The 1970s
18 milestones documented from 1970–1979.
Josephine Forsberg Founds the Players Workshop, Chicago's First Independent Improv School
Josephine Forsberg founded the Players Workshop in 1971, establishing the first independent school of improvisational theatre in Chicago. Forsberg had been a student of Viola Spolin and a teacher at The Second City since 1959, and the Players Workshop carried Spolin's theatre games methods into a formal curriculum designed to prepare students for Second City auditions. The school operated in close proximity to The Second City and was commonly referred to as the Players Workshop of the Second City.
David Shepherd Creates the Improvisation Olympics in New York City
David Shepherd, co-founder of the Compass Players, created the Improvisation Olympics NYC in 1972 at the Space for Innovative Development in New York City, with Howard Jerome Gomberg. Teams competed before live audiences using Viola Spolin's Theater Games as the competitive framework. The short-lived format closed around 1973 but was the direct genealogical precursor to iO Theater: Shepherd later brought the format to Chicago, co-founding the Improv Olympic with Charna Halpern in 1981.
The Second City Opens Its First Permanent Canadian Company in Toronto
The Second City opens its first permanent Canadian location in Toronto, Ontario, establishing what becomes one of the most successful and talent-rich improv training programs in the world. The Toronto company develops its own distinct voice within the Second City tradition, producing alumni who define Canadian and American comedy for decades. The opening marks the beginning of The Second City's expansion beyond its Chicago origins.
The Second City Toronto Opens
Bernard Sahlins and Joyce Sloane opened The Second City Toronto in 1973, extending the Chicago company's franchise to Canada for the first time.
Andrew Alexander Revives Second City Toronto
Andrew Alexander acquired the rights to operate The Second City in Canada for $1 in early 1974, borrowed $7,000, and reopened the company at the Old Firehall at 110 Lombard Street — beginning the era that produced SCTV and launched dozens of major comedy careers.
Gary Austin Founds The Groundlings in Los Angeles
Gary Austin, a veteran of San Francisco's The Committee, formally established The Groundlings as a theatre company in January 1974 in Los Angeles, assembling approximately fifty founding members and naming the company after the standing-audience groundlings of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. The company went on to develop the West Coast's most influential character-based improv and sketch methodology.
SCTV Premieres from Second City Toronto
Andrew Alexander and Len Stuart launched SCTV in 1976 as the first production of The Second City Entertainment Company, drawing its cast largely from the Toronto stage. The groundbreaking sketch series ran until 1984.
Second City Television Premieres in Canada
Second City Television, known as SCTV, premiered in 1976 in Canada, produced by The Second City Toronto and Andrew Alexander. The sketch comedy series featured ensemble members including John Candy, Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, and Catherine O'Hara across its eight-year run. SCTV was broadcast nationally in Canada and syndicated in the United States, earning numerous Emmy Awards and establishing Second City alumni as defining voices in North American television comedy.
Keith Johnstone Introduces Theatresports
Keith Johnstone introduces the Theatresports format at Loose Moose Theatre in Calgary, creating a competitive framework in which two or more teams of improvisers perform scenes scored by judges. The format combines the spirit of athletic competition with improvisational aesthetics, creating immediate stakes and audience engagement. Theatresports spreads rapidly across Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and eventually worldwide, becoming one of the most widely performed improv formats in history.
Loose Moose Theatre Company Founded in Calgary
Keith Johnstone founds Loose Moose Theatre Company in Calgary, Alberta, creating the institutional home for his developing system of improvisational theater. Loose Moose becomes the birthplace of Theatresports and a laboratory for Johnstone's ongoing experiments with narrative, status, and spontaneity. The company's work, grounded in Johnstone's distinctive pedagogy, influences improvisers throughout Canada and internationally.
Chicago City Limits Founded by Second City Alumni in Chicago
A group of performers who had trained under Del Close at Second City's workshop programme founded Chicago City Limits in Chicago in 1977. The founding company included George Todisco, Linda Gelman, Bill McLaughlin, Carol Schindler, Paul Zuckerman, Rick Crom, and Christopher Oyen. The company relocated to New York City in 1979 and went on to become one of the city's longest-running improv companies.
Canadian Improv Games Founded in Ottawa
In 1977, Jamie Wyllie and Howard Jerome founded the Canadian Improv Games in Ottawa, Ontario, establishing an annual competitive improvisation tournament for high school students. Wyllie's troupe Stage Fright organized the first matches among eight Ottawa high schools, adapting competitive formats accessible to students encountering improv for the first time. The competition grew to fourteen regional programmes across Canada, with a national final held annually at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.
Loose Moose Theatre Company Founded in Calgary
Keith Johnstone and Mel Tonken co-founded Loose Moose Theatre Company in Calgary in 1977, creating the home where Johnstone would develop Theatresports and other foundational improv formats.
Ligue Nationale d'Improvisation Holds Its First Match in Montreal
On October 21, 1977, Robert Gravel and Yvon Leduc organised the first Ligue Nationale d'Improvisation match at the Maison de Beaujeu in Montreal, Quebec. The format placed improvisers on a stage marked like a hockey rink, with referees, penalties, and crowd scoring drawn from professional hockey's visual language. The debut match established a competitive improvisation format that became the dominant form of competitive improv in francophone culture worldwide.
Ligue Nationale d'Improvisation Founded in Montreal
Robert Gravel and Yvon Leduc performed the first match d'improvisation on October 21, 1977, at midnight at the Maison Beaujeu in Montreal, inaugurating the LNI and the hockey-inspired competitive improv format they had invented.
"Something Wonderful Right Away" Published
Jeffrey Sweet publishes "Something Wonderful Right Away," an oral history of The Second City and The Compass Players assembled from interviews with alumni including Shelley Berman, Barbara Harris, Bill Murray, and dozens of others. The book provides the first comprehensive document of the Chicago improvisation tradition, preserving firsthand accounts of the creative processes, personalities, and experiences that shaped American comedy. It becomes an essential primary source for understanding the history of improvisational theater.
Keith Johnstone Publishes "Impro"
Methuen publishes "Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre" by Keith Johnstone, one of the most widely read and influential books in the history of improvisational theater. Drawing on his experience as a playwright, director, and teacher, Johnstone develops original theories of status, spontaneity, narrative, and mask that provide an alternative vocabulary for understanding and teaching improvised performance. The book's directness, humor, and practical insight make it essential reading for improvisers, actors, and educators worldwide.
The Groundlings Opens Its Melrose Avenue Theatre After Four Years of Renovation
The Groundlings opened its permanent home at 7307 Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles in April 1979, after four years of renovation complicated by building codes and parking restrictions. The 99-seat theatre established the venue that has anchored the company's operations ever since.