An interview with Ian Owens from buzai232's blog

Bill Murray. Tina Fey. Joan Rivers. Amy Poehler. Steve Carell. Steven Colbert. John and Jim Belushi. Harold Ramis. John Candy. Dan Aykroyd. Mike Meyers. Chris Farley. Bob Odenkirk. Keegan-Michael Key.Find the more Metro news from SHINE. What do all of these comedy legends have in common? They all started their careers with The Second City, Chicago's historic improv sketch comedy enterprise.

This month, The Second City is bringing their best sketches and songs to the City of Roses. Featuring touring cast members Jenelle Cheyne, Laurel Krabacher, Scotty Nelson, Ian Owens, Jo Scott, and Lilliana Winkworth. Metro spoke with Ian Owens about improv comedy, the Myers-Briggs test, and taking the leap of performing comedy in front of an audience. Answers have been edited for brevity and clarity.I moved to LA to be a stand-up, and I pursued that for a few years. Then I auditioned for an improv job out in Amsterdam, and got to live in my favorite country of all time - Holland - for a little while. I guess I've always been into [improv].

I've always been funny, always used comedy as my weapon. I wasn't tall or handsome or big or anything else - but I was funny. I did a theatrical for Second City, called "Unelectable You", a political show that took place right before the 2016 presidential election. We toured the country with that show. About halfway through that tour, I realized Donald Trump was going to win based on how certain jokes were received. Comedy is a really great way to take the temperature of the country. I was a little bit ahead of FiveThirtyEight, Nate Silver and that group, in that regard. Then I came back to LA, studied under Second City and then became part of their national touring group which is my dream job.

It's nice to have a job as a comedian here in Chicago, but it's also nice to be out of Chicago for as much of the winter as you can.The history, for sure. Everywhere else I've been has some history, but Second City goes all the way back to the roots. It's the beginning of satirical comedy here in the States, unless you want to go all the way back to Mark Twain.Just looking at the alumni, it's incredible. Being in a theater backstage and seeing a quote from Steve Carrell, and next to that a quote from Chance the Rapper, and next to that is a quote from a senator or someone else - it's wild to think about how many people have done this job and gone on to be successful.