Paul Sills (born 18 November, 1927) is a director and improvisation teacher, and the original director of The Second City, Playwrights and Compass Players. Philosophically, improvisation often focuses on bringing ones personal awareness into the moment, and on developing a profound understanding for the action one is doing. ... The Second City Logo The Second City is a long-running improvisational comedy troupe based in the Old Town neighborhood of Chicago, with offshoot troupes in other cities, most notably Toronto. ... The Second City is a long-running improvisational comedy troupe based in the Old Town area of Chicago, Illinois, with offshoot troupes in other cities, most notably Toronto. ...

Paul is the son of teacher and writer Viola Spolin, author of the first book on improvisation techniques, "Improvisation for the Theater," and so grew up in an environment full of educational theatre experiences. Image:Spolin2. ...

In 1948 Paul enrolled in the University of Chicago, where he established himself as a director, founding the university's first student-led theater group "Tonight at 8:30" and "Playwrights Theater Club". Here, with fellow actors Elaine May, Mike Nichols and Edward Asner, they blended Spolin’s technique with established theater training. The University of Chicago is a private university located principally in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. ... Elaine May (b. ... Mike Nichols (born Michael Igor Peschkowsky) is an Academy Award winning movie director of films such as The Graduate and Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. He was born on November 6, 1931 in Berlin, to a Jewish Russian family. ... Edward Asner (born November 15, 1929 in Kansas City, Kansas) is an American actor best known for his Emmy-winning role as Lou Grant on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and later continued in a spinoff series, Lou Grant. ...

Sills and David Shepherd founded the Compass Players in 1955, the first improvisational theater company in the U.S.

Sills with partners Bernard Sahlins and Howard Alk opened a new nightclub review, dubbed The Second City, where he was the director from 1959‑65, working with such talent as Alan Arkin, Joyce and Byrne Piven, and Jerry Stiller. Bernard Bernie Sahlins is an American writer, director and comedian best known as a founder of The Second City improvisational comedy troupe with Paul Sills and Howard Alk in 1959. ... The Second City Logo The Second City is a long-running improvisational comedy troupe based in the Old Town neighborhood of Chicago, with offshoot troupes in other cities, most notably Toronto. ... Alan Wolf Arkin (born March 26, 1934) is an Academy Award-winning American actor and director. ... Bryne Piven (September 24, 1929, Scranton, Pennsylvania - February 18, 2002, Evanston, Illinois), was an influential American stage actor, director, and co-founder of the Playwrights Theatre Club, a forerunner of the Second City. ... Jerry Stiller (born Gerald Stiller on June 8, 1927) is an American comedian and actor. ...

Paul was the creator of Story Theatre which played on and off Broadway. Paul opened the Story Theater in Chicago in July of 1968. He was co‑founder of Compass Players, as well as The Game Theatre, opened in the mid-1960s, with his mother, where the audiences were invited onstage to play the games, and most recently Sills & Co. Broadway theatre[1] is often considered the highest professional form of theatre in the United States. ... The Second City is a long-running improvisational comedy troupe based in the Old Town area of Chicago, Illinois, with offshoot troupes in other cities, most notably Toronto. ...

He teaches improvisation privately in Wisconsin and explores new improvisational forms in his workshops. He started the New Actors Workshop, an acting school with Mike Nichols and George Morrison, and leads guest workshops, lectures, and directs once a year. Mike Nichols (born Michael Igor Peschkowsky) is an Academy Award winning movie director of films such as The Graduate and Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. He was born on November 6, 1931 in Berlin, to a Jewish Russian family. ...

“There’s no laugh like the explosion of laughter after improvisation.” - Paul Sills