ucbcomedy

[ucbcomedy]

Happy Pride! Here’s a #TBT post from our UCB Comedy page that becomes more and more relatable every June. Marsha and her straight ally Simran want you to know: it gets better! Simran is sure of it! (As long as you’re a “cool gay”) 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈

[ucbcomedy]

UCB in the Wild

Videos by UCB performers and filmmakers out there in the jungle of comedy.

The Triplets Of Kings County & The Quest For Truth - Second Season Out Now

WATCH SEASON ONE - IN THE CITY OF DOOM

Welcome to the unpredictable alternate reality of The Triplets Of Kings County. It’s a highly visual slapstick adventure where three midwestern triplet transplants are perpetually perturbed by a cavalcade of mildly annoying supernatural beings. Together, Colin, Terry and Wolf, our identical eighteen-year- old triplet heroes, must solve the mystery of their parents murder, prevent the apocalypse and do all the chores.

The show is a whirlwind of the mundane and spectacular, like the Marx's Brothers and Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein smashed on top of Army of Darkness.  Each episode brings a new set of problems and plot lines for the Triplets, from helping Landlord Jo (Jo Firestone) evict an invasion of Andy Warhol clones, to beating Death at his own game (Twister™), to reconnecting Terry with his long lost son, vampire Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins.

WATCH SEASON TWO - THE QUEST FOR TRUTH

And it features some of New York City’s best comedic talent the likes of Julio Torres (SNL) and Jo Firestone (Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon) who both recently got Comedy Central Half Hour Specials as well as Dan Chamberlain (Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon), Jonathan Braylock (Seriously.tv, Black Men Can't Jump In Hollywood Podcast) Lorelei Ramirez, Katie Hartman, Josh Sharp, Aaron Jackson and more - all playing an unexpected array of surreal characters.

The series was created, written by and stars Michael Wolf, Colin O’Brien and Terence O’Brien. We’ve been writing and performing comedy in New York for the past five years including work for Comedy Central, MTV, Above Average, Just for Laughs Festival, a long running primetime sketch show at UCB, and more. Triplets combines our love of cinema, rapid fire jokes, and our overwhelming fear of monsters.

"Our favorite part of making this series was being able to combine rapid fire jokes on the page with highly visual storytelling. We loved being able to use everything at our disposal (be it props, FX make up or the angle our director and DP chose for a particular shot) to bring the world of the triplets to life and tell the best and funniest story we could."

ToKC Website | YouTube | Twitter | Facebook

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A Long-Form Conversation with Astronomy Club

Monique Moses and Shawtane Bowen are the host and guest of this week’s episode of the UCB Long-Form Conversations Podcast. (Check out their fun, thoughtful conversation here.) Monique and Shawtane are teammates on UCBTNY’s Astronomy Club, who perform on the second Monday of every month in their show Let’s Talk About Race, Baby! at the UCB East Village Theatre.

Astronomy Club started as a Lloyd team in the spring of 2014, becoming only the second group to ever audition, get called back, and be placed on Lloyd Night as a self-formed team. From there, they’ve gone on to do improv and sketch in both New York and Los Angeles with shows like their hit A Journey Through Black History.

We sat down in the green room with some of the members of Astronomy Club before their most recent performance. Shawtane Bowen, Jonathan Braylock, Ray Cordova, Caroline Martin, Monique Moses, and James III chatted about the team’s origins, their unique role as the first all-black improv team at UCB and the pressures and responsibilities that came along with that title, an exciting new project they have coming up, and much more. Here’s an edited transcript of our conversation.

Let’s start with some background - where did all of this get started? What are the origins of Astronomy Club?

James III: I wanted to do an audition with people that were all black. So I talked to Keisha Zollar, who’s not here, and Shawtane [Bowen] and Ray [Cordova] very early on and then we all met.

Ray Cordova: At the first ever Astronomy Club meeting, there were like eleven people, something like that? Nine?

Monique Moses: And we brought on people. It was kinda like, “Oh I know this person that’s really dope, we should ask them too.”

James: And we loved each other from then on.

How has the improv component of your team affected how you approach sketch and vice versa?

James: I don’t know that it has directly affected it. We haven’t done anything where we’ve improvised something and then that has inspired any sketches.

Monique: A lot of the team comes from a theatre background, like trained actors, and then a lot of the team have been on Maude and sketch-related things in the past so I think it’s just a natural progression.

Ray: I know, definitely, the chemistry we developed in improv transitioned over to screen and stage when we started to do sketches. We already had a kind of rhythm going that improv kind of builds up.

Shawtane Bowen: For example, we wanted to do something for Black History Month. That was the impetus. It was like, let’s do a show. We ended up doing an hour sketch show and then people at the theatre saw it and said they’d love to have it in a 30-minute format. And we spent countless hours—

Monique: —yelling at each other.

Ray: Fighting. Hardcore.

Shawtane: Fighting, throwing shit. Until we came up with Journey Through Black History. Which is a #1 show.

Monique: Which is the #1 show on FOX.

Monique had mentioned on the podcast that you guys have “stuff in the works with Comedy Central.” Can you speak to that to any extent?

Jonathan Braylock: We’re going to do three sketches on their digital platform. We’ll be filming those in June and hopefully they’ll come out relatively soon, probably end of the summer. Some of them are sketches that we’ve done live that we’re transposing into screen and then there’s one that’s brand new that we’re really excited to do.

