Welcome to The Second City Archives, in which we post an exclusive clip each week of some of comedy’s biggest superstars performing early in their careers on the legendary Chicago stage. Second City has generously given us a glimpse into their extensive archive of live performances, and over the coming weeks we’ll be sharing some rare and retro comedy never before seen on the web.
This week we’re debuting a newly unearthed clip from Second City’s 72nd revue in 1989 called It Was 30 Years Ago Today featuring Chris Farley, Tim Meadows, Joe Liss, Tim O’Malley, Jill Talley, Holly Wortell, and David Pasquesi performing their deceivingly romantic song “The Faux Pearls.” This performance took place just a year before Farley joined the cast of SNL (Meadows joined the show soon after in 1991) and is a solid indicator of the level of physical humor, powerhouse energy, and undeniable talent he brought to the live NBC sketch show and beyond throughout the ‘90s.
