Rating: Varies
wildly from show to show, but ***½ for overall experience
There are two types of people in the world:
Those who find Jiffy Pop as much fun to make as it is to eat; and those
who prefer to skip the interim steps and buy their snacks pre-popped.
If you're in the former group, you'll
probably enjoy improvisational comedy—which
not only supplies laughs, but shows you the process performers take to
get to them.
Many of the best improv comics in the
country will be converging July 22-24, 2005 at the Upright Citizens Brigade
Theatre (307 West 26th Street) for a continuous 3-day festival. (And I
mean continuous—some
of the most popular acts come on around 3:00 am.) Admission for the entire
50+ hour extravaganza is only $20—though,
like a trendy nightclub, when the house is packed you must wait on line
for people to leave until there's room to let you in.
The marathon is an annual UCB ritual to
honor the memory of Del Close, who pioneered and championed improvisational
comedy for over 30 years, tutoring such comedic icons as John Belushi,
Dan Ackroyd, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, Harold Ramis, John Candy, and
Mike Myers.
Close led a colorful life. For example,
according to his writing partner Kim Johnson, in the late 1950s the U.S.
government conducted experiments with the sleeping mind for which Close
was a paid participant. When he prematurely left the program, Close received
a letter from the government stating "You owe us two more dreams."
During the 1960s, Close roller-skated through the sewers of Chicago with
a flashlight strapped to his head, shooting rats. And in 1999, Closes
dying words were "I'm tired of being the funniest one in the room."
Hundreds of improv troupes apply each
year to participate in the Del Close marathon—and
the cream of the crop will be unleashed this weekend. (For a complete
schedule, visit www.delclosemarathon.com.)
By definition, there's no telling what
to expect from these impromptu performers. But to give you a taste, last
year's festival offered such pithy observations as "Michelle Kwan's
a really good skater, too bad she's Asian...;" gangs of celebrities,
including multiple versions of Burt Reynolds, partying and periodically
beating each other up; and some maniac pretending to be Tony Hawk slamming
his body repeatedly between the back wall and a column at the foot of
the stage, until it was impossible to not see the graceful arc of the
nonexistent skateboard beneath him.
If one performer epitomized last year's
marathon, however, it was the guy who abruptly stood on his head and then
declared "I'm wearing the world as my hat." With that simple
move and seven words, he transformed our entire planet—with
all its governments, cultures, and conflicts—into
his personal apparel. It was a demonstration that no matter how bad things
get, we can always use imagination to empower us. And that's the true
magic of improv.
The down side, of course, is that in between
those transcendent moments on stage, there can be long lags when nothing
genuinely interesting happens. In this way, improv comedy is much like
life itself.
For that matter, it can be argued the
purest form of improv is created not by professionals, but by everyday
people under structured conditions. This is unquestionably the most popular
and commercial form of improv—it's
called reality television.
Small wonder that safe and predictable
scripted TV fell victim to Richard Hatch dropping his shorts, Omarosa
railing against falling plaster, and William Hung providing a rendition
of "She Bangs" no one ever dreamed possible.
By the same token, if you've tired of
retread sitcoms and Adam Sandler vehicles, the Upright Citizens Brigade
Theatre awaits to give you the world—as
long as you're willing to stand on your head.
Rating: Varies
wildly from show to show, but ***½ for overall experience
From 4:30 pm on Friday July 28, 2006 till 12:30
am on Monday July 31st, the world-famous Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre
played host to a gathering of the best improv comedy groups in the country
for around-the-clock performances of over 150 shows. A mere $20 bought
entrée to the festivities at any time However, during peak hours it was
necessary to wait on line until enough laughter-sated people left the
packed theatre and created the room for new audience members to come in.
