Editor’s note: Over spring break, as part of the College of Media’s Roger Ebert Fellowship, 2017-18 Ebert Fellows Madeline Galassi, Tyler Panlilio and Niani Scott attended the mainstage show “Dream Freaks Fall From Space” at The Second City in Chicago.

Stephen Colbert used to perform sketch comedy at  a theater located in the Old Town neighborhood. So did Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Keegan-Michael Key of “Key and Peele” and many other comedians and actors who went on to pursue successful careers in television and movies.

Prior to the March 22 performance—exactly one night after Carell himself came back and saw it — Galassi, Panlilio and Scott met backstage with their respective interview subjects, comprising half of the six-person cast.

Continuing through the fall, “Dream Freaks,” according to the website, “should be considered rated R.”

“Outstanding show! My kids now know what funny is,” Carell said in a tweet an hour after watching the performance. For tickets and more information, go to secondcity.com.

Interview: “Dream Freak” Tien Tran

By Madeline Galassi

There isn’t a direct translation for the word “comedian” in Vietnamese.

So Tien Tran’s parents refer to her as a “hề,” which means “clown.” “My parents have literally been telling their friends that I’m a gay clown,” Tran said to the audience in her stand-up segment following The Second City’s mainstage show, “Dream Freaks Fall From Space.”

Backstage, before and after the show, Tran’s  jovial demeanor never faltered. Dressed in jeans, a T-shirt and sneakers, she seemed effortlessly calm, confident and, of course, funny.

Tran became interested in comedy at a young age. Growing up watching “Saturday Night Live,” she  took to cast member Molly Shannon, whose portrayal of Mary Katherine Gallagher changed her life.

“To see a woman smell her armpits and be proud about it felt revolutionary,” Tran said. “To see a woman be goofy and kind of gross and empowered about it; I loved her.”

Tran grew up in Erie, Pennsylvania, and then moved to attend Boston College, where she graduated in 2009 with a degree in biology.

“In college, if I looked deep down inside my heart of hearts, I knew that comedy was what I wanted to be doing,” she said. “But I didn’t want to say it out loud, just because it felt like it was so far off and unattainable.”

Shifting from pre-med to full-time comedian isn’t a traditional route to take, and with parental pressures, Tran’s transition posed a set of challenges.

“My parents were very, very adamant about me becoming a doctor,” she said. “My uncle is a very successful cancer researcher in Texas, and when I graduated, my parents were like, ‘He has a lab position for you, if you just say yes you can go.’ I remember getting into a huge fight with my dad weeks after graduation, where I was like, ‘No, it’s not what I want to do! Don’t tell me what to do with my life!’”

After that, Tran made the move to Chicago, where she proved she could have a stable life as a performer, whichin, turn, earned her parents’ support. After several years in Chicago, she earned her spot on the coveted Second City stage.

Tran’s identity fuels much of her content.

“I try to be very personal in stand-up,” she said. “I try to pull a lot from little things in my life that I think are funny, or very personal anecdotes. I also like to be very clear about my identity on stage. So my stuff is real gay and real Asian.”

She said that while women in comedy are in a great place, there is still work to be done for female comedians of color.

“There have been amazing, great female comics forever, and now, people are giving us more platforms to show that,” she said. “It’s great to see where it’s headed, and I’d love to see that continued intersectionality. I would love to see this continue for wonderful, hilarious women of color.”

Although Tran’s content on stage is raunchy, she said there’s only one segment in “Dream Freaks” she’s hesitant about: a sketch called “Lady’s Song.” It’s the only time the three female cast members have the stage to themselves.

“Fifty percent of the time, I can see the men in the audience shutting down because there are three women onstage,” Tran said. “It doesn’t matter what we do, it doesn’t matter how funny it is; it’s the fact that three women are onstage. That’s the one sketch that’s like an interesting sociological experiment.”

In the future, Tran wants to continue making comedy her full-time job.

“Big, big goals? I’d love to write and be in my own show. That’s the big dream,” Tran said.  But little steps along the way, I’d love to be in a funny, thoughtful sitcom or getting longer stand-up (routines). I’m working to write more and focusing on that.”

Interview: “Dream Freak” Tyler Davis

By Niani Scott

Fresh off a plane from vacation in D.C., Tyler Davis performed in The Second City’s “Dream Freaks Fall From Space.” Davis, 28, has been doing this eight times a week since October, alongside five other cast members.

