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’s clip comes from Second City’s 82nd revue called Paradigm Lost, which took place in February 1997 and starred ensemble performers Tina Fey, Rachel Dratch, Scott Adsit, Kevin Dorff, Jenna Jolovitz, and Jim Zulevic. In the sketch “Grandma’s Records,†Adsit goes through some of the recently deceased Mother Superior’s records to play at her memorial, only to discover that she had a secret stash of some very sinful music. Costarring Dratch and Jolovitz as a pair of nuns and Fey, Dorff, and Zulevic providing the tunes, “Grandma’s Records†is a close call-filled look at these Second City stars before they hit it big; Tina Fey joined the writing staff of SNL the same year. For more vintage Dratch and Fey, check out the full video of their Second City show Dratch & Fey from two years later.