Second City - Second Rate?

[gatorsfam]

First off, let me say that I usually enjoy the entertainment aboard and we are not overly demanding cruisers, nor quick to complain and gripe... That said, I'm wondering if our experience is similar to other regulars with NCL... We've been sailing more often with NCL than other lines and our first Second City sailing was in 2006. It was entertaining and funny. The sketches seemed original and we really appreciated how they tied in some great skits to go along with our Mediterranean sailing. We've even caught a live Second City show when they were in town with a limited time event - very funny!

 

Now, moving forward through the years we've sailed on the Pearl (2x), Jewel (2x), and Gem (1x) with Second City on all of those ships as I recall.

 

It seems that the majority of the sketches are the exact same as they were from 2006... Pictionary... Audience participation "We will rock you".. and on and on... even some of the improv elements seemed retreaded... I don't expect them to roll out an entirely new show every few months, but they really seem to rely on the same old playbook week in and week out. I sort of feel sorry for the Second City staff - I'm sure they are capable of putting together a great and funny show without being so apparently handcuffed by such a scripted show. Yes, funny people have come out of Second City and gone on to SNL and great careers in film and TV, but I'd be shocked if very many of them would want to be associated with the franchising of the Second City brand like NCL is seemingly doing.

 

Anyway, maybe that is the trend on cruise ships now with the quasi-broadway shows that will probably stay on there for years at a time. It seems that NCL may be riding the Second City wave longer than has been useful.

 

Am I alone in this thinking? The shows were great the first time, but they diminish each time I've seen them again. Of course none of this stops me from sailing with NCL :D - I wish they would mix it up a bit more I guess - :cool:

[wizdiz]

I love comedy and go see live comedy quite often. I enjoyed every show I saw on the Epic except for Second City. My group of 4 got up and just left. It was just not funny to me and we saw many others leave.

[RYMOMA]

row row row......

 

four cruises so far.....same same same

 

my DD was naughty and would say the punchlines even before they troupe did

[Ilovesailing]

We stopped going to second city years ago, it's time NCL dumped them.

[Novastar]

I've seen Second City on NCL twice now and, though the shows were different, they were underwhelming. I only remember one sketch that I thought was funny.

[ColinIllinois]

Completely agree. Three times on Epic and watched them twice with no desire to see them a third. Seemed to me to be a lot more staged than improvised and many times they were laughing more at themselves than the audience was.

 

Don't get me wrong, it wasn't horrible but nothing to get excited about.

[markf]

I agree as well--

Listen up NCL--you want repeat cruisers, but we dont want to see the same old shows whetehr it Second City or the game shows the CD plays.

Time to mix it up and freshen the product

[polySeraph]

I'm not a big Second City fan but my DH is. Even he has said that they've been a little uneven on the last few cruises. Sometimes he's liked them and sometimes he's walked out. (He has said that, with an active audience, they seem to do better.) It does sound as though they need to tighten up on the quality control and freshen up the material a little.

[gatorsfam]

I agree as well--

Listen up NCL--you want repeat cruisers, but we dont want to see the same old shows whetehr it Second City or the game shows the CD plays.

Time to mix it up and freshen the product

 

Good point - for a first time NCL cruiser, this is great entertainment... But for all of the repeat cruisers it has become a stale product. I wonder how long of an agreement NCL entered and if they plan to renew (hopefully not) and if they have some other entertainment prospects in the works (hopefully, but I'm skeptical ;)

[cruise4kicks]

TOTALLY agreed.

 

It was okay once, I walked out the second time, gave it a try on a third cruise in the intervening years but found it was the same old stale material and walked out again.

 

Second City had been so well known for fresh material and improv. What went wrong with them and NCL???

 

NCL, time for Second City to be cut loose... Either find a way to get them to do something fresh, or let them go.

[Tiggertastic]

The pearl, I found them great, funny and the evening show was wonderful however we walked out on the breakaway - terrible dribble

[SeaShark]

Count me in...I gave up going to Second City Shows a while back.

 

Not that it was terrible, but I just prefer Stand Up to Improv. I was SO HAPPY :D when they announced that Getaway will have Stand Up instead of the Second City!

[Medtech2]

First off, let me say that I usually enjoy the entertainment aboard and we are not overly demanding cruisers, nor quick to complain and gripe... That said, I'm wondering if our experience is similar to other regulars with NCL... We've been sailing more often with NCL than other lines and our first Second City sailing was in 2006. It was entertaining and funny. The sketches seemed original and we really appreciated how they tied in some great skits to go along with our Mediterranean sailing. We've even caught a live Second City show when they were in town with a limited time event - very funny!

