A Session with the Committee

This little-known film is actually an invaluable slice of classic comedy from one of the more influential comedy troupes of recent times, the Committee. Founded by a handful of ex-Second City writer/director/actors in San Francisco in the '60s, it was a very risk-taking, political comedy group. They were definitely the hippest comedy theatre on the West Coast, attracting such future stars as Richard Dreyfuss and Rob Reiner, as teens, to their shows. The more famous alumni include Peter Bonerz (from "The Bob Newhart Show," now a busy TV director of such shows as "Friends"), Howard Hesseman (Dr. Johnny Fever from "WKRP In Cincinatti," "Head of the Class," "Soap"), Carl Gottlieb (who wrote "Jaws" and co-wrote and appeared in "The Jerk"), Avery Schreiber (the comedy team "Burns & Schreiber," "My Mother the Car"), Garry Goodrow ("Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice," "National Lampoon's Lemmings," "The National Lampoon Radio Hour"), Larry Hankin (the Trucker in "The Sure Thing," a grumpy neighbor on "Friends"), John Brent ("Catch 22," "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice"), and improv guru Del Close (who taught John Belushi, Chris Farley, & others at Improv Olympic & Second City). The troupe also commonly appeared on the famed "Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" and had parts in the cult classic "Billy Jack." This film is a collection of classic skits. Some are a bit dated (draft-dodging the Viet Nam War, anyone? Pot smoking cops, anyone?), but it is still very funny and historically valuable. Plus, Cheech & Chong apparently stole much of the Committee's then-outrageous drug humor to form the basis of their act! Great '60s laughs!

Former Second City director Alan Myerson decided to found his version of an improv-based sketch comedy company in San Francisco. Some of the players who played there over the years also clocked significant time with Second City, and one can see the two companies having a kind of dialogue about the possibilities of the form as well as providing a vital function of maintaining an ongoing commentary on what was going on in the country at the time.

Most of the original Second City people were well-read, college-educated folk (frequently from the University of Chicago). The Committee's people generally had greater contact with what was happening in the street. Or maybe it's just that more of the street spilled into their doors.

At any rate, this film is a collection of some of the more popular sketches at the time and it features some dazzling performances by a company, most of whom went onto bigger (though not always better) things. I run chunks of this for my students frequently and they always goes down very well indeed.

Anybody interested in the intersection between American social and political history and satire should find this pretty compelling stuff.