Day #1 highlights included Horatio Sanz (SNL) performing a screamingly funny
impersonation of Dr. Phil expounding upon the details of celebrity private
parts; Matt Besser (UCB,
Crossballs)
delivering a hilarious caricature of MySpace co-creator Tom Anderson as
a screechy-voiced horror whose only hope of making friends is via the
Web; a mob of comics filling the stage with different oddball versions
of Andrew Dice Clay (although master comedienne Jackie
Clarke ended up topping them all as an outraged Nora Dunn); and UCB
co-founder Ian Roberts
giving one of the most brilliant anecdotal one-man shows I've ever seen...improvised
on the spot.
Day #2 featured a mock wake for wonderful
UCB co-founder Matt Walsh (currently starring in Comedy Central's Dog
Bites Man); shows from such stellar comedic talents as Paul
Scheer (Best
Week Ever, Blackballed:
The Bobby Dukes Story) and Jason Mantzoukas (We Used to Go Out);
and a version of Gene Rayburns'
old TV show Match Game '76 packed
with such pseudo guest stars as Charles Nelson Reilly, Bill Cosby, Mr.
Spock, John Wayne Gacy, and Flipper (and which turned into chaos when
Gacy tried to strangle Flipper...).
Day #3 concluded with such delights as
a MySpace show, in which Paul Scheer and his gang visited an audience
member's Web page and then performed improv skits about it; a bitter-sweet
monologue from the brilliant Michael Delaney
about his constantly-feuding grandparents and the upside of hate; and
(for an extra fee) three hours of improvisations by the male founding
members of the Upright Citizens Brigade—Matt
Walsh, Matt Besser, and Ian Roberts—on subjects
ranging from memories of Del Close to how to evade someone trying to hand
you a screenplay.
The festival was also a showcase for scores
of improv groups from New York, LA, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, Washington
D.C., etc. I was able to catch only a fraction of these, but among either
my favorites or audience favorites were The Swarm, The Stepfathers, Wicked
F*ckin' Queeyah, Scheer-McBrayer,
Bassprov, Baby Wants Candy, No Posers, Mother: The Soundtrack, Bro'in
Out, Code Duello: Hamilton & Burr, I Eat Pandas, and Emanciprov!
As comic Owen Burke put it, "This
marathon is like Christmas in July." For those who love comedy, it
was a magical weekend.
If you missed it, the next one isn't until
July 2007. However, the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre hosts terrific
comedy shows—at
a cost of just $5 or $8 per ticket—virtually
every night throughout the year. The theatre is located at 307 West 26th
Street (off 8th Avenue). For a schedule of its upcoming shows, please
click here.
To read my preview of last year's Del
Close extravaganza, please click here.
Comedy in the Moment: 9th Annual Del Close Improv Marathon
One of the most magical events in NYC,
the annualDel
Close Improv Marathon ran continuously from Friday July 27th,
2007 at 4:30 pm until after midnight on Sunday, July 29th. Groups from all
around the US and Canada—New
York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, Washington DC, Chapel Hill, Raleigh,
Phoenix, Austin, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City, St. Louis, Ontario, Toronto—performed
more than 150 shows, typically in 30 minute blocks, for over 50 hours.
As in past years, tickets were a mere $20
for the entire weekend—an
incredible bargain. Paul Scheer remarked
last year the appropriate charge would be around $600, and he mostly wasn't
kidding.
As usual, the down side was way more patrons
than available space, causing long waits to get into the Upright Citizens
Brigade Theatre at 307 West 26th Street, which seats about 150. However,
the congestion was somewhat eased by the rental of the two additional
venues just a couple of blocks from UCBT: The
Hudson Guild Theatre at 441 West 26th Street (between 9th and 10th
Avenues), which seats 99; and the Fashion
Institute of Technology Kate Murphy Amphitheatre at corner West 27th
Street & 7th Avenue, which seats 280.