Shawtane: And we’re working with a great director.

Ray: Steven Spielberg, you may have heard of him?

Shawtane: Stephen...Sondheim.

Jonathan: But yeah. We’re currently in the pre-production phase of it.

You were the first all-black improv team ever at UCB. How has the significance of that label influenced your group identity and your group voice?

Caroline Martin: That’s a great question. I feel like our thoughts on that have also evolved over time. Because I remember towards the beginning we very much so owned that, and then to some degree shied away from it. Especially if we got a suggestion on Lloyd night that felt racially charged, it was like, we just want to come here and do good improv. But at the same time, I feel like we all can do things on this team that we can’t always do on other teams, as far as comedy about our identity. If we want to work on stereotypes and find parody in that way, there might be a scene where the unusual character or the straight person needs to be racist or to say something vulgar or bigoted and you don’t want to label that or force that upon maybe a white teammate because they’re like, “I understand that this is part of the comedy, but I just I don’t know…” But on this team I feel like there’s great comfort in being able to attempt that. And it’s also quite cathartic. I think that that’s where this show, Let’s Talk About Race, Baby!, comes from. Because talking about race is something that’s a part of our every day, all the time, cannot be hid, and so it’s just fun to do that improv with improvisers who have the same understanding.

Jonathan: I’d also add that, for me, and maybe other people felt this way, early on I definitely felt the pressure of wanting to perform well. And it wasn’t anything that was directly said to us, but there was that kind of air of like, well, we’re the first all-black team, so if we’re not good then we’ve let down a community of people who aren’t necessarily as well-represented—in the world in general—but specifically here in the improv world and scene. There’s also the affirmative action kind of thought, like, “Oh, they only got on because it’s like a novelty.” Instead of actually deserving to be on the stage. So I know there was that added pressure. And then the added pressure of not wanting to be too racial. There’s a responsibility to call things out, to do the things that other teams can’t do, but we also didn’t want to use race as the only way we’d mine comedy.

What advice do you have for someone who feels like they’re underrepresented at UCB or in an improv community in general?

Caroline: I would say don’t take shit. I feel like when I was coming up in classes, teachers weren’t as self-aware or class-aware of microaggressions and those uncomfortable moments, and, for instance, I would get labeled a stereotypical black name before I’d even said anything. And when that happens, I think an improviser has the choice to kind of pull back and get mad, or say, “Okay, so you called me Shaniqua, but in my mind, Shaniqua can still be a bear who wants to fly to the moon.” I still have control of that scene, and then after I can talk to the teacher or I can talk to that improviser if it happens onstage in a different realm. I just feel like it took a long time for me to really, truly be comfortable with knowing that I had some kind of control.

Ray: I also think, just get out there and meet people.

Caroline: Find your tribe!

Ray: Yeah, find your tribe, whatever that means to you. Go out there and make friends. Know that you’re not by yourself. There’s so many groups now, too—when I first started, there wasn’t a diversity program. We have so many options now where we can meet people who are different and stuff like that.

Shawtane: And work really hard to be the best that you can be. I’m very much about being excellent.

Jonathan: Being undeniable.

Shawtane: Yeah, being undeniable. Giving respect to those groups that came before us, like Doppelganger, Nobody’s Token, performers like Natasha Rothwell.

Monique: Shaun Diston.

Shawtane: Shaun Diston. Corey Brown. I would see these black and POC performers that would oftentimes be on teams as the sole person of color. You know, it’d be them and seven white people. And they would just rock out. And it wasn’t flashy or anything, they just got good.

Monique: Phil Jackson.

Shawtane: Phil Jackson. They just...they weren’t deterred, they worked really hard, they put in the time, they did the reps. They just put in that work. They weren’t going to be denied. And there’s something to be said for that too.

Ray: Just to go back on another note, don’t wait for people to approach you or come to you. I waited way too long to get into a practice group. If you want to start practicing with people, just go out there, put yourself out there, be proactive. Don’t wait for someone to invite you to things. Go out there and you set it up.

Shawtane: And reach out to people. We’re around. You see us. We’re cool, fun people. You can talk to us. You’re not alone.

What do you like about improvising with Astronomy Club?

James: It’s the most comfortable I ever feel improvising with any group of people. It just really feels like home and like family. I feel the freest.

Monique: References. I can put out a reference and most people will get it.

Caroline: I usually don’t. I usually don’t get it.

Monique: But she’s so good that you’d never know.

Jonathan: I definitely like that we’re able to go places that we definitely couldn’t go without each other. That’s something I personally never experienced until this group. It’s opened up this whole door of things that I never got to improvise about but I wanted to.

Ray: When I first started at UCB, I told myself, I’m not going to play stereotypes, I’m not going to use the n-word, and then when Astronomy Club came along, it was like, oh, I feel comfortable to do and say whatever I feel like at any given moment. That freedom is what I love most about playing with Astronomy Club.

Caroline: I really like that we can do racial content because that’s something that I’m so interested in. Even though I’m always happy to improvise and love comedy, I just feel like when we’re talking about race I’m really listening. I’m foaming from the mouth, like, “We’re doing something truthful and interesting!” and it just feels more important to me and a higher amount of responsibility, which is exciting. But then also the pendulum will go to the other end and it’s just real dumb fun.

