Football Comes to the U of C

Smart Comedy Built Second City Success

Bernie Sahlins knows talent when he sees it. During his 26 years as producer with The Second City, Sahlins, AB’43, helped discover some of world’s best-known comedians, including John Belushi, Dan Akroyd, and Bill Murray.

But there’s a surprising secret to Sahlins’ success—funny isn’t enough.

“First I look for intelligence, and then for reference level,” he explains. “Do they know who the Secretary of Agriculture is? Do they know who Dostoevsky is?”

In “Football Comes to the University of Chicago,” a coach attempted to teach four undergraduates the basic rules of football—with disastrous results. When first confronted with the football, one student exclaims, “Why, it’s a demi-poly-tetrahedron!” The coach, doing his best not to lose patience, reminds his ragtag team that “we have a left guard and a right guard—no Kierkegaard here, gentlemen.”

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