Friday was a fabulous opening night, with
dynamic and hilarious shows from brilliant improv troupes. Some highlights:
Death by Roo Roo
and The Stepfathers
Death by Roo Roo
interviewed an audience member whose mom died in a car accident while
his dad was driving, and who described the personality of his dad's new
girlfriend as "Jewish." The group then used this grimness to
craft bold and incredibly funny scenes that had the audience alternately
gasping in shock and laughing uncontrollably.
The Stepfathers
played a breathtaking range of scenes that included teens who refused
to dance with the "very ugly girl," played by Bobby
Moynihan, driving her to a memorable suicide attempt...and then an
even more memorable makeout
scene with Billy Merritt.
Wicked F*ckin'
Queeyah consists of some of UCBT's best as pseudo-Bostonians who hate
gays and the New York Yankees and whose every other word is f*ckin'...and who create a parody of an improv group with enough manic energy to
power a city. The heart of Friday's bits was a broken relationship between
characters played with genius by Jackie Clarke
and Jason Mantzoukas, involving numerous
sprays of beer thrown in the face and knock-down, drag-out fights—and which
Jason proclaimed at the end "my favorite show ever."
Code Duello:
Hamilton & Burr is a duo portraying "two of Americas angriest
founders: Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr" and the events leading
up to their historic duel. Wearing wigs and waistcoats, Neil Reynolds and Matt
Tucker evoked colonial times while crafting deliciously silly scenes.
For example, Burr proposed a law declaring US land as "international
waters" so he'd have more freedom to sleep with married women. When Hamilton thwarted him, the villain seceded and declared his body his own country, "the United State of Burr."
A close runner-up
for the Silliness Award was CosbyProv,
a group of over a dozen performers impersonating Bill Cosby simultaneously.
Topics ranged from Cosby's patronizing preachiness to the tragic death
of his son to—naturally—Jell-0 Pudding.
Flat-out odd
was Uniprov, which consisted of four
guys attempting to perform scenes while balancing on unicycles. None of
them was able to stay on his cycle for more than a few seconds, though,
causing numerous loud and painful-looking falls. This didn't result in
particularly layered acting; but it did create a metaphor for the high-wire
act undertaken by all improvisors, and how easy it is to lose one's balance
and crash.
Working Girls are Susannah
Becket,
Marcy Jarreau, Pam
Murphy, Silvija
Ozols,
Amber Petty, and Jamie
Skinner pretending to be New Jersey secretaries who just recently
learned "the art of improvisation." Friday night's show ended
up focusing on one of the characters pregnant with a child she doesn't
want. These shrewd artists seamlessly turned the darkness into comedy—while creating
a gentle and hysterically funny parody of an improv troupe.
Jackie Clarke, Jason Mantzoukas, Billy Merritt, and Michael
Delaney
There were also frequent appearances from
such comedy celebs as UCB's Matt Besser
(playing both shrill-voiced MySpace Tom and affable Jimmy Stewart to perfection);
UCB's Ian Roberts (as an unforgettable
cunning retarded person), UCB's Matt Walsh
(acting as an easy-going pedophile), SNL'sHoratio Sanz (portraying a brother of
Dr. Phil with a robotic beard), Human
Giant'sPaul Scheer (as a prosecutor
of evil), and The Daily Show'sRob Riggle (carrying a baseball bat
with a top that pops off to display a disturbing sexual device).
Saturday featured a few improv stars at
their very best, and others who were deliciously absurd. Some highlights:
Paul Scheer and Jack McBrayer
Paul Scheer (Human
Giant, Best Week Ever) and
Jack McBrayer (30
Rock, Talladega Nights) are genius improvisors, with a keen understanding
of people and astounding memory for detail. On top of that, Scheer's New
York aggressiveness and McBrayer's Georgia cool make for wondrous chemistry;
and for a sold-out show at FIT, the duo delivered virtuoso performances.
