Showtime presents “House of Lies” LIVE and improvising from the UCB Theatre

Improv comedy fans received an early Christmas and New Year’s present when Showtime announced it’s airing a long-form comedy special with Ben Schwartz and his cast mates from the network’s House of Lies for New Year’s Eve.

Schwartz executive produced the project HOUSE OF LIES LIVE!, and wrote on Monday:

“I have been performing improv comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in both NY and LA for the past ten years and it has been a dream of mine to get long form on television to show off the kind of stuff the UCB Theatres do on a daily basis. And the fact that I get to do this while highlighting how funny and amazing the cast of House of Lies is, is just a beautiful treat. I hope people are blown away by how talented this cast is because it’s remarkable how good they are for trying this out for the first or second time. And this group in particular had never performed on stage together before the cameras started rolling.

Showtime has been unbelievably supportive and wonderful throughout this entire process. House of Lies Live will premiere ONLINE on December 30th then have it’s big television premiere on NYE at 10pm on Showtime.

This special means a lot to me and any love the tumblr/twitter/facebook/instagram/comedy community could give to support this type show on television would be very much appreciated. If this goes well, who knows what comes next.”

So. Here are the particulars. House of Lies LIVE! premieres online on Dec. 30, and airs on Showtime at 10 p.m. Eastern/Pacific on New Year’s Eve. With a cast including Ben Schwartz, Josh Lawson, Don Cheadle, Kristen Bell with their House of Lies season three guest stars: comedians Lauren Lapkus, Ryan Gaul and Eugene Cordero, taped at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Los Angeles.

Here’s a preview!

UPDATED 12/30/13 And here is the edited for YouTube half-hour version:

If you’re an improv fan who’s too cool for TV, then you access the HoLLive holiday gift via YouTube, Facebook, and Showtime’s preview apps on iPhone, iPod Touch, Android phones/tablets, Nook and Kindle, and even iTunes.

House of Lies returns to Showtime on Jan. 12, 2014. Cheadle’s consultant character, Marty Kaan, and his co-workers (played by Bell, Schwartz and Lawson), will interact with guest stars that include T.I., Mekhi Phifer, Eliza Coupe and Daniel Stern, as well as reappearances by Griffin Dunne, Bess Armstrong and Jenny Slate.

Sean L. McCarthy

Editor and publisher since 2007, when he was named New York's Funniest Reporter. Former newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News, Boston Herald and smaller dailies and community papers across America. Loves comedy so much he founded this site.

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