Since its modest beginning in 1959, The Second City in Chicago has become a world-renowned bastion of hilarity. A training ground for many of today's top comedic talents - including Alan Arkin, Dan Aykroyd, Stephen Colbert, Tina Fey, Bill Murray, and Amy Sedaris - it was an early blueprint for improv-based sketch revues in North America and abroad.

Mike Thomas is a staff writer for the Chicago Sun-Times. He has also written for Esquire, Smithsonian, and Salon.com.