Kicking off with an audience suggestion about canines, Scheer-McBrayer
performed a long scene between a man walking his dog in the park and another
whose dog had run away; and that ended with the latter convincing the
first man to be his new dog in return for free rent. This hilarious improvised
one-act play turned out to be just a warm-up, though; the guys then launched
into a scene at a photo store, and another at a women's book club, that
had them playing dozens of different eccentric characters with breathtaking
speed and smoothness. By the end of the hour, the show had virtually become
a class-by-example on how to create gracefully artful improv...and nabbed
a standing ovation.
Ian Roberts performed two 30-minute monologues titled
Lazy Man, because he claims to
be too lazy to plan and script a one-man show. Instead, Roberts did something
astonishingly courageous: he dug deep to connect with his fears and hopes,
and shared them with the audience unplanned and in the moment.
Roberts' first show revolved around how entering his 40s has led to giving up many of his youthful dreams
of glory: "I thought I'd be a multimillion dollar actor. Now I'm
not sure I'll even be a $16,000 actor." On the up side, it's also
given him a more relaxed perspective: "I've been exhausted for a
long time about nothing; things that really don't matter. Now I look at
the sky and the clouds, and realize how small I am; which makes all my
troubles tiny and insignificant." The father of young children, part
of him feels harassed by the responsibilities; but then he'll pick up
his baby with love and say, "It wasn't your idea to be here."
Still, Roberts can't help worrying about his kids: "They don't know
they'll get kicked in the teeth when they go out into the world and people
tell them their f*cking drawings don't look anything like what they think
they do." Roberts lamented that there's no way to win with child-rearing:
"It's like you're told to move some precious Steuben Glass piece
across the country. And so you wrap it up in styrofoam
and heavy wood and do everything you can to protect it. And then when
it finally arrives safely, it screams at you, 'You ruined me! You suffocated
me in styrofoam!
You imprisoned me in wood! No one got to see me, or play with me!! And
I've never learned how not to break!!!'" Roberts said he's lucky
in that his main task is to make money; his wife handles the truly difficult
job, and the one that matters, which is raising the kids. Which isn't
to say Roberts doesn't pitch in; for example, he makes up little rituals
to help put his daughter to bed. Problem was, his daughter used to insist
on keeping each ritual she enjoyed, and Roberts couldn't stop himself
from creating new ones to entertain her, so the "getting to bed"
experience grew longer and longer until it was taking more than an hour
each night. Roberts finally convinced his daughter to put some rituals
in rotation "to be revived periodically, like a repertory theatre."
Finally, with age comes wisdom such as this: "I now realize we're
all f*cked up. And there's a certain comfort in that."
Roberts' second show focused on a series of awful experiences he's
had as an actor. These included a commercial shoot that required having
meat taped to his pants so a dog would snap at his leg; an audition for
a part consisting entirely of the words, "Too bad," and the
casting director asking "Can you put a little more into that?";
and an audition with a big-name actor who apparently felt the appropriate
"in the moment" action was to kick Roberts in the ass. Regarding
the latter, Roberts said he should've grabbed the star by the shoulders
and thrown him against the wall; but Roberts simply thanked everyone for
the opportunity and left...without even getting the part.
The acting tales shed light on one of Roberts' favorite characters,
a retarded guy who's surprisingly cunning. To navigate the Hollywood system,
Roberts has undoubtedly often played dumb—because
it would dent egos to let on he was by far the smartest guy in the room.
Roberts concluded, "May you be braver than I." I'd say that
misses the mark, though, because his recounting of the incidents—and the other
ways in which Roberts made himself emotionally vulnerable and open, while
never for a second neglecting to entertain—was
jaw-droppingly brave, even for a master improvisor.
Flipper, C, C + C Improv Factory, and Brett Gelman
On the other
end of the comedy spectrum, the best "concept" show Saturday
night was a marathon perennial, Match
Game '76. In a scene of dream-like chaos, over a dozen performers
arrived as 1970s celebrities, including Leonard Nimoy, Elliott Gould,
Mark Spitz, G. Gordon Liddy, Paul Lynde, O. J. Simpson, Bea Arthur (represented
by a particularly gruesome monster mask) and—always
my favorite—Flipper.
