The Second City Partners with The Onion to Offer New Writing Program

The Second City and The Onion, two of America's finest comedic institutions, have partnered to present a completely new writing program at The Second City Training Center's Chicago campus (1608 N. Wells, 4th Floor of Piper's Alley).

The first course offering, "Basic Writing with The Onion," a one-of-a-kind writing course taught by founding editor of The Onion, Scott Dikkers, which outlines The Onion's unique system of generating comedy ideas and stories, sold out in 30 minutes.

"The assets required of writers at The Second City and The Onion are very compatible - they need to be smart, funny and satirical," states Andrew Alexander, CEO/Executive Producer of The Second City. "While our writers take these assets and use improvisation as a tool to create content, The Onion has crafted their own unique system to produce ideas and stories. This system is a perfect complement to the core curriculum of our writing program."

"Aside from being America's Finest News Source, The Onion is the most literate, most entertaining, most influential and most profitable publication in the United States of America, including Texas," said Steve Hannah, CEO of The Onion. "Partnering with the Second City, we will--for the first time in recorded history--share the mysterious creative secrets that have made The Onion a three-time Nobel Prize winner.

"Plus, upon completion of the course, you will be much smarter, much cooler, more attractive to members of the opposite sex and immensely more interesting at parties. That alone is worth the price of tuition."

Additional levels will be added to this writing program including Intermediate and Advanced writing as well as a Master Class. The next term at The Second City Training Center is scheduled for June 24 - August 25. Early registration begins Friday, May 24, 2013. Visit www.SecondCity.com for more information.

The Onion
Since its humble beginnings as a Madison, WI student-run newspaper in the late-'80s, The Onion has become the America's most recognizable and prominent source of satirical commentary. With daily coverage of politics, technology, sports, business, entertainment and more, theonion.com welcomes over 8 million unique monthly visitors.

The Second City
The Second City is the leading brand in improv-based sketch comedy. With theatres in Chicago and Toronto, Training Centers in those cities as well as Hollywood, 11 full time touring ensembles, thriving corporate communications and theatricals divisions as well as television and film operations, The Second City has been called "A Comedy Empire" by The New York Times.