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    The Best of Second City: Vol. 3
    The Best of Second City: Vol. 3
    The Best of Second City: Vol. 3
    Audiobook46 minutes

    The Best of Second City: Vol. 3

    Written by Second City: Chicago's Famed Improv Theatre

    Narrated by Fran Adams, Scott Adsit, Amy Sedaris and

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Since 1959, Chicago's The Second City improvisational comedy troupe has played a critical role in developing some of the most successful comedians in the United States and Canada.

    Comedians such as Alan Arkin, Joan Rivers, James Belushi, Bill Murray, Mike Myers, and Richard Kind, to name a few, have all performed with The Second City.

    Between 1991 and 1997, L.A. Theatre Works, in conjunction with Chicago Theatres on the Air, had the pleasure of producing a number of Second City performances featuring Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell, Amy Sedaris, Marsha Mason, Edward Asner and Paul Dinelo.

    Hear these budding young comedians in some of their most hilarious work before they became the stars they are today.

    (P)2007 L.A. Theater Works

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherL.A. Theatre Works
    Release dateJan 1, 2008
    ISBN9781580813952
    The Best of Second City: Vol. 3

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    Reviews for The Best of Second City

    3.5/5

    3,579 ratings70 reviews

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 1/5
      So dated and ridiculous as to be almost unlistenable. Add a star if you have a significant interest in the history of comedy or really want to hear Marsha Mason or other stars of that era.
    • 3/5
      recorded in 1972 ... directed by John Berry...full cast recordingthe highs and lows of speech make this difficult to hear without continual adjustmentbut...note the recording date...Unfortunately it bothered me and I probably missed some important conversation.3.5*.....recorded as 3.0r
    • 5/5
       A classic. Hated it when I first read it. Now I love it. So many levels of honesty and bravery. Redefines winning and losing.
    • 2/5
      I'd probably like this better if I could have gotten over how *stupidily repressed* everyone was.
    • 3/5
      Interesting play by Arthur Miller. It was interesting to finally understand what the Salem Witch trials were and what they meant.
    • 4/5
      A grim tale of the Salem witch trials and the fearful consequences of paranoid courts throughout time. When jealousy and petty revenge fantasies of young girls runs out of control, soon none are safe. John Proctor is a simple farmer who has one great sin in his life - lechery. After his wife discovered it, the house girl was dismissed, but she has since clung to hope of a reunion with her once lover. This has caused young Abigail to accuse Proctor's wife of witchcraft. But it does not stop there. Soon dozens are accused and many are executed.Which is ultimately worse: to die unjustly for a crime not committed, or to confess untruthfully and go free?
    • 4/5
      Miller is at the height of his powers here, writing a play about witch hunts during the height of Joe McCarthy's reign as the country's head persecutor of supposed communists and fellow travellers. The play is harrowing, although I don't remember the original version having the asides that give character background information and historical context. Overall, a stunning depiction of the hysteria that takes hold when there is a perceived threat to the community, and the miscarriage of justice that occurs when the responsibility for facing this threat is placed in the wrong hands.
    • 3/5
      I'm glad I read this book. It was not required of me in high school, because other classics were assigned. I wish I had been required to read it since I was quite religious then. It stirred up anger in me now at the institution's injustice and the people's willingness to participate in evil, while calling themselves good.
    • 4/5
      Liked it more than I expected. Have never seen the play, but I really enjoyed reading it.
    • 3/5
      2017 Winter:

