Bernie Sahlins died yesterday, at 90, in Chicago, the city he made a hotspot for comedy talent through the revolutionary work of Second City. At Second City, he and his co-founders changed the very nature of modern comedy, bringing the art and technique of improvisation to the stage (and later the TV studio and the silver screen). Second City begat Saturday Night Live, which begat... well you know the rest of the story.
Sahlins and partners Howard Alk and Paul Sills started Second City in 1959, using $60,000 of Sahlins' funds. Building on the earlier work of the Compass Players, an improv troupe that came out of Hyde Park and the University of Chicago, they created Second City in Old Town, on Chicago's near north side. (Where it remains.)
From the Chicago Sun-Times:
A sampling of the future stars Mr. Sahlins hired and nurtured at Second City during his three decades producing and directing there includes Alan Arkin, Joan Rivers, David Steinberg, Robert Klein, Fred Willard, John and Jim Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Dave Thomas, John Candy, Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Bill Murray, Andrea Martin, Gilda Radner, Shelly Long, Harold Ramis, George Wendt, Joe Flaherty and Martin Short.
The birth of Second City was not easy. Reading the obits, it was plainly Sahlins' persistence through the 1950s that finally brought it forth. And even then, it began as a modest affair:
Originally a small and smoky joint at the intersection of Lincoln and Wells, with budget bentwood chairs and decor that included old phone booths, the bastion of satirical hilarity with which Mr. Sahlins would become inextricably linked for the rest of his life emerged during the heyday of and shared an aesthetic with already popular local establishments such as Mister Kelly’s, the Gate of Horn and the London House. This time, though, the timing was right.
While Second City was by all accounts a hit within months of opening, its launch was not hitch-less. There were money problems, attendance problems and other issues. But Mr. Sahlins “never gave up,” Patinkin says. “Never. He always figured, ‘We’ll get through this, and then it’ll be fine.’ And it always worked out eventually.”
He was the godfather of all who came through Second City's doors, nurturing the talents that would become household names over the decades:
Friend and Second City vet Tim Kazurinsky said Sunday that Mr. Sahlins “was father to us all. So of course, as some sort of cosmic jest, Bernie would choose to leave us on Father’s Day. Such was his style. He took us all in — waifs, rebels, malcontents — and gave us a home. He taught us as best he could, then gave us the boot. But he never forgot a single one. And none of us will ever forget him.”
When Saturday Night Live came along, Second City became in effect the training ground for its cast. Lorne Michaels knew where to go....
Not long after NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” debuted, in the fall of 1975, Mr. Sahlins’ saw his Chicago venue become a poaching ground for TV types. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” he has quipped. (According to Sloane, who died in 2011, Mr. Sahlins once half-jokingly commanded her to lock “SNL” honcho Lorne Michaels out of the building.)
In response (some say), Sahlins helped to create
Second City Television, featuring Harold Ramis, Andrea Martin, John Candy, Catherine O'Hara, Eugene Levy, Dave Thomas, Rick Moranis. Lord, just thinking about SCTV makes me laugh. As a teenager I was addicted to it, and it no doubt corrupted me in all the best ways.
I used to live in the Second City neighborhood in Chicago, and it was wonderful to know one could walk in on any night and see creative spirits working on the vital edges, even after it achieved massive success. What a legacy he leaves. One could argue that no human being in history has ever brought more laughter into the world that Sahlins did. Thank you, Bernie, for making me laugh and think and laugh some more.
In 2007, Sahlins addressed the Association of Arts Administration Educators. His speech began as follows: "As the British say about cricket: Art is not a matter of life and death ... it's much more important than that. We come and we go, but the music of Ariel's island sings forever."