The Second City Training Center in Chicago trains about 18,000 aspiring entertainers and improvisers every year — that’s more than the average number of undergraduate students who enroll at the University of Chicago. But Second City is just one piece of Chicago’s robust improv scene, which has cranked out countless successful comedians and Hollywood stars, including everyone from Chris Farley and Horatio Sanz to Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. How did that happen? Why did Chicago become such a destination for improv?

I reported and produced this story for WBEZ’s Curious City.