The weekend of July 6-8, while most Pittsburghers were setting off the last of their illegal fireworks and fishing the few remaining cans of Iron City out of their coolers, Chicagoans Ed Furman and T.J. Shanoff were wandering around our neighborhoods on reconnaissance.

Their mission: discover in 72 hours what makes the 'Burgh the 'Burgh, write a hysterical script for The Second City's "Three Rivers Runs Through It," keep the masses entertained while cultivating their civic pride during Pittsburgh's 250th birthday ... and end world hunger. Pretty daunting.

Pittsburgh Public Theater commissioned this special one-week performance as a contribution to the Steel City's birthday festivities. It's a natural, because they've been bringing Second City sketch comedy shows here over the holidays for several years (although Furman and Shanoff were never part of those forays).

Second City, of course, is the famous Chicago improv and sketch troupe that boasts an alumni hall of fame reaching back from Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert and Mike Meyers to John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray and Eugene Levy and then further back to Alan Arkin, Robert Klein and Joan Rivers. Not that any of those will be in this particular Second City troupe, one of several now performing at home and on the road.

But back to the two writers' 72-hour mission.

"There's often a misperception, a general misunderstanding that because we're comedy, we make fun of things," protested Furman. "This show is a celebration of everything Pittsburgh. Of everything 'Picksburghesque' and 'Picksburghese.'" And he added, "we do have some fun with the 'yinz' n'at."

The writers' research included attending a Pirates game, ambling around neighborhoods, talking to strangers and experiencing South Side nightlife. Neither could provide many specifics.

"We had such a good time, my memory is foggy. We hit a couple bars on the South Side. I remember a midget pouring shots in my mouth," said Furman.

Before their reconnaissance mission, Shanoff had never visited Pittsburgh. Furman was only one up on him; the last time he came to Pittsburgh was "about a decade ago."

So how much of Pittsburgh's unique essence can a pair of writers with such sad travel history really capture in a weekend, given that most of us have been studying this frustrating topic for years?

"We don't shy away from Pittsburgh stereotypes, but try not to root ourselves in them as well," said Shanoff. "There's an opening number that throws every Pittsburgh stereotype in there, just to get them out of the way.

"There's a reason stereotypes are stereotypes, especially in comedy. You just can't not mention them. We do try to take things that make Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, but at the same time, we tried to dig a little deeper and get things that weren't so obvious."

The writers' weekend of note-taking and digging did yield a few gems.

"We hit Channel 11 news. It's a little sensationalistic," said Furman, while listing a few of the other things audience members can expect to be mocked.

"We tried to incorporate Luke Ravenstahl. The mayor being a 14-year-old intrigued us," said Shanoff.

On the other hand, Furman did purchase a Yapper Yinzer doll and can say, "Quit jaggin' around, ya jagoff!" like a true Steelers fan.

Before any touchy natives get worked up over the effrontery of all this, it might be best to experience the actual result. Consider also that Pittsburgh's own Squonk Opera, perhaps as beloved here as Second City is in Chicago, has a similar gimmick going, in which they create "[Your city]: The Opera" for any city willing to pay the freight. Of course, they give themselves a whole week for research.

But however "Three Rivers Runs Through It" may be laden with old stereotypes -- or not -- even the concept is something to applaud, the writers said.

"It's kinda a unique thing we're doing," Furman said. "I'm not sure if it's been done before. To go out and visit a city and create a show specifically for it -- it says a lot about Pittsburgh pride. It's a nice celebration for the city."