If Astronomy Club were a movie, what would be the tagline?

Jonathan: “Get ready, ‘cause it’s about to get black.”

Ray: Oh boy.

James: It’s about to get black?

Ray: ‘Cause it wasn’t before then.

Shawtane: “Astronomy Club: Because space is black and we’re all stars.”

Monique: I love that!

Jonathan: Oh that’s pretty good.

Caroline: I like that.

Monique: Also, “We’re gonna need a bigger boat.”

James: And, “Welcome to Jurassic Park.”

Ray: And also, “This time it’s personal.”

Jonathan: “A long time ago in a galaxy far far away.”

James: So, all of those.

Astronomy Club is Shawtane Bowen, Jonathan Braylock, Ray Cordova, Caroline Martin, Jerah Milligan, Monique Moses, James III & Keisha Zollar. You can follow them on Facebook and catch them monthly at the UCB East Village Theatre. Be sure to check out the UCB Long-Form Conversations Podcast on Twitter, Facebook, and iTunes.

[ucbcomedy]

UCB in the Wild

Videos by UCB performers and filmmakers out there in the jungle of comedy.

Park Bench of Truth – A Web Series Talk Show

The second season of Amy Lynne Berger’s fun series is out now! Park Bench of Truth is an interview show based off of the Michael Delaney exercise of the same name. It’s a filmed improv exercise featuring improvisers, but it’s NOT about improv.

It’s a series of conversations with real people about real things. Check out the first episode of season two with Morgan Miller (Bonnaroo Comedy Tent, Harold Team Mermaids) where Amy and Morgan discuss comedy as a form of therapy, self-care, and how everyone feels uncomfortable:

Season two exclusively features UCB performers, including Abra Tabak, Mike Kelton, Lydia Hensler, Casey Jost, Lauren Adams & more!

The season two finale recently premiered, with guest Zhubin Parang (Head Writer of The Daily Show with Trevor Noah). Watch Amy and Zhubin chat about football, cosmetic surgeries, and politics in entertainment:

Park Bench of Truth is created, produced, and hosted by Amy Lynne Berger, directed by Nancy Melchert, and features artwork by Patrick Guerrero with a theme song by Louie Aronowitz.

Watch the full series here.

UCB in the Wild illustration by Sasha Taran.

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#MayThe4thBeWithYou with Griffin & David!

Blank Check with Griffin & David is a movie podcast that reviews directors' complete filmographies episode to episode. Specifically, the auteurs whose early successes afforded them the rare ‘blank check’ from Hollywood to produce passion projects.

BUT in the beginning, the podcast was devoted to the Star Wars prequels. Exclusively.

That means there are 30+ episodes of Griffin Newman (actor/comedian) and David Sims’ (critic for The Atlantic) picking apart their love and hate for George Lucas’s Star Wars prequels in ridiculous detail. Ultimately, they found that they were the most fascinated by Lucas himself. Once hailed as a genius, later universally reviled, but given the platform to make creatively unfettered blockbusters, Lucas is the first of many ‘blank check’ filmmakers the podcast has covered exhaustively.

So on this #MayThe4thBeWithYou, we asked the hosts to reflect on their passion for Star Wars.

Q: What is your favorite Star Wars character?

Griffin: TC-14.

Dave: Boss Nass, because I like big bosses.

Q: You guys went super in depth in your 30+ podcast episodes dedicated to Star Wars prequels, but is there anything you didn’t get a chance to say about Star Wars?

Griffin: I like TC-14.

Dave: Boss Nass is the biggest boss of all. 

Which Star Wars character are you the most attracted to?

Griffin: TC-14.

Dave: Gragra.

If May the 4th was a national holiday, how would you like the nation to celebrate? I.e. traditions, foods, presents, rituals?

Griffin: I would fuck TC-14.

Dave: Everyone gets one million dollars tax free from the government to spend on whatever they want.

Say it’s May the 4th, 2037, and a new theme park opens in Orlando, FL called Star Wars Universe what ride would they absolutely HAVE to have? Also, will you be at the theme park’s grand opening?

Griffin: TC-14. 

Dave: Probably some kind of “tour” through the stars, like a Star Tour or something? Anyway I'm never going, theme parks are too crowded.

If Disney approached you tomorrow and asked you to write a character for yourself in the next Star Wars movie, what character would you write?

Griffin: TC-14’s husband.

Dave: A renegade herobot called Mr. Coolio 5000.

If George Lucas let you have a prop or costume from any Star Wars movie, but you could only choose one, which one would you choose?

Griffin: A chance cube.

Dave: A Jedi poop chair.

How will you celebrate May the 4th this year?

Griffin: Taking TC-14 out for pasta.

Dave: Same way I celebrate every day-- by being the chillest dude around.

Listen to Blank Check with Griffin and David’s 30+ episodes exclusively about Star Wars here: bit.ly/blankcheckpodcast

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UCB in the Wild

Videos by UCB performers and filmmakers out there in the jungle of comedy.

PROJECTING

Today we’re highlighting the Seriously.TV webseries, Projecting, created by and starring a trio of UCB performers/writers/improvisers: Jerah Milligan, Jonathan Braylock, and James III. They are the hosts of one of our favorite podcast, Black Men Can’t Jump [in Hollywood], and also happen to be part of Astronomy Club, a sketch and improv team that performs regularly at UCB.

