by Sam Wasson
contract with Rollins, 54–56
description of, 18, 27–28, 67, 151, 172
early work with Nichols, 36–39
An Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine May, 68–69, 100
final scene with Nichols, 374
“The Game of Hurt,” 31
Ghostbusters II and, 307–8
The Heartbreak Kid, 158–60
Ishtar, 296–98
JFK and, 81–82, 93
litigation and, 158
marriages of, 24, 68, 86, 99, 101, 228–29
A Matter of Position, 86
meeting Nichols, 17, 18–19
Mikey and Nicky (see Mikey and Nicky)
“Mother and Son,” 57–58
A New Leaf, 150–52, 158
personal life and family of, 23–24, 37, 100
seduction scene with Nichols, 22–23, 25
“Teenagers,” 38–39, 56, 59
Tootsie, 264
May, Jeannie. See Berlin, Jeannie
May, Marvin, 24
Mazursky, Paul, 58, 213
McBrayer, Jack, 352
McKay, Adam
Anchorman, 370–71
ASSSSCAT 3000, 350–53
early work of, 317–20
Piñata Full of Bees, 332–35
Second City and, 331
See also Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB)
McKean, Michael, 142, 272–75
Meadows, Tim, 306
Meatballs, 244–47, 259, 279, 286
Meat Stop, 103
Metamorphoses, 149
Method acting technique, 14, 24, 27, 292, 308
Michaels, Lorne
casting by, 215, 311, 334–35
description of, 184
on early Saturday Night Live spirit, 224–25
at 505 Club, 205
Hart and Lorne Terrific Hour, 189
pitch for Saturday Night, 214, 215–16
Second City and, 249
See also Saturday Night Live (SNL)
Michalski, Jeff, 312, 329
Mikey and Nicky
creation and writing of, 27, 100, 158
editing of, 198–202, 219–20, 223
filming of, 171–76
litigation on, 223–24, 228
missing reels of, 228–29, 298
previewing of, 229
Miller, Mike, 138
Miller, Tom, 176
Mirror (game), 6
Miss Julie (play), 16–18
Mob (the Mafia), 61, 71
Monroe, Marilyn, 81–82
Moranis, Rick, 251, 252, 253, 260, 262
Morris, Garrett, 225–26
Morrison, George, 308, 309
Morse, Robert, 40
“Mother and Son,” 57–58
Motion Picture Daily, 67
“Motivation” (sketch), 311
Movie (longform), 320–21
Murray, Bill
on Belushi’s death, 269
Caddyshack, 257
early improv work of, 168–69, 192–94
early life and humor of, 160–62
fame and travel of, 286–87, 373–74
Ghostbusters, 275–79
Groundhog Day, 321–24
on Kennedy’s assassination, 92–93
“Las Vegas,” 193–94
Meatballs, 244–47, 259, 279, 286
The National Lampoon Show, 214, 217
“The New Guy,” 237
personality and interests of, 170–71, 217–18, 259–60, 275–76
Ramis and, 322–24, 370
Reitman and, 216–17, 244–45
Saturday Night Live, 236–37
“Shower Mike,” 237–38
on Spolin workshop, 163
Stripes, 247, 259, 279
Tootsie, 265–66, 271–72
unreleased improvised film by, 291–94
Murray, Brian. See Doyle-Murray, Brian
Murray, Joel, 302, 305, 306
“Museum Piece,” 71–73
musical improvisation, 102–3, 113–14, 206–7, 272–73
See also jazz
Myerson, Alan, 75–76, 92, 105–7, 112–13, 124–26
Myerson, Jessica, 119
N
Napier, Mick, 301, 339–43
Nation, 59
The National Lampoon Radio Hour, 206–11, 345
National Lampoon’s Animal House. See Animal House
The National Lampoon Show, 210–14, 216–18
Nazi Germany, 9
NBC (National Broadcasting Corporation), 216, 254–55
Neighbors, 266, 267
Nelson, Peter, 115
nerds, 313–14
New Actors Workshop, 308–9, 373
“The New Guy,” 237
A New Leaf, 150–52, 158
Newman, Laraine, 214, 215, 225–26
New York Compass, 58–59
New Yorker, 13, 60
New York Herald Tribune, 79
New York Review of Books, 145
New York Times, 86, 142, 366, 373
New York Times Book Review, 59
Next Generation (ensemble), 137–41, 144–47, 154
The Next Generation (revue), 144–46
Nichols, Mike
Angels in America, 364
Barefoot in the Park, 90–91
The Birdcage, 335–37