      This was a read for my Junior Class. I'm not sure I have a whole lot to say about this book. It's a clearly explained allusion for McCarthyism presented through the Salem Witch Trials. It's far more educational to my than enjoyable entertainment, but the kids did love reading parts out loud and gasping as crazier things kept happens while the hysteria ramped.
    • 5/5
      Even written down the scenes of this play ring out in a terrifying way. Highly recommend.
    • 3/5
      It was good. There is a show on Netflix (or there was I don't know if it is still on there) called Salem which is based on this book. I really enjoyed the show. This felt like reading the super condensed version of that. This is one of those rare instances that I actually felt that the show was better than the book. Though I guess in this instance, that isn't too far fetched since the book is actually a play and is meant to be seen.
    • 5/5
      The conflict gets me so tense in this play that I'll throw the book across the room when it starts to boil.
    • 4/5
      Very powerful and moving. At the same time it is sad, scary and so applicable to modern life.
    • 5/5
      This 1953 play concerns the events of the infamous Salem witch trials of 1692, and was intended by the author to draw an analogy with McCarthyism, which at that time was scarring US public discourse. Given that the witch trials resulted in deaths of innocent people, an even more appropriate comparison would be with the denunciatory atmosphere of Stalinism, especially in the purges of the late 1930s. Another contemporary (to us) comparison that came to my mind was with the political echo chambers that exist, especially on social media, on both the right and the left; as the modern day universal narrator says in Act 1: "A political policy is equated with moral right, and opposition to it with diabolical malevolence". The play is a gripping drama, with an unfolding air of suspicion and malice that ends up swallowing almost all of the main characters. Even discounting its political significance, it's a great piece of literature.
    • 3/5
      Provocative, timely content mixed with a wildly inconsistent play format made this a mixed-bag read. It was engaging at an ideas level, but it frustrated me from a craft level. I want to see this performed to understand how they translate the pages and pages of contextual writing.
    • 3/5
      I have wanted to read this one for a long time. It is a play so that is one reason why it took so long to get it done. I have this book but I also listened to the audio dramatization of the play. It pretty much fits with all the other books that I've red about the Salem Witch Trials.
    • 3/5
      Overly didactic.
    • 4/5
      Another matrimonial tandem read. We saw a university production of this the week after.
    • 5/5
      A rare case where the film was true to the book (or play in this case). Easy to read but could be very difficult to follow if you are not familiar with the characters. There are many characters and they all play significant roles. Though not 100% historically accurate it is still beautifully retold in a way that's much more reader friendly. This is one of those classics that everyone should read at least once.
    • 4/5
      A dramatic, and occasionally melodramatic, production, the character, distinct and the excitement, high.
    • 4/5
      A fictionalized history of the Salem witch trials. The author changes some of the dynamics of the time, making the girls older than they really were, and introducing a love triangle between a major player, John Proctor, and one of the main girls involved in accusations, Abigail Williams. This is unfortunate, because it loses some of the power that the play might have by adding in the revenge fantasy of a teenage girl who in real life was a bored pre-teen. In spite of that, the play uses characters and situations that actually existed, and is a powerful indictment of mob hysteria. The work is still relevant, as people continue to deal with situations of mass responses to events.
    • 4/5
      Loved it. Learned the term "scapegoat." Hated Abigail, who symbolized every evil in the world to me. I don't know why, but Abigail was my scapegoat--what the citizens of Salem did was all the fault of Abigail. I think that for me she symbolized cheerleaders and popular girls in my school.
    • 4/5
      This was a very interesting read. It was terrifying, frustrating, and infuriating. The Salem witch trials often have that effect on me.
      I found myself yelling out loud during parts of the book.
      I wasn't too pleased with the treatment of the women in this book, both by the other characters and the author. There was a definite "blame the psychotic mistress/cold distant wife" angle. The man who cheated on his wife and resented her feelings about it was supposed to be sympathetic, and it was hard for me to side with him, for obvious reasons.
    • 4/5
      Man, I haven't read this since high school. In fact, this is the same copy.Miller shows the dangers of a true theocracy by dramatizing the events of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Watching a group of young girls successfully convince a whole town that witchcraft is afoot and everyone who stands against them is in league with the devil is a horrifying thought, especially when the masters of the court not only believe them, but refuse to change their stance once the girls run away and steal the preacher's money.Reading through this again, I don't remember ever taking a look at Act Two, Scene 2 in the Appendix. This was a rather fascinating scene, because it showed Proctor's willingness to take his wife's advice and try to talk Abby out of her dangerous game, as well as Abby's pure madness and resolve in seeing her sick joke to the end, no matter the consequence.
    • 4/5
      Gelesen als Vorbereitung auf den Film zum Stück (Yael Farber inszeniert im Old Vic mit Richard Armitage als Proctor u.a.).Hat mir gut gefallen, die Balance zwischen "Dokumentation" und fiktionalem Drama.Die politische Dimension hab ich jetzt nicht so gesehen. Allein die Entwicklung der tragischen Geschichte John und Elizabeth Proctors vor dem Hintergrund eigentlich kleiner menschlicher Verfehlungen, die sich aber unheilvoll summieren: Neid, Missgunst, enttäuschte Liebe, Auskosten erster Erfahrungen sexueller und persönlicher Macht (im Fall von Abigail).Den leisen Humor im Text habe ich übrigens erst bemerkt, als ich das Theater- (und Kino-)Publikum an besagten Stellen lachen hörte.
    • 3/5
      I think this play is one that's better seen, rather than read. Some plays are excellent as text (12 Angry Men, Glass Menagerie, about half of Shakespeare's works), but this one just didn't do it for me.
    • 4/5
      This play dramatizes the events of the Salem witch trials and the terrible decisions people had to make. Accused of witchcraft they either faced the gallows or confessed to the crime and lived with a lie. And all because of some frightened girls.For me, this play started slow and it took a while to attune to the language. By the fourth act I was immersed in the speech and the plot.
    • 4/5
      Very long for a play. The subject and characters are wonderful, but I think it could have and should have been tightened up to make it better theatre. It reads very well as a piece of fiction, but reading a play isn't the point. Overall, a very fine (if long) play.
    • 5/5
      This is so good on so many levels. It is not only good drama, but immerses the reader into the times of the Salem Witch Trials. Brilliant.