitberg, were all very talented.

They worked superbly as an ensemble and put together a fantastic show. And who knows? One of them just might be the next Steve Carell or Tina Fey.

Reporter: Alexa Milan - 09/12/07