Interview Second City's Andy St. Clair and the theater's short-term legacy

Sure, Second City's mammoth 50th-anniversary celebration this weekend includes an almost comically large list of alums; but while the city prepares for the onslaught of old-guard comic-talent, the theater's Mainstage is going about business as usual. Tied to the looming festivities, the six-actor ensemble, helmed this time around by mad-genius director Mick Napier, launched the theater's 97th Mainstage revue, Taming Of The Flu, last Sunday. Its stand-out comic is Andy St. Clair, a Brookfield, Mo. native who wound up in Chicago instead of New York or Los Angeles in 1998 because if he became "an ultimate failure, it was an easier car ride home." St. Clair started touring with Second City's traveling ensemble in 2004, and performed in the last five revues on Second City's e.t.c. stage. The A.V. Club called St. Clair to get his take on the theater's current state and people's misuse of the word "groundbreaking" when describing its past.

The A.V. Club: What drew you to improv and sketch when you arrived in Chicago?

Andy St. Clair: Actually, I moved up here to do acting. I had never taken improv before. I stumbled into the ImprovOlympic just to look at the theater, and it happened to be a registration of a class that day. The person asked me, "Are you here to register for a class?" And I was like, "No!" I went home and called my mom at that point. She probably floated me $200, and I started taking my first class. Then everybody was talking about Second City at the time, so I took some classes over at Second City; then it was pretty much over.

AVC: What was the scene at Second City at the time?

ASC: At that time on the stages were Kevin Dorff, Stephnie Weir. My first show I saw was Psychopath [Not Taken], which was my favorite. My theory is that the first show you see at Second City will always be your favorite. Second City was so intimidating at that time, walking into the building I was always nervous, like, "Don’t connect eyes with anybody."

AVC: Now that you're on the Mainstage, do you notice a difference between it and the e.t.c. stage?

ASC: The Mainstage is bigger, of course, and the words, "The Mainstage"—that always throws people off. When I was on the e.t.c., I’d heard random people talking. I was behind this woman and her husband, and some friends of theirs were walking and she said, “You know, next time we’ll go to the Mainstage. Sorry it was sold out, but this is kind of like the minor leagues, this e.t.c. stage.” I laughed so hard. So I think the Mainstage is the destination people want to go to most of the time, but sometimes they get sold out. Second City does a great job of being like, "Hey, there’s this show at the e.t.c., you should go to see that." Mick [Napier] and I were talking about this recently. He feels the Mainstage is two-dimensional, and the e.t.c. is more three-dimensional of a room. 

AVC: How did the process of writing this show, tied to the anniversary, differ from writing a show any other time?

ASC: The very first day of rehearsal, Mick said, "There’s gonna be a lot of pressure that you’re gonna put on yourself. There’s gonna be a lot of pressure that outside people put on you, whether it’s people in the building or alumni or just people. They're gonna come and see the show and want certain things because it’s the 50th. Let’s not worry about that, let’s just go out and have a good time."

AVC: Was he right? Did you feel some of that pressure?

ASC: You do a little bit. You certainly don’t want to disappoint any of the alumni or at this point, anybody in the building for the 50th. But the current Mainstage cast members have a lot of shows under their belts. This one is a little more veteran.

AVC: How do you think this new show falls within the arc of other Second City shows? Whenever people talk about past revues, the word "groundbreaking" gets thrown around. Parts of this new show feel fresh, and parts feel familiar. Do you wonder whether people might be viewing the past through rose-colored glasses?

ASC: I think so. That show that I love so much, Psychopath, I haven’t seen it in maybe 10 years. I bet if I go back and watch that now, I'll be like, "There was no 'out' for that scene." The groundbreaking term is probably overused, especially at Second City, because you’re ultimately seeing different variations of a father-daughter scene, or a couple scene, or a classic Second City scene like a misdirect. There’s a scene at the top of the second act [in the new revue] where our musical director [Ruby Streak] plays a piece of music; it’s never been done before, and it has nothing to do with the show. Our musical director has been there 31 years, and most people aren’t going to know that. So let's do that, let’s just try it, it’s less than a minute long, it doesn’t ultimately really matter in the bigger picture of things, she did a great job and then we can all move on.

AVC: Pat O’Brien was recently nabbed from the Mainstage to write for Saturday Night Live. It had been a while since someone was so directly plucked from the stage; why do you think that is?

ASC: With Saturday Night Live, there’s so much more improv out there like Upright Citizens Brigade in New York and L.A. The Groundlings are still around. I don’t know this, but I’m guessing back in 1985, Second City was one of only two or three destinations outside of stand-up to find the next star on SNL. That pool has gotten larger, now Second City is not the only place. And luckily there’s more choices for actors to do, instead of just SNL.

AVC: It seems people almost have to do other things outside of Second City now.

ASC: Right. I think most improvisers at Second City are trying to put together a writing package, or a lot of things so they don’t have to just do with Second City. Everybody should have to do Second City, but not everybody gets to do Second City.

AVC: Second City has said many times that it prepares actors well for life outside of Second City. What about Second City as an endgame on its own? Is that something that should be considered?

ASC: It’s up to the actor too. Some people do Second City to become something else in their life. I’m sure, especially this week for the 50th, you’re going to hear about the 50 or 100 most influential alumni that are out there: Colbert, Carell, Fey. But then there’s still another 400 of them that are working, and maybe some are struggling and maybe some aren’t, but they’re doing different things. Some of them might not even have a job in comedy anymore. It really does prepare you, though. I’ve been performing for six nights a week in front of at least 300 people; I can probably do this audition in front of two people.