In past years, two audience members were selected as contestants, and
the celebs soon erupted into violence against each other. On Saturday,
however, Jack McBrayer (see above) was
drafted to play the male contestant; and soon all the celebs focused on
horribly berating him while Bea Arthur periodically doused him with beer.
About mid-way through, Jack turned to the host—needless
to say, Paul Scheer—and
said, "You know, I've seen the show before, but I don't recall anything
like this happening." McBrayer, you are correct; and you were a fabulous
sport. The show concluded with Matt Walsh tackling Jack to the ground
and pretending to mercilessly pummel him. It just doesn't get any better...
Also deliciously
absurd was troupe C,
C + C Improv Factory, consisting of Chuck
Dauble (Chuck D. & Jawnee Show),
Charlie Sanders (Conan O'Brien,
Reuben Williams), and Charlie
Todd (Improv Everywhere, Reuben
Williams), who expertly demonstrated how to keep raising the stakes
throughout a long-form improvisation by playing three guys revealing all
the lies they've been suppressing while they've hung out together—e.g., one
of them admits that despite his frequent television references, he actually
never watches TV; then that he's Amish; and finally that he's blind. The
exploration of the logical ramifications of each revelation led the audience
into hysterical laughter.
And even sillier
was Cracked Out (Jon
Daly & Brett Gelman), a parody
of a hip-hop group that's just released a bona-fide album: Fleetwood Cracked. The duo refrained
from singing from their repertoire "because it would violate the
spirit of Del Close;" but they made up a half-dozen songs based on
audience suggestions, with topics ranging from the Easter Bunny to Anna
Nicole Smith to Mad Magazine's
Mort Drucker. A typical lyric: "What's beyond reality? That's what
we think about. F*ck corporations!"
And my favorite line: "No booing while we're on stage!"
Sunday at UCBT featured an unbroken block
of stellar talent for the last eight hours of the marathon...climaxing
in three spectacular ASSSSCAT 3000s. Specifically:
Baby Wants Candy, and a young Respecto Montalban
Paul Scheer, Owen Burke and Chad
Carter (all members of the beloved former UCBT troupe Respecto Montalban) improvised a 30-minute
movie based on the audience suggestion "I Am Batman." Paul was
a delightfully evil villain; Owen was dead-on as his obsequious follower;
and Chad created a memorable battle scene in which he flayed Owen alive
(but Owen quickly recovered as they were merely flesh wounds...).
Baby Wants Candy,
which had been performing in NYC all week for $10 a ticket, delivered
a superb free show based on the audience suggestion Giants
Among Us. The almost instantaneous creation of a solid story about
humans trying to prevent giants from stomping out their town, and the
seamless mix of improvised music (by a highly intuitive drummer and pianist)
and lovely singing of on-target improvised lyrics, resulted in a magical
hour.
Rob Huebel of Human
Giant and Rob Riggle of The Daily Show (both also former members
of Respecto Montalban) created a raucous
set of scenes about being a man's man. Most memorable bit: a reality show
for HBO titled Pussy Talk based
around hidden cameras in women's bathrooms.
Paul Scheer
& Jack McBrayer (see above) performed
a second fine show together. Scenes revolved around using improv as therapy
for children; an office worker creating jewelry from paper clips; and
running for school office on an anti-locker platform. Interestingly, this
time the duo stuck to small areas for their scenes (two office desks,
two school podiums) corresponding to the intimate space of UCBT. It made
me wonder if the guys created dozens of characters at FIT because they
felt an impulse to fill the large, expansive stage—even
though all their casts and sets were imaginary.
