Williamsburg, prepare to be entertained.
Chicago’s beloved comedic company The Second City has arrived in the boroughs.
The Midwestern sketch and improv institution announced last October that it would be opening its first New York City location this year and now, less than 12 months later, ticket sales at The Second City New York have launched online.
“For more than six decades, we’ve been training and developing talent on our Chicago and Toronto stages, many of whom come to us from New York. While The Second City has had a regular touring presence in the city since the 1960s, we’ve never laid down roots,” The Second City CEO Ed Wells told The Post on Tuesday. “This is a time in which there is a growing demand for great live comedy, and we are excited to lead the way in New York City.”
Previously, Wells has credited the end of the coronavirus pandemic for the decision to, after 63 years in the windy city and 50 in Toronto, finally create a Brooklyn branch.
(There have also been branches in Detroit and Las Vegas, but both are now closed.)
“As we came out of the pandemic and saw the resurgence of our stages and our consumer demand and the fact that we’re selling out every night, it became more immediate for us to start thinking about expansion,” he explained last year, adding “New York just feels obvious.”
The funny house’s almost 12,000-square-foot complex at 64 N. Ninth St. will officially open on Nov. 16.
Eager fans can ensure entry now by buying a seat to the venue’s first slate of shows, including “The First City Revue,” a celebration of NYC through improv and sketch comedy; “Jack Frost Roasting On an Open Fire,” an interactive comic holiday revue; and “Improv Holiday Brunch,” a seasonal comedic experience paired with a la carte food offerings and mimosas.
The Second City — which counts Stephen Colbert, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Keegan-Michael Key among its alums and has a reputation for incubating talent — will also boast an eatery and training center in the new space, which features a full-service bar and restaurant, two cabaret-style live theaters and seven classrooms.
Enrollment is also now open online for certain center classes at the hub.