breakups and reunions with May, 86–87, 101, 201
Buck Henry and, 10, 110–11, 114–15, 147–48
in Compass Players, 34–36
contract with Rollins, 54–56
on Darden, 41
description of, 10, 17, 21
early life and family of, 8–10, 37, 57
early work with May, 36–39
An Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine May, 68–69, 100
final scene with May, 374
on Gordon in The Matchmaker, 39–41
The Graduate, 116–19, 121–24, 126
on humor, 38–39
JFK and, 81–82
on language and behavior, 8–9, 10–11, 21–22, 73–74
Luv, 104, 107
on MASH, 147, 148
A Matter of Position, 86
meeting May, 17, 18–19
“Mother and Son,” 57–58
in New York, 26–27, 32, 34
on playing the Blue Angel, 56–57
in Playwrights Theater Club, 22, 32
repertory theater by, 126–27
seduction scene with May, 22–23, 25
Sills and, 103–4, 105, 148–49
in St. Louis Compass, 50, 51–52
“Teenagers,” 38–39, 56, 59
UCB and, 320
at University of Chicago, 13–14, 15
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, 104, 108–10
1964 High School Yearbook, 218
Not Enough Rope, 220
O
O’Brien, Conan, 351, 352
Odenkirk, Bob, 310–11
O’Donoghue, Michael, 209
The Office, 100
O’Hara, Catherine
description of, 197–98
on improv, 197
as 1063 Avenue Road player, 179, 181
SCTV, 230, 234, 251
at Second City Toronto, 189, 221
Waiting for Guffman, 345, 347, 348–49
O’Hara, Marcus, 203, 204
O’Keefe, Michael, 258
The OkStupid Show, 377–78
Old Wine in New Bottles, 332
Omnibus, 59
1063 Avenue Road, 179–81, 184
Orientation, 212
O’Rourke, P. J., 208
Osborn, Robert, 59
O’Toole, Peter, 83
P
Pally, Adam, 352
Paramount Pictures, 150–52, 171–72, 223–24, 228, 229
Pasquesi, Dave, 306, 363–64
Patinkin, Sheldon
Close and, 75, 85, 101–2
on May, 18, 27–28
on Nichols, 17
on 1950s culture and Compass, 31
Not Enough Rope, 220
Old Wine in New Bottles, 332
SCTV, 231, 233, 236
Second City and, 71, 94, 95–97, 119
on University of Chicago, 15
Paulus, Diane, 308, 309
Payne, Dan, 153
Payne, Julie, 114
Penn, Arthur, 86
“The Perfect Master,” 208
“Perry Como: Still Alive,” 344
Peschkowsky, Mikhail Igor. See Nichols, Mike
Peters, Jon, 256
Petraeus, David, 367
Phantom-Black Rhino, 267
Picker, David, 172, 229
Piñata Full of Bees, 332–35
Pinter, Harold, 91, 97, 167
A Plague on Both Your Houses, 129–30
play behavior and improv games, 3–7, 33
Playboy, 65
Playwrights at Second City, 141, 220
Playwrights Theater Club, 19–21, 22, 24, 25, 28
Poehler, Amy
ASSSSCAT 3000, 350–53
description of, 325–26
early comedy influence and training of, 321, 324–25
in Family ensemble, 326–27
political cabaret, 78
Pollack, Sydney, 264, 265, 271–72, 291–94
Pomerantz, Hart, 189
Ponder, Nancy, 47–49
Posey, Parker, 346
Premise Players
cancellation of, 87, 95
establishment of, 65, 76–80
touring company of, 82–84
The Troublemaker, 110
See also Living Premise Players; specific players
Premise Theater, 100
Price, Frank, 247, 276, 279
Prince, Stephen, 248
Production Code (Hollywood), 108–9
Proposition, 225
“PTA,” 146–47
R
racism, 87, 88–89
Radcliffe, Rosemary, 195
Radner, Gilda
cancer and death of, 296, 309
description of, 181, 186–87
improv style of, 196–97, 305
The National Lampoon Radio Hour, 209, 211
as 1063 Avenue Road player, 177–78
Saturday Night Live, 219, 225–26
Ramis, Harold
Animal House, 231, 243, 248
on Belushi, 152, 155, 249
Bill Murray and, 171
Caddyshack, 256–58
Club Paradise, 321
drugs and, 164, 373
early life and humor of, 139, 143–44, 153
Ghostbusters, 276–79
Ghostbusters II, 307–8
Groundhog Day, 321–24
improv style of, 155–56
as influence, 370, 371–72
Meatballs, 245
Murray and, 322, 324, 370
