Hear the One About the Traveling Comics?

Second City, the Chicago-based improvisational comedy factory, has turned out some of the biggest names in American comedy of the last 20 years, including much of the celebrated original cast of “Saturday Night Live.”

The reputation engendered by that A-list of luminary alumni has helped Second City support a comedy empire that includes five resident companies (three in Chicago, two in Toronto), three national touring companies and a two-year improv training center.

For the seventh year running, one of the Second City touring companies stops in at Orange Coast College this Saturday. According to a member of the company coming to Costa Mesa, Second City is a hierarchy where the competition gets stiffer every step of the way.

“Anyone who wants to do this style of theater knows this is where you want to go,” says Jimmy Doyle, who has been traveling with a Second City troupe for 2 1/2 years. Doyle came to Second City after four years with the Ark Improv Theater in Madison, Wis., surviving auditions in which more than 600 hopefuls went after three spots.

Getting into one of the resident companies is a further leap. The traveling companies perform a Second City “greatest hits” selection of skits created by the resident companies, along with a short improv section in which audience suggestions help shape the routine.

Touring company members also serve as understudies to the resident companies. Getting into a resident company eventually--which allows members the chance to write as well as perform--is “what we all work toward,” Doyle says.

Not that he’s complaining in the meantime: “I’m 25, and I’m paying my bills as an actor,” he said.

Doyle tours with Second City year-round, although the gigs slow down to about eight a month in summer, down from about 15 the rest of the year. Many of the shows are at colleges or universities, although the troupe plays a variety of other venues.

In addition to New York and Pennsylvania, recent stops have included Virginia and Idaho. Sometimes the scripted material, most of it social and political satire, is toned down for older audiences and others who may take offense, Doyle says.

But even in areas where audiences may not be familiar with improvisational theater, the improv sections seem to work. “I think we’re pretty good at establishing what we do, and they enjoy it,” he says. “They co-create the skit. It’s very alive.”

* A Second City national touring troupe will perform comedy sketches and improvisational routines at 8 p.m. Saturday at Orange Coast College’s Robert B. Moore Theatre, 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa. Tickets: $9.50 advance; $12 at the door. Information: (714) 432-5880.