Half of the
Upright Citizens Brigade, Ian Roberts
and Matt Walsh, pretended to film a
cooking show while brutalizing their hapless producer...played perfectly
by Owen Burke. The easy camaraderie between Walsh and Roberts was sheer
joy to experience; and the contrast between their making nurturing comfort
food for the viewing audience while verbally abusing Burke behind the
scenes was continually fun. Nothing in particular seemed to happen during
the show aside from the creation of some flavored popcorn; but somehow
one left feeling happy and satisfied.
Per tradition,
the marathon concluded with three back-to-back ASSSSCAT
3000s. This year was extra special, though, as all four members of
the Upright Citizens Brigade were on stage: Matt
Besser, Ian Roberts, Matt Walsh, and movie & Saturday
Night Live star Amy Poehler.
Each of the four is an extraordinary improvisor, actor, and human being;
but it was an exceptional treat to see Poehler, because (as far as I know)
she doesn't normally participate in the marathon.
Adding to the enjoyment is that these four comedy titans had appeared
on stage for an hour on Saturday to take audience questions; and they
play-acted that Poehler was a shy, submissive gal riding the guys' coattails.
For example, when Poehler was asked a question, Roberts or Walsh would
pretend to push Poehler's head down while answering the question for her.
Once ASSSSCAT began, however, Poehler showed a fire, imagination, and
sharpness that rivaled any of her formidable partners. For example, early
on in the first show Poehler interviewed Roberts for a job, and he mentioned
that as long as he was treated with understanding he'd be fine and the
small incident wouldn't recur. "Incident?" asked Poehler. "I
don't like to talk about it," replied Roberts. Then towards the close,
Roberts brutally massacred everyone in the room. Without missing a beat,
Poehler grabbed two chairs, sat herself and Roberts down to their previous
interview positions within about a second, and asked without batting an
eye, "So, was that the incident?" It was the perfect ending
for the show.
But my favorite moment of all three shows was Poehler in the role of
a mom telling one of the guest improvisors playing her son to sit on her
lap. A large man, the guy virtually froze at the thought of placing himself
on the petite 5'2" star. He was clearly trying to think of some way
out when Poehler barked, "Hey, sit on my lap! You have five seconds.
Five. Four. Three. Two..." He scurried over and sat. And it's a memory
I'll treasure for years...
There are actually many lovely moments
than hundreds of people will cherish from this marathon.
I should mention that I focused on covering
the events at UCBT. There were superb shows at the Hudson Guild Theatre
that I simply never had a chance to catch.
I also missed most of the shows at FIT,
which played host to some of the biggest stars of the festival:
The Swarm, Horatio Sanz, Rob Riggle, and Joe Bill of Bassprov
Baby Wants Candy,
the previously-mentioned Chicago-based group universally admired for their
skill at creating a completely improvised hour-long musical (for samples,
please click here).
The
Daily Show/Colbert Report Improv Jam, featuring writers and performers
from these two Comedy Central iconic hits such as Dan Bakkedahl, Peter
Grosz, Peter Gwinn, Ed Helms, Laura Krafft, and Rob Riggle.
Shows that
starred Horatio Sanz of Saturday
Night Live (and a founding member of the Upright Citizens Brigade);
Mark Sutton and Joe Bill of Bassprov (acclaimed Chicago-based improv
show based around two guys fishing); and Paul Scheer & Jack McBrayer
(described above).
The truth is, this marathon was so crammed
with talent and imagination and wonderful people that you could've skipped
all the shows I saw and still enjoyed a rich and exhilarating experience.
Huge kudos go to Matt Besser, Amy Poehler,
Ian Roberts, Matt Walsh, UCBT-NY Artistic Director Anthony King, UCBT-LA
Artistic Director Seth Morris, and everyone else who helped create this
wonderful cultural event.
This year's marathon is over; but the Upright
Citizens Brigade Theatre continues to play host to superb shows—improv, sketch,
stand-up, and more—virtually
every night. You can read the schedule for UCBT-NY by clicking here. And please visit HyReviews.com
daily to check out my picks of the best comedy in NYC...which you can
jump to right now by clicking here.
