Every Saturday night until mid-spring, Judy’s Beat Lounge at The Second City in Old Town is filled with teenagers and adults of all ages who share a common interest: improvisation. The show by The Second City’s Teen House Ensemble is comical, it’s intriguing, and it features Parker junior Molly Weinberg.

Weinberg has been taking classes since the summer before fourth grade, and has been taking performance level classes for three years.

The performance stage is small, filled with all sorts of chairs and a piano. The stage lights glow red, and a piano player provides background music and interludes between scenes.

On a recent night the show began with an opening act–the high school improv troupe “The Howligans” who performed a few scenes. Then the Ensemble took the stage, its actors standing out in bright colored shirts and button downs against the dark background of the stage. The performance included little set pieces, using only a couple chairs at some point. Members of the audience interacted with the actors by calling out suggestions. Actors would begin a scene and then other actors would jump in as needed, improvising scenes set at debates, waterparks, vacations, and weddings.

“It’s a graduate program for the people who have been in the Second City Teen Ensemble, this new group just started this year,” Weinberg said. “They’re trying to get us ready to be more professional in the Second City industry by doing what they do.”

Members of the Parker community who have attended performances to support Weinberg include both freshman grade heads, Cory Zeller and Ryan Zaremba.

“I went, and I didn’t know what to expect,” Zeller said. “They had an opener from a college, and they were sort of funny, but then the high school group came out, and I thought they were so funny. Apparently you can start taking classes there when you’re in Kindergarten or first grade, so a lot of them have been taking classes on improv for years.”

Zaremba was also impressed. “I didn’t know what to expect either,” he said. “You can tell that they were very well coached and have been doing it awhile. They were used to each other and comfortable with each other. Molly has got these really hysterical one liners. It’s a different Molly than what I’ve ever seen in class, and I absolutely love seeing that out of her.”

The show, which runs for approximately one hour, includes an opening act from a different school, scenes featuring the main actors, and improv games played by Ensemble.

“I just thought their comedic timing was spot-on,” Zeller said. “They kept their bits really short and had a lot of audience engagement. I thought some of the people were hilarious, Molly being one of them. You would never know it, because she walks around very calm, but she’s hilarious.”

Auditioning to be a part of this ensemble is no easy task. “There were two rounds of auditions,” Weinberg said. “One was for people who have participated in Teen Ensemble, and the second round was open to anyone who fulfilled the qualifications of having taken an improv or writing class.”

Despite the competitive auditions, Weinberg said that the audition process was still fun. “Seven out of the nine of us have been in the Teen Ensemble before, and I’ve been working with some of these kids since I was in fourth grade and have known them for awhile,” she said. “Even though it’s a new group to Second City, we’re not new to each other, which is really good because we have that chemistry and know how to work with each other, support one another, be there, and make everyone shine.”

Considered the highest performance group of the Second City teen and youth programs, the Ensemble will not only learn advanced techniques, but also conclude the year with performances of Second City style-revues in mid-spring.

Weinberg is already looking forward to the future. “There’s going to be some opportunities throughout the year to meet with people and do writing workshops,” Weinberg said. “Next year, we’re not really considered part of the teen classes, so I think they’ll give us more opportunities to take higher level classes.”

There are many more opportunities to see Weinberg and the Ensemble perform in the winter and spring this year. The run is twenty-eight weeks with performances every Saturday evening at 6:00.