Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre.html



The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, 2004.

The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre or UCB Theatre is an improvisational theatre and associated Training Center¹ in Chelsea, New York, and Hollywood, California.

The theater was founded by Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Matt Walsh, and Ian Roberts, a group of comedians who perform as the Upright Citizens Brigade.² The troupe had a show on Comedy Central from 1998 to 2000 and were originally trained by Del Close in Chicago's ImprovOlympic.

Philosophy

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The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre Training Center teaches longform improv, sketch writing, and various other comedy skills.³ The training center's philosophy of improv is based largely on the teachings of Del Close, with a strong emphasis on the "game" of the scene. The primary improvisational form is "The Harold", and the theater in all its incarnations has had a group of "Harold Teams", house teams that perform regularly. Teams are composed of people who have completed training at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre Training Center, and either auditioned or were asked to be performers.

History

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Solo Arts

Prior to opening their own theatre, the Upright Citizens Brigade performed their signature improv show, ASSSSCAT, first at KGB Bar, and then later at Solo Arts. Solo Arts was the first semi-permanent home to the Upright Citizens Brigade's Harold Teams and is considered by some to be the group's first theatre.^{4 56}

161

The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre's first permanent space was at 161 West 22nd Street, a 75-seat auditorium that used to be the Harmony Burlesque Theater, an all-nude lap-dancing club -- essentially a storefront. The schedule included Harold Night on Thursdays and ASSSSCAT[1] twice on Sundays. Over the years the schedule gradually increased to shows every night of the week. The low-priced shows, classes, and appearances by celebrities and comedy personalities helped to make the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre an attraction. While other dedicated comedy theaters like Chicago City Limits and Gotham City Improv decreased their shows or lost their spaces due to low attendance and dwindling profits, UCB grew and flourished.^{citations needed}

The original theatre was closed by the city of New York in late 2002 due to fire code violations, specifically the lack of a viable secondary exit.^{citations needed}

In the year that followed the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre used several satellite spaces or rented theaters to present their shows or a scaled back schedule.

On April 1, 2003, the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre opened it its second official, current space - a 150-seat theater at 307 West 26th Street in NYC in the former Maverick Theater. This new space had several advantages over its previous theater at 161, such as double capacity, a more professional tech booth, larger green room with a greater separation from the stage area, two dressing rooms, storage rooms, twice the number of bathrooms, and a "chill out room." ^{7 8}

The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre features a variety of comedy-related acts, including one-person shows, stand up, and sketch comedy acts, but the theater is best known for its long-form improv shows. Teams that performed the classic Harold improv format, like Mother, Respecto Montalban, and The Swarm, developed their own forms and helped the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre become the place for great, cutting-edge, comedy. The longest running improv show at Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, ASSSSCAT, has featured famous comedians, such as Janeane Garofalo, David Cross, Will Ferrell, Alec Baldwin, Jack Black, Mike Myers, Conan O'Brien, Robin Williams and Tina Fey as participants.

Splinter and Related Theaters

In October 2002⁹, Armando Diaz (Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre Artistic Director), Ali Farrhanakian (founding former member of The Upright Citizens Brigade and Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre teacher), and Brian Desmet (Upright Citizens Brigade business manager) announced that they were opening an improv/comedy theater which would come to be known as The Peoples Improv Theater seven blocks from the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre.¹⁰¹¹ All were employed at the UCB Theatre at the time. Two years later Armando Diaz would abruptly end his association and ownership at The Peoples Improv Theater and eventually open a new theatre of his own, The Magnet Theater.¹²

Los Angeles

The Los Angeles division of the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre was opened on July 2, 2005 at 5919 Franklin Avenue in Hollywood.^{citations needed}

Comedy Death-Ray, a Los Angeles alternative comedy show, moved from its former home at the M Bar to join the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, appearing on Tuesday nights.^{citations needed}

The Del Close Marathon

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Del Close was the driving force behind improvisational comedy in Chicago for over 30 years and a strong influence on Upright Citizens Brigade. After Del's passing in 1999, the UCB started the Del Close Marathon to celebrate their mentor and keep alive his name and teachings for future generations. The Del Close Marathon is known worldwide, and has brought performers from around the nation to the theater, increasing its visibility and influence. ¹³

Harold Teams

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Harold Teams are house teams at UCB Theater, each performing the longform "The Harold" composed of students form the UCB Training Center. Many performers who got their start on UCB Harold Teams would go on to far greater fame, such as Rob Riggle, Paul Scheer, Scot Armstrong, Jessica St. Clair, Jason Mantzoukas, Andrew Secunda, and Andy Daly.

Current Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre NYC house teams

Based on the schedule:¹⁴

Current Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre LA house teams

Based on the schedule:¹⁵

Notable performers

New York (current)

Based partially on the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre web site:¹⁶

Los Angeles (current)

Based partially on the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre web site:¹⁷

Other Notable Performers/Alumni

References

External links

• The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre - Official Site
• Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre LA on MySpace
• Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre NYC on MySpace