The Definitive Guide to Comedy
The story of the Del Close Marathon is the story of Del Close. And the story of Close is ultimately the story of how improvisation grew from an art form used for acting rehearsals into an actual entertainment event in itself, and how Close spurred its expansion through his disciples …
Ali Farahnakian is living the American comedy dream. Born in Iran and raised in North Carolina, Ali moved to Chicago after college and fell right in with The Second City, improv Olympic and the teachings of Del Close and Charna Halpern. Saying “Yes, And” to life led him to becoming …
Before Parks and Recreation, before SNL, before the Upright Citizens Brigade set up shop in New York City, Amy Poehler was a fresh-faced college grad studying with the rogue improv mastermind Del Close and performing with The Second City. In 1995, Poehler and Close starred together in a pilot called …
Longtime Chicago improv actor and teacher Jason R. Chin died suddenly Thursday night. Chin was 46. Improv Olympic founder Charna Halpern passed along the devastating news overnight. “I am heart broken. Our Jason Chin passed away,” Halpern wrote to friends. “He was a wonderful friend and a huge part of …
Improv. Say that one word in comedy circles and you’ll see a multitude of reactions. OK. Mostly likely one of three: Love. Hate. Indifference. Or maybe even something that’s along the spectrum that connects those three. Who decides to pursue a life or career in improv comedy, what are their …
After several years in the planning, talking and writing, the co-founding leaders of the Upright Citizens Brigade finally accomplished the publishing stage of their effort to write their own book on improv comedy. Matt Besser, Ian Roberts and Matt Walsh, alongside “UCB Four” co-founder Amy Poehler, unveiled “The Upright Citizens …
We’re one week away from the 15th annual Del Close Marathon, the weekend celebration of Del Close and improvisational comedy thrown by the Upright Citizens Brigade that welcomes hundreds of groups from around the world to New York City. 2013’s #DCM15 will put on 420 shows on seven stages over …
Thrash Lab has released a new 11-minute documentary on improvisation in comedy — specifically set in the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Hollywood, and speaking with Matt Walsh, Jason Mantzoukas, Paul Scheer, Ellie Kemper, Kay Cannon and others about “The Harold” form of improv. It’s a good, quick overview of …
Over the summer, Gary Rudoren (co-author of Comedy By The Numbers) told me he had a brilliant idea for another comedy book. Rudoren wanted to publish an oral history of the Upright Citizens Brigade. But he said he was too busy for it. Turns out I was too busy to …
