Second City holiday show pokes fun at family interactions

By Cathy Janek for Chronicle Media

Paramount Theatre presents Second City National Touring Company members (front, from left) Terrence Carey, Kimberly Michelle Vaughn, Jenelle Cheyne, Asia Martin (back, from left) Jordan Savusa and Matt Lusk in The Second City’s “Non-Denominational Holiday Revue”, Dec. 1-23 at Aurora’s Copley Theatre. (Photo by Timothy M. Schmidt)

Second City’s “Non-Denominational Christmas Show” is once again providing seasonal laughs for local audiences.

But chances to see the popular show, running  through Dec. 23 at Aurora’s Copley Theatre, are increasingly limited as tickets have become scarce.

For those who’ve secured tickets, the  improvisation and satire sketch comedy show varies each night as the audience leads the cast to improvise the sketches.

Among the actors is Kimberly Michelle Vaughn, who hails from Algonquin and says the show is “very based on family and how they interact, especially over the holidays when sensitive topics such as politics and religion come up at the dinner table.”

The company, which  also includes Terrence Carey, Jenelle Cheyne, Matt Lusk, Asia Martin, and Jordan Savusa are all members of the Second City National Touring Company.

Vaughn, who attended Huntley High School, said her first foray into acting came after she was approached by a modeling agency which ended up to be “a scam,” she confessed. 

Still, the experience brought her closer to Chicago where she became hooked with the acting bug.

Vaughn attended Columbia College where she graduated with a degree in theatre. She took a semester “abroad” which really was just a several block stroll through the Loop to The Second City Training Center in Chicago to focus on comedy studies.

“That is when I discovered Second City and found a fun outlet of art in the form of comedy and improv,” she said.

Vaughn also has film and television roles under her belt. Last spring, Vaughn appeared in an episode of the now-cancelled television show APB on Fox.

The appearance was the first time Vaughn received a deluge of phone calls from family and friends who spotted her on the police drama.

She recently appeared in  #DateMe at The Second City’s UP Comedy Theatre in Chicago and after the holidays rejoin ith the all-female cast of She The People—another Second City production and sketch comedy show that was created, designed, and performed by women.

Vaughn also appeared in an episode of Hot Date on Pop TV—a show that was filmed in Chicago over the summer and whose executive producer is Will Arnett.

Vaughn says she still enjoys appearing in front of a live audience. She has appeared in plays in Dublin as well as Chicago.

In the business, she said  “you have to be resilient and be willing to just keep moving forward.

“Today, you can’t just be an actor—being a writer, a model, or a producer—a jack-of-all-‘

If You Go:

The Second City’s “Non-Denominational Christmas Show”

Show times are Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., and Sunday at 3 p.m. through Dec. 23 at the Copley Theatre, in the North Island Center, 8 E. Galena Blvd. Aurora.

Tickets are $36. Buy early, as these performances will sell out.

To purchase tickets, visit ParamountAurora.com, call the box office at (630) 896-6666, or

at the Paramount Theatre box office, 23 E. Galena Blvd., 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday.

Rated R for strong adult language and content.

 

 

 

 

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