 

Now, moving forward through the years we've sailed on the Pearl (2x), Jewel (2x), and Gem (1x) with Second City on all of those ships as I recall.

 

It seems that the majority of the sketches are the exact same as they were from 2006... Pictionary... Audience participation "We will rock you".. and on and on... even some of the improv elements seemed retreaded... I don't expect them to roll out an entirely new show every few months, but they really seem to rely on the same old playbook week in and week out. I sort of feel sorry for the Second City staff - I'm sure they are capable of putting together a great and funny show without being so apparently handcuffed by such a scripted show. Yes, funny people have come out of Second City and gone on to SNL and great careers in film and TV, but I'd be shocked if very many of them would want to be associated with the franchising of the Second City brand like NCL is seemingly doing.

 

Anyway, maybe that is the trend on cruise ships now with the quasi-broadway shows that will probably stay on there for years at a time. It seems that NCL may be riding the Second City wave longer than has been useful.

 

Am I alone in this thinking? The shows were great the first time, but they diminish each time I've seen them again. Of course none of this stops me from sailing with NCL :D - I wish they would mix it up a bit more I guess - :cool:

We have a local improv group that I have seen occasionally over the last 15 years. They, too, have a formula that they follow. While always different due to the different audience participation, it does get old after a while.

 

Improv isn't totally improv, in this sense. The only way around this would be to have actual regular comedians interspersed with these shows....

[Medtech2]

Count me in...I gave up going to Second City Shows a while back.

 

Not that it was terrible, but I just prefer Stand Up to Improv. I was SO HAPPY :D when they announced that Getaway will have Stand Up instead of the Second City!

Oh, I didn't know that! One more thing to look forward to!

[Sauer-kraut]

They should go back to the format of bringing on a different comic at each port. We saw some really funny people this way and you knew the next night would be a completely different show because the entertainer was only on one night.

[cj'smom]

Good point - for a first time NCL cruiser, this is great entertainment... But for all of the repeat cruisers it has become a stale product. I wonder how long of an agreement NCL entered and if they plan to renew (hopefully not) and if they have some other entertainment prospects in the works (hopefully, but I'm skeptical ;)

 

Even as 1st time NCL cruisers last Feb, we though the Second City show was awful -- stale and NOT funny at all. We enjoy improve but did not enjoy their show.

[gatorsfam]

It would be interesting to see how costs weigh in on these decisions for NCL... Yes, they have 5-6 Second City folks onboard for 6 months or whatever but these are no-name rising talent (actors) vs. stand-up comedians which are going to likely demand a bit more each and have extra travel expenses.

 

I agree that the stand-up guys can be a lot funnier - there were a couple guys on Carnival that had us in stitches for hours - their back of ship venue was great for stand-up...

[shelly11]

I love the Second City. Now I've only been on one cruise with them....they've never been on the Sky when I have.

 

We loved it so much my daughter and I looked them up and she attended their camp in Chicago this summer. If you don't like "Whose Line is it anyway" you're not going to like them.

[luddite]

I would much prefer Dave Heenan. I won't suffer through another Second City on a ship.

[dgparent]

They should bring the old Canadian cast back with the exception of John Candy[RIP], they could have Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara etc etc that would be a good show.

[Love my butler]

It shouldn't be called second city comedy, it should be called second city yawnfest. They are beyond horrible. Complete waste of time and space.

[spidybabe]

I agree as well--

Listen up NCL--you want repeat cruisers, but we dont want to see the same old shows whetehr it Second City or the game shows the CD plays.

Time to mix it up and freshen the product

 

Agree

Agree so very very much

Safe sailing

[Demonyte]

I agree as well--

Listen up NCL--you want repeat cruisers, but we dont want to see the same old shows whetehr it Second City or the game shows the CD plays.

Time to mix it up and freshen the product

 

Exactly this. Seeing the exactly same SC shows year after year gets boring - it's not like they'd have huge costs of replacing the production props everytime they'd freshen up the content of the show like they do in the main theatre.

[dexddd]

I will usually sit through a whole show of whatever just to keep an open mind but last time at the Second City show I walked out after 10 minutes it was that bad.

 

The other thing that is old is Fountains or whatever it is called. Seeing it the first time is funny. Going on a ship again and seeing it as an option offers nothing. I should add watching crew members fold towel animals at an afternoon show is much better than the two options above.

Edited November 8, 2013 by dexddd

[markf]

i actually saw him on a Celebrity cruise last fall in the meditteranean