Projecting was recently featured on Splitsider with an interview with the trio creators/stars about how they are basically taking over the internet. You might have also seen them on Snapchat and Instagram with their series Thank You, Black People for Comedy Central.

These three are utterly killing it, so do yourself a favor and check out their webseries below:

Episode 1: The Whipping: A Slave Story

Episode 2: We Caught the Masturbator

Episode 3: Is Usher the Greatest Usher of All Time?

Episode 4: The Rise of the Ticket Machines

Episode 5: The Hoppening

UCB in the Wild illustration by Sasha Taran.

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UCB Performer Spotlight: Vincent Moore

Vincent Moore is a performer, writer, and improviser who can be seen in the UCB shows Higgins: The Instagram Show, Take It Personal: The Hip Hop Improv Show, and as the host of Best Answer: A Character Panel Show. Today, we ask him some questions about starting out at UCB and the lessons he’s learned along the way.

1. How long have you wanted to pursue comedy?

It’s hard for me to think of a time when comedy wasn’t a central part of my life and yet, for a long time, I didn’t really know that it was possible for me to get into it professionally. Growing up, the stand-up clubs in San Francisco were 21-and-over, I didn’t know much about improv outside of Whose Line Is It Anyway?, and I don’t think I’d seen much staged sketch until college. So the idea of the genuine pursuit of comedy as an actual, possible thing I could do didn’t sink in for me until I moved to New York after school.

2. When was your first UCB class? What made you want to take classes at UCB?

My first class was an Improv 101 with Ben Rodgers in the summer of 2011. Taking classes (and moving to New York in general) is largely due to the encouragement that I received from two of my very good friends from college, Ryan Haney and Allie Kokesh, who moved to the city a year or so before me. If they hadn’t pushed me to do it, I’m not sure when I would have found UCB.

3. What do you wish you had known before you started taking classes?

When I started taking classes, I was pretty much improv through and through. I wish I had simultaneously done more sketch earlier on.

4. When did you become a performer at UCB? How was the audition process for you?

I started performing at the theatre in 2012 as a member of Huxtable on Lloyd Night. The audition process was pretty chaotic as you’re in this intense headspace where you’re both overly aware of yourself and what you’re doing while also trying to listen to and be present for what’s happening around you. I was happy with the result of it but it was definitely stressful.

5. You host Best Answer, a character show at UCB East. What made you want to host that show?

I really like the idea of a bunch of characters interacting with each other in a spontaneous way so I decided to create and host a space where that can happen. Hosting the show, I’m always pleasantly surprised by the amount of playfulness that comes from a panel full of different characters that previously very much existed in their own universes. It’s a bunch of worlds colliding in a very positive way.

6. What have you learned from hosting your own show?

A lot! Outside of it being a trivia show and learning weird tidbits about this and that, hosting Best Answer has taught me how to juggle a lot of things at once. As the host, I have to know obscure facts and present them with confidence, manage four characters and make sure they’re happy, make sure the audience is happy, and keep everything running on time. It’s a workout but it’s also a very fulfilling role.

7. What was the best decision you made for your comedy career?

I’ve recently been trying to actively figure out what I truly think is funny and investigate that for myself. This is something that I still have to remind myself to do on occasion, as it can be very easy to just do what other people think is funny, and it’s been very helpful for developing my voice and just figuring myself out in general.

8. What was the worst decision you made?

It’s not so much a decision so much as a mindset that I had early on of needing to wait for someone to put me in their sketch or show or film, etc. instead of creating something on my own. For awhile, I put off learning how to edit digital film and properly use a camera because it seemed so boring and ‘not my thing,’ when it’s actually not entirely impossible to get a basic understanding of all of that via Youtube and learning as you go.

9. What advice would you give to people just starting out doing comedy?

Take some time to think about what truly makes you laugh and explore it as honestly and deeply as possible. And keep your eyes on your own test!

10.What project do you have coming up that you’re the most excited about?

Higgins, my former Harold team, is beginning our Sunday night run at the Beast this weekend, where we interview an audience member and use their Instagram profile to inspire our set. I’m also working on some sketch shows, one of which I’m writing and performing with Matt Dennie based on “The Hero’s Journey.” And, of course, there’s always America’s favorite website, “Bananas of New York.”

[ucbcomedy]

UCB in the Wild

Videos by UCB performers and filmmakers out there in the jungle of comedy.

Jared & Ivanka

Jared Kushner may be a Senior Advisor to President Trump, but at home he answers to the only Trump that matters, his wife Ivanka. This brand new original series from Funny or Die is chock full of UCB-ers!

Written & directed by Langan Kingsley (Fuck Nostalgia, What I Did For Love), and starring Josh Sharp (F*cking Identical Twins, Cool Shit/Weird Shit) as Jared Kushner and Aaron Jackson (F*cking Identical Twins, What I Did for Love) as Ivanka Trump. Watch the episodes below!

Episode 1:

Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump Enjoy An Intimate Coffee

Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump Enjoy An Intimate Coffee from Funny Or Die

Episode 2:

Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump Prepare For An Important Dinner

Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump Prepare For An Important Dinner from Funny Or Die

Episode 3:

Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump Fight Over Daddy’s Attention 

Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump Fight Over Daddy's Attention from Funny Or Die

Episode 4:

Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump Struggle to Take a Selfie

Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump Struggle To Take A Selfie from Funny Or Die

UCB in the Wild illustration by Sasha Taran.

