Comedy was an accident for Alex Fendrich. A good accident, for sure, but the Maryland native never expected he'd make a life out of comedy and theater as a member of the Second City Touring Company.

Even moving to Chicago, home of the legendary comedy troupe, was rather happenstance. After majoring in English and painting at a small liberal arts college outside Philadelphia, Fendrich moved to the Windy City "pretty much randomly. A girlfriend of mine after college moved there, and so did I."

Then, six or seven years ago, a friend took him to an improv show at another theater, sparking the thought, "This is an interesting art form," and inspiring him to sign up for classes.

He performed with another troupe for several years, finally aced an audition six months ago and landed a spot with Second City, which was the blueprint for "Saturday Night Live" and the incubation chamber for such talent as Alan Alda, John and Jim Belushi, John Candy, Mike Myers, Dan Aykroyd, Chris Farley, Amy Sedaris, Joan Rivers and Rick Moranis, to name just a few of the marquee-level names.

Fendrich's job with one of the three six-member touring companies finds him away from Chicago at very random intervals, about two weeks a month.

No complaints, though. The job he never envisioned — driving around the country with a half-dozen folks who are interested in having a good time — is just plain fun.

He and the touring company's five other members will visit the Rococo Theatre on Thursday evening.

Audience members who haven't caught Second City's previous pit stops at the theater can expect "a stew of different ideas being thrown at the audience at a pretty rapid pace," Fendrich said.

What he means is that the show, firmly based in the ensemble concept of performers playing off each other, is a blend of new material written by the cast members, archival scenes from Second City's long history and improvisational bits in which the audience offers suggestions and the troupe makes up material on the spot.

Fendrich doesn't cheat on the last part, either, despite the fact that some subjects — such as port-a-potties, phone booths, gynecologists and other things of a sexual nature — are common audience contributions.

"You learn that the less prepared, the more willing you are to just have faith in what happens in the moment onstage, the more fun it's gonna be," he said. "It's that sort of falling backwards into the unknown that makes things fun."

And what makes things funny.

With spontaneity and unexpected wisecracks abounding, perhaps the hardest part of Fendrich's and his colleagues' job is to keep from laughing themselves.

"Sometimes we try to make each other laugh, sometimes maybe even to the detriment of the scene," he admitted.

Accident or no, it seems comedy has become part of Fendrich's life — one he doesn't plan to abandon anytime soon.

"It's an art form like painting or writing, it's a practice — some people go so far as to call it a religion. So it's really something I can see myself exploring my whole life, in addition to other media, but always informed by improv."

Reach Patti Vannoy at 473-7254 or jspvannp@journalstar.com.