The Chicago improv troupe Second City has produced plenty of prominent comedic voices—Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert, the Belushis—so it’s understandable that it’s acquired some imperial ambitions. The company now has outposts in Toronto and Los Angeles, but the format of its revues hasn’t changed. Expect the show to begin with several semi-improvised and scripted scenes, progress into improv sessions based on audience suggestions, and offer nothing too fancy. Second City’s founders took the company’s self-deprecating name from a 1952 A.J. Liebling piece in the New Yorker, a move suggestive of the Midwestern easiness it exports: Chicago is a far comfier home for kings of comedy than kings of condescension.

SECOND CITY PERFORMS AT 7:15 P.M. AND 9:45 P.M. (SAME TIMES FRIDAY) AT THE LANSBURGH THEATER, 450 7TH ST. NW. $25-$45. (202) 547-1122.