[ucbcomedy]

A Long-Form Conversation with UCBTLA’s Winslow

This week, Dan Lippert is the guest on the UCB Long-Form Conversations Podcast. (Listen/subscribe here.) Dan is a member of the incredibly silly and talented UCBTLA house team Winslow! Winslow is made up of Dan Lippert, Echo Kellum, Jon Mackey, Justin Michael, Gilli Nissim, Mary Sasson, Drew Tarver, and Mano Agapion (who will also be appearing on UCB Long-Form Conversations later this month).

They started out as a Harold Team in 2011, and moved to their current weekend slot in 2015. You can see Winslow every Friday at 9:30pm in “F*ck, Marry, Kill” at UCB Franklin. (Get tickets here.)

We chatted with some of the members of Winslow about the origins of their team, their unique style, how they’ve changed over time, improv advice for students, people who’ve inspired them, and more. Here’s what they had to say.

Had any of you worked together previous to Winslow?

Gilli Nissim: I met Dan and Justin when I was a UCSB college improvisor at a festival their school (USC) put on called Fracas. It felt very magical to meet them. They were doing long form when I was still kissing short form improv’s ass.

Mano Agapion: Mary and I met in college doing improv at Dirty South Comedy Theater, often referred to as DSI. Before getting on Harold Night, I was on indie teams with every single member of Winslow...except Echo. I had my callback with Echo and we had a blast together. So I was particularly hooked up.

Dan Lippert: Jon and I were roommates and wrote together as members of the sketch group Big Grande, and Drew, Jon, Justin, and I performed together regularly as members of the indie improv team Guy 5. Nobody knew Echo. Justin Michael: I think a lot of us who met through Fracas ended up pushing each other to try UCB at the same time, so it really helped to have a group of buddies—at this point, old improv buddies do stuff on Winslow, Bangarang!, Boat, Big Grande, and various Harold & Maude teams. It’s kinda crazy to have known each other so long, but it made it easier to get on the same page.

What form do you typically use when you perform? Why?

Mary Sasson: We pull premises from an interview about people the audience would want to fuck, marry, or kill. There is no real form, but we try to make sure we have 2 or 3 slower two-person scenes up top so that we don’t get crazy too quickly.

Dan Lippert: We found this best serves our style of following crazy shit to its illogical conclusion and also satisfies the Friday night audiences, who are less improv-savvy.

Justin Michael: The most improv-nerdy moves that would kill at Harold Night can get crickets on a Friday, and the most “don’t indulge that” tendency will sometimes kill. It’s been a fun, strange transition. We’re still striving to do our best improv, but we’re also allowing ourselves to push our group voice.

How has your team evolved since you first began performing together?

Jon Mackey: I think when we started on Harold night, we were honestly bad. But I think every team is pretty bad when they start out; there’s a long process of finding what your voice as a team is, and even in those first few months our strength was very obvious. We were a team that would throw ourselves on the sword for each other, particularly in our group games. If we were going down, we were going down in a blaze of glory holding hands. This led to some of the most fun group games I’ve been involved in, to this day.

Mano Agapion: I think we started as the fun stupid big improv team on Harold Night. Which is both our strength and weakness. At our best, we are immediately into an idea no matter how stupid. At our worst, we let our excitement get the best of us and we’re in crazy town before we’ve earned it. Over the past 5 years, we have made a conscious effort to slow down scenes, ground base realities, and trust simple listening/reacting before we lose our damn minds and blow out the world.

Gilli Nissim: When we were being coached, people started telling us that we were doing things the “Winslow” way, which usually meant silly and maybe a little chaotic. It was cool to know that we had a style, even if it needed work. Since then I think we’ve honed that into a deliberate energy. Or at least I hope.

Justin Michael: I think when we started we fell into our traditional roles on the team—some people were more gamey and math-brained, while others swung wildly with jokes and huge characters. The longer we’ve done things, the more I think we’ve become comfortable with taking on other roles. Also, Drew’s gay now, which was initially tough because the team is very very very homophobic.

Who in the UCB community has inspired or influenced you?

Mary Sasson: Alex Fernie was our first coach and I think he really helped shape Winslow. He’s so smart but loves weird chaos, and I think that gave us confidence to be smart and very stupid at the same time.

Gilli Nissim: Alex Fernie and Eugene Cordero are the people I quote the most. They are superstar comedians and were so so nice to us when they coached us. If they stuck around after practice to chat, it made us feel like peers and it was fucking tight. With a lot of creative endeavors, it’s important to feel “worthy” and they definitely did that.

Dan Lippert: Bangarang! and JV/John Velvet set the bar for how patiently focused/silly a Harold could be. When I first started I was obsessed with Convoy’s ability to commit to and explore an idea in creative and surprising ways.

Justin Michael: Honestly, I’m still fucking blown away by our friends—half the time I’m doing a show with Winslow I can’t help but feel like an audience member because they just make me laugh. I’m constantly impressed by teams of buddies with strong and unique voices like Big Grande and JV and Bangarang! and The Dragons. I’m sure part of it is that you’re open to laughing more because they’re your pals, but they still impress and inspire me to do better in my own shows.

What advice do you have for a student who doesn’t understand game?