The National Lampoon Radio Hour, 206, 209–11, 213–14
The National Lampoon Show, 218
SCTV, 231–36, 239
Second City and, 140, 144, 146–47
Stripes, 247
The Razor’s Edge, 259, 265, 275
Razowsky, David, 301–2, 306, 328–30
Redford, Robert, 116
Reed, Chris, 316
Reik, Theodor, 58
Reiner, Carl, 100, 107, 119, 273
Reiner, Rob, 119, 272–75
Reitman, Ivan
Animal House, 231
Ghostbusters, 276–79
Meatballs, 244–47
The National Lampoon Show, 216–18
on Second City Toronto cast, 212, 213, 214
Reome, Kevin, 325
Rexroth, Kenneth, 59
“Ricardo and the Trained Amoeba,” 195
Richmond, Jeff, 327, 352
Riordan, Irene, 105–6
Rivers, Joan, 75
Robbers and Cops, 100
Robbins, Jerome, 100
Roberts, Ian, 318
rock & roll, 273
Rogen, Seth, 372
Rollins, Jack, 54–56, 59–60
Roman, Rick, 317, 318, 319
Roos, Fred, 167
Rosato, Tony, 251, 266
Ross, Christopher, 106, 119
Ross, Katharine, 118, 123
Ross-Leming, Eugenie, 154, 155, 164, 378
Roth, Philip, 64
Rotter, Stephen, 297–98
Royale Theatre, 39–40
Rubin, Danny, 321, 322
Rubinfine, David, 68, 86, 99, 101, 228–29
The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming, 107–8
Ryan, Arthur N., 223
Ryerson, Ann, 193
S
Sahl, Mort, 55, 56
Sahlins, Bernie
on Belushi, 153–54
Close and, 85
on comedy industry, 249–50
SCTV, 230–36
Second City Chicago and, 60, 62, 64, 94, 137–41, 164
Second City Toronto and, 182–83, 194
selling of Second City by, 287–88
Salsberg, Gerry, 183, 187, 188
Sand, Paul
The Clown Who Ran Away, 7
The Explainers, 141
on improv games, 6, 8
music improv and, 103
at Second City, 70, 74
Sands, Diana, 88–89
Sanz, Horatio, 319, 350–51
Saturday Evening Post, 59
Saturday Night Live (SNL)
Blues Brothers, 248
first show of, 224–27
origin of, 214, 215–16
reorganization of, 266–67
Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell, 231
Saturday Review, 59
Sawyer, Diane, 308, 366
scenario play, 26, 31, 40–41
Schiller, Tom, 224
Schlesinger, Arthur, Jr., 59
Schlosser, Herbert, 216
Schreiber, Avery, 74, 85
Schulman, Bruce J., 192
Schwartz, Stephen, 181, 182
Scoppa, Pete, 176
Scott, Pat, 51–52, 86
SCTV. See Second City Television (SCTV)
Seale, Bobby, 145
Second City Chicago
Alexander and, 191–92, 287–88
Children’s Theater, 99, 140
Conservatory, 294–95
establishment of, 12, 60–64
failures and Patinkin’s reorganization of, 94–97, 99, 119
first shows and early success of, 64–66
Next Generation players, 137–41, 144–47, 154
Playwrights Group, 141, 220
second generation of, 74
show after Kennedy’s assassination, 93
Sills’s direction of, 60–66, 98–99
touring company of, 99, 140, 170
during Vietnam War era, 124–26, 129–33
workshops by Spolin at, 66, 74, 103
See also specific cast and shows
Second City New York, 74, 79
Second City Television (SCTV), 230–36, 239–40, 250–55, 260–63, 344–45
Second City Toronto
establishment and casting of, 176–77, 182, 187–91
evolution of, 220–23
management and first shows of, 194–98
SCTV, 230–36, 239–40, 250–55, 260–63
The Wizard of Ossington, 241
See also specific cast and shows
Sedaris, Amy, 299, 312–13
Segal, George, 76, 78, 79
Sellers, Peter, 83, 97, 142
Session (improv group), 119, 273
“Seven Sealed Strawberries,” 63
Shaffer, Paul, 179, 180
Shakespeare, William, 4, 5
Shaw, Bobbi, 273
Shearer, Harry, 272–75
Shepherd, Cybill, 158, 159
Shepherd, David
Argo Off-Beat Room, 42
Compass Players and, 29–31, 33–34, 39, 95
Enterprise, 26, 28, 46
Excelsior and Other Outcries, 63
> Flicker and, 45, 47, 49
on player’s weaknesses, 49
Playwrights Theater Club by, 19–21, 22, 25
on scenario play, 26, 62