An Ohio State alum, Davis offers this advice to college students interested in improv: Find a group of people you like, and just do as much as you can. Find things that you like, and find ways to incorporate that into the art you end up creating.

 “I majored in marketing. I did not like it. I wanted to do something creative, and I want to apply this creativity to something that would allow me to get a degree,” Davis said.

He learned about improv through groups in college and started his own improv group after auditioning, unsuccessfully, for one,  already up and running. When asked about working in a field dominated by white men, Davis acknowledged that it can pose certain challenges.

“It (messes) with you in ways you can sometimes notice immediately. And then, sometimes it takes a while,” Davis said.

The Second City performer wants to steer clear of stereotypical roles while expressing himself fully in his work.

“I met some great people coming up doing comedy,” he said. “But when the room doesn’t look like you and when the cast doesn’t look like you, you can still have a good time; you just have to meter yourself in different ways, whether you want to or not.”

Davis said he learned about The Second City in college, and in 2010, he went and saw “The Absolute Best Friggin’ Time of Your Life.” That was it for Davis. He recalls thinking that he had to move to Chicago immediately.

“My parents were very supportive. In our house, it was like, you have to go to college, ‘you have to get a degree.’ As long as you got a degree, they didn’t care. My mom said, ‘I knew that this is what you wanted to do,’” Davis said.

Davis moved to Chicago in 2012 and interned at The Second City while working at the Museum of Science and Industry and performing at various theaters around town. He’d often work a 9-to-5 shift, take an hourlong bus ride and go straight to a theater for a performance. Then, he’d hang out with friends to decompress.

“Then, you’d look up and it’s 2 a.m.! And you’d just conk out and do it again, ” Davis said.

He grew up watching “The Chappelle Show” and comedians like Wayne Brady and Eddie Murphy. He’s currently a fan of “Atlanta,” “Black-ish” and “Insecure,” and said if the opportunity to write his own comedy series arose, he’d do it.

In the meantime, on the Second City mainstage, Davis feels like he is doing his dream job.

“I never thought I’d get here,” Davis said. But I’m really grateful. Now, I feel like I can do anything, which is both terrifying and very exciting.”

Interview: “Dream Freak” Ryan Asher

By Tyler Panlilio

In a recent Second City production, prior to “Dream Freaks Fall From Space,” Ryan Asher found herself onstage with fellow cast member Tien Tran, creating a sketch on the fly, based on audience suggestions. They were playing two women selling fruit and vegetables at a farmer’s market.

This was not a sexy situation, Asher recalled during a post-show interview in an exceedingly comfy backroom Second City lounge.

“This drunk old man just yelled ‘slut!’ And we’re just like, ‘Oh my god, you’re so funny, but you’re gonna have to leave. We don’t do that here,’” Asher said.

In “Dream Freaks,” Asher and the rest of the six-person cast performs everything, from a variation of “Where’s Waldo?” to pointed political jabs directed at Trump voters.

Since its opening night in October, the show has been well received, and A-listers like Steve Carell, Chance the Rapper and NBA star Stephen Curry have all visited in recent months.

But Asher, 30, has dealt with audience members who weren’t very approving. Such occasions, she said, are opportunities for her to call out the bigots, sexists and homophobes. The goal isn’t to personally attack them as a response but instead make them realize the impact of what they said.

“You learn, over the years, there are fun ways to do it,” she said. “If it’s like a man saying something like “Suck my d***,” then I’m like, ‘oh god, and that’s from the man who’s never had sex before but really wants to! Ok! Moving on!’” Asher said.

In some performances, Asher says she has witnessed audience members being racist toward one another. And it’s at that point the “Dream Freaks” ensemble has to keep its composure.

“That’s where I get to teach to the room and try to be kind and try to stay in control and keep my power and be like, ‘That’s not cool; you should feel bad, we’re gonna move on. Now, let’s get a fun suggestion. Like poodles!’” Asher said.

In the show’s final segment (every night except Fridays), Asher and company perform an improv set following the scripted sketches, letting the audience provide the basics. Neither Asher nor her colleagues know where the skit might be headed. Often, in the neighborhood of 1 a.m., the audience can and will shout out literally anything, and there’s always the chance someone will go too far.

“They’re usually drunk by then,” Asher said. “And we get suggestions like ‘dildo’ and ‘slut.’”

But Asher said there are teaching moments here.

“I just hope after watching the show, getting to know us and getting to like us, maybe they think about what they did or said or what they might do or say. That’s the goal,” Asher said.