Dan Lippert: Do enough committed improv in practices and in front of audiences so that you can develop your voice and lock in on what you think is funny about an idea. It’s hard to find THE GAME; it’s less hard to show an audience what you like and why you like it, and the only way to get comfortable with that is through reps and failure. Don’t think about game until after the show. Try to ground your first unusual thing as a relatable behavior and then take it to crazy extremes.

Jon Mackey: I don’t really think a student who “doesn’t understand game” actually exists. I think we intrinsically understand game, but a lot of students are too distracted by the rules and lose track of their instincts. To me, game is what’s left in your brain after you clean up the mess of rules that you’ve filled your brain with while you’re learning how to do improv.

Gilli Nissim: If you start looking around, game can be something that occurs naturally in conversation or around your friends. If you’re ever thinking, “that’s SO like Connor”—that’s your friend Connor playing his game, his consistent pattern of behavior.

Mary Sasson: Ask yourself what you think is funny about what’s happening, and try to keep doing that funny thing. Game is just about what’s funny, so follow that funny!

Mano Agapion: Listen. React. Build Together. Game is just that simple.

Describe your team in three words.

Dan Lippert: Three Chinese standups.

Mano Agapion: Ass For Days.

Jon Mackey: Mostly decent looking.

Mary Sasson: Crazy, horny, and tall. Our average height is probably 6’2, and we’ve been accused of being the horniest Harold team.

Justin Michael: Horny Horny Homophobes.

Gilli Nissim: Horny.

You can follow Winslow on Twitter and Facebook, and be sure to check out the UCB Long-Form Conversations Podcast on Twitter, Facebook, and iTunes.

[ucbcomedy]

UCBComedy #TBT!

In honor of our recent UCB Digital Podcast with Keith Haskel, we’re throwing it back to his former UCB Digital team, UCB1. Keith Haskel used to run all the creative for UCB1, our flagship parody news network. Reporters investigated questions like: Do blondes have more fun? What’s up with millennials? And how do you shave your balls?

Throughout its 42 episode run, UCB 1 included the talents of Keith Haskel, Matt Fisher, James Patrick Robinson, Moujan Zolfaghari, Björn Bellenbaum, Lizzy Bryce, Dan Erickson, Pavel Ezrohi, Lauren Kahn, Boris Khaykin, Sue Smith, Matthew Starr, Phebe Szatmari, Brett White, Shannon O’Neill, and Eric Yearwood.

Watch all UCB1′s videos here: bit.ly/UCB1Playlist

And listen to our podcast with Keith Hakel where we talk all about unscripted and man-on-the-street comedy videos: 

bit.ly/ucbdigitalpodcast

[ucbcomedy]

UCB in the Wild

Videos by UCB performers and filmmakers out there in the jungle of comedy.

The Triplets of Kings County

Season 2 of this series starring, written, and produced by Colin O'Brien, Terence O'Brien, and Michael Wolf just premiered. Check out the trailer below:

Colin O’Brien (OSFUG, NANCY: Home Is Where The Songs Is) describes the series as “a narrative comedy that's like Marx's Brothers smashed on top of Army of Darkness.” It follows the adventures of three Midwestern triplet transplants who try to solve the mystery of their parents’ murder and prevent the apocalypse while dodging mildly annoying supernatural beings.

In the Season 2 premiere, the triplets face their greatest threat yet - the Hate Robot they had previously created. After it falls into the hands of the Russians it wrecks havoc on the eastern seaboard. Where are our heroes in this time of need?

UCB performers featured in the series include: Jo Firestone, Langan Kingsley, Aaron Jackson, Josh Sharp, Natasha Vaynblat, Jonathan Braylock, Max Brand, Bardia Salimi, Alexis Pereira, and more!

Get caught up on all of Season 1 here.

UCB in the Wild illustration by Sasha Taran.

[ucbcomedy]

UCBComedy #TBT!

Today we’re bringing it back to 2015, when UCB Digital Team LASH warned us of the dangers of buying clothes online.

Written and directed by Angel Yau, who now performs with AzN PoP! At UCB Theater NY, and starring Lauren Adams, who now plays Gretchen Chalker on Tina Fey’s Emmy-nominated Netflix original series, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt starring fellow UCB alumni Ellie Kemper. Lauren can also be seen playing Carol on the Hulu original series Deadbeat, starring Tyler Labine and Lucy DeVito.

LASH was a UCB Digital Team comprised of the talented Juliana Brafa, Ana Breton, Laura Grey, Hilary Kissinger, Grace Leeson, Hudson Meredith, Megan Stein, and Angel Yau.

Watch the full video here:

[ucbcomedy]

Video Debut: FUNHAUS by The Council

FUNHAUS a new web series, by UCB Digital team, The Council has officially launched! In this series written by Laura Grey, Brennan Mulligan, and Erik Tanouye and directed by Matt Braunsdorf, former rockstar and “the fattest cock in rock,” Scuzzy Lewis (Sebastian Conelli) has been trapped in a mirror, and is awakened and turned into the reflection of Professor Karen Collins (Cathryn Mudon), a Women’s Studies Professor at Breasthaven University who is in danger of losing the coveted TINA Talk (like a TED talk, but for women) to the hip new professor and feminist wunderkind, Dunstin Brisbane-Green (Jesse Lee).

Can a greasy rockstar trapped in a mirror teach a stuffy professor to unleash her inner feminist FREAK? Can an intersectional feminist with a PHD in Women’s Studies make a womanizing 1980’s rockstar finally respect women? Or will they be forced to be together for the rest of existence? Find out in FUNHAUS:

Episode 1: Dude Looks Like a Lady

Episode 2: Hot for Teacher

Episode 3: The Boys are Back in Town

Episode 4: I’m Looking at the Man in the Mirror

[ucbcomedy]

Tales from the Set of Divorce Complex!

UCBComedy and Digital Team Gordon are proud to debut Divorce Complex, a short film you can watch here. Just in time for Valentine’s Day, it tells the story of a very divorced man, living in an apartment complex full of divorced people, who learns who he is when no one wants to be his emergency contact. It’s a story of looking for that special someone...or, honestly, anyone.

We asked the amazing artists and comedians from Gordon about some of their favorite memories on set and about all the work that went into production.

Here’s what they had to say!

Emily Maya Mills, Performer (Wendy) & Co-Producer:

We knew the complex was going to be a character in the story and I love that we achieved the claustrophobia and strangeness we were dreaming up in development...I'm all about heartache in comedy so it was really satisfying to run at it so completely - and with so many deeply funny people.

Marie Lively, Producer & Story Development:

One of the apartments that we were using was owned by a very nice, but particular guy. It was clear his bedroom was off limits, and he wasn’t super stoked we were using his kitchen and living room as Basecamp. One day when he was at work, we locked ourselves out of his apartment, so naturally I looked for a way in. We ended up breaking into his bedroom by climbing through the window. We agreed best to keep it to ourselves and not let him know. However, later he says, ‘Was anyone in my bedroom?’ I played dumb and said, ‘No, I don't think so.’ He ask if I could come look at something. There on the bedroom wall was a dirty black handprint under the window and a red sharpie on the ground that had fallen out of my pocket.  We all had a big laugh, and I realized any hopes I had to be a cat burglar were dashed.

Emily Alpren, Co-Producer & Production Designer:

The challenge for Gordon isn’t unique to web series: how can we create a visual world that authentic to the story and characters without spending much more than a dime? However, what’s unique is the spirit and generosity of the team. For art and production design for Divorce Complex, probably 98 percent of art came from the team. We tear down curtains in our homes, ransack our own personal shelves, walls and storage spaces to pull together a cohesive look for Ron and the supporting characters. We were able to find a location (apartment complex) that was filled with members of the UCB community. So this production was really homegrown. Production wise, being able to use multiple - we used three - apartments in the same complex was a dream.

Even though I’m responsible for Production Design and Art, it’s Gordon that makes our shoots possible to look so good. (My apartment, on the other hand, has been stripped of any interesting touches since our first Gordon production.)

Will Hines, Performer (Ron) & Writer:

I enjoyed getting to be sad on purpose for the sake of art.

Carissa Dorson, Director of Photography:

The apartment that we shot in was perfect because a handful of our friends within the UCB community live there. They basically let us take over their apartments for three days, and we are eternally grateful for that!

I’m amazed at the production quality that we achieved on zero budget. The only money that we spent on equipment was to rent some Lomo anamorphic lenses. I was really excited to shoot with them and add a distinct style to the short.

I chose anamorphic lenses because they really served to isolate our main character, Ron, in his world. The depth of field of anamorphic lenses is really special - the out-of-focus area in the background takes on a painterly quality, and it really helps draw the audience's eye to the subject. The Lomo anamorphics also have a significant amount of distortion, which gives a heightened vibe to the shots. It really matches the world of Divorce Complex, which is slightly ‘off.’ Anamorphic lenses automatically make films look more cinematic, and we are the ‘cinematic narrative’ team, after all.

Danny Cohen, Head Writer:

It was important for me to make Will Hines roll his eyes when we were writing. That’s how many of the dumber things made it into the script. And we still have never met each other.

Dave [Theune] said he was a huge pizza fan, even suggesting places to order from. When we finally had pizza for lunch, he quizzically declared ‘what the hell is this?'

Diana Fishman, Editor:

Carissa [Dorson], our Director of Photography, shot on a RED Dragon camera in 4 and 6k, and I edit in Avid. This was the first project for which I have done an offline edit and then an upres myself without an assistant editor so it was a good challenge and learning experience for me.

A fun tidbit that I was nervous about on set, was that we had to cheat a lot of the apartment entrances because the doorways of the actual apartments weren't right for the scene. We would shoot the exterior at a different location than the interior of the scene. Ryan [Moulton], Carissa, Emily [Alpren] and I figured out the framing so that the shots could be cheated and it was very satisfying to have it all work out in the edit.

As for editorial process, I did a first rough-cut and put some temp music in, which I sent to Danny [Cohen], who composed all the music and Ryan, who directed. Then Ryan and I worked together for several days to try different takes, refine the edit and make cuts. Danny fed us new tracks to score with as he created them and we gave him feedback and new videos as we adjusted the edit. The process was smooth, very collaborative and went quite quickly as we wanted to submit to festivals. When Ryan was happy with the director's cut, we sent to the rest of the team for notes and eventually to Nate [Russell] for his input. Everyone was super positive and gave constructive notes which we were able to incorporate.

In Divorce Complex, we found our voice as a team: a quirky melancholic tone that doesn't take itself too seriously, that is funny yet grounded in real human experience.  Once we locked the edit, my husband, who is a re-recording mixer and mixed our last project Pricks, enhanced the sound design and did the audio mix and Carissa with the help of a colorist friend did the color correction.  I'm really proud of how Divorce Complex came out, particularly since it was entirely a labor of love and so many people helped us just because they believed in the project. I hope that lots of people will see it and enjoy it.

Check out Divorce Complex on Vimeo now and have a great Valentines day!

[ucbcomedy]

UCBCOMEDY VIDEO #TBT

This time we’re bringing it back to 2012, when the UCB Digital Team, SCRAPS, gave us the long-lost footage of what actually happened during the making of the most iconic scene from When Harry Met Sally.

This sketch, written and directed by Ben Warheit, features UCB alumni Sue Galloway and Neil Casey. SCRAPS featured comedians Will Cleveland, Ryan Hunter, Ed Mundy, Achilles Stamatelaky, Steve Theiss, Jennifer Treuting, Ben Warheit, Trevor Williams and Angel Yau. 

Neil Casey most recently starred in the Ghostbusters remake as the evil villain, Rowan North, and has also been seen in Inside Amy Schumer, Veep, Time Traveling Bong, Kroll Show, and The League. Sue Galloway has most recently appeared in Sisters with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, and has also been featured in The Characters, Girls, and 30 Rock.

Ben Warheit is now a writer on Late Night with Seth Meyers. 

See the full video here:

[ucbcomedy]

UCB in the Wild

Videos by UCB performers and filmmakers out there in the jungle of comedy.

Baited with Ziwe

We all feel uncomfortable talking about race. It’s much easier to pretend it doesn’t exist than to acknowledge hard truths. Since Ziwe can’t pretend race doesn’t exist, she refuses to let her coworkers off the hook either. This Above Average series starring Ziwe Fumudoh was co-created and directed by UCB performer and teacher, Jackie Jennings, and previous episodes also feature UCB performers Dan Chamberlain and Mike Antonucci.

Ep 1: “Hair” Featuring Dan Chamberlain

UCB Comedian, Dan Chamberlain gets baited about all things hair including pictures from his past and touching Ziwe’s hair.

Ep 2: “Love” Featuring Mike Antonucci

Another UCB comedian, Mike Antonucci gets baited about interracial relationships and ends up with no choice but to marry Ziwe.

Ep 3: “Beauty” Featuring Jacking Jennings

Yet another UCB comedian and co-creator and director of the series, Jackie Jennings gets baited about conventional western (and white) beauty ideals.

UCB in the Wild illustration by Sasha Taran.

[ucbcomedy]

PODCAST SPOTLIGHT: UCB Sports & Leisure and Season 2 Launch!

Welcome to our podcast spotlight where we interview the creative minds behind of one of the 12 shows hosted by The UCB Comedy Podcast Network. Our podcasts cover everything from professional wrestling to crippling anxiety, political turmoil, movies, sex, and of course - comedy.

You can catch their exclusive Super Bowl special out tomorrow, Feb. 3rd on iTunes! Matt Walsh & Scot Armstrong will follow actor turned Super Bowl Rookie Advocate Derrin Tackberry (Brad Morris) as he prepares Super Bowl first-timers on financial responsibility, proper social media etiquette & following the strict NFL code-of-conduct, handling hard-hitting press conference questions, and building trust & friendship with their new teammates. Also, don’t miss Matt Walsh as Mike McLintock on the Emmy and Golden Globe winning show, VEEP on HBO.

Since the dawn of time, man has competed and relaxed. UCB Sports & Leisure celebrates both. Hosts Matt Walsh (The Hangover, Veep) and Scot Armstrong (Old School, Dice) investigate the biggest names and characters in comedy to bring you the biggest stories in sports and an in depth look at the wide world of leisure. We sat down with host and UCB Co-founder, Matt Walsh, to learn more about UCB’s #1 Podcast.

UCB Sports & Leisure is fairly new. How has expanding your focus changed the format? Are there any topics you're excited to cover now that you couldn't necessarily before?

Matt Walsh: We still have the same great comedians coming in to play sports celebrities. But now we cover the world of leisure so the show has expanded to entertainment, politics, news makers and trend setters in all aspects of our world.

What differentiates your show from other sports podcasts?

MW: We have access to the best comedians in the world. We also try to cover a topic that is relevant and on people's minds. My hope is we explain the world a little better.

Which episode should new listeners start with? What can they expect from every episode?

MW: Every episode should have at least two interviews with people in the news. Sometimes we travel to them, other times they come in to our studio. A good start would be the Ron Livingston/Sam Richardson episode. Then I would pick one with Brad Morris who is one of our stalwart performers.

What athlete or sports figure, dead or alive, would you want to guest on your show?

MW: I'd love to interview Jim Thorpe, Jackie Robinson, Harry S. Truman, Lebron James, Walter Payton, Hillary Clinton, & Barak Obama just to name a few.

Most importantly, what is your favorite sport? Your favorite leisurely activity?

MW: My favorite sport is NFL football. My favorite leisure activity is hiking or watching football on Sunday and checking my fantasy scores.

Listen/Subsbribe: bit.ly/ucbsports

Follow on Twitter:

UCB Sports & Leisure: @UCBSL

Matt Walsh: @mrmattwalsh

Scot Armstrong: @scotarmstrong22