Upright Citizens Brigade
Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use mdy dates Template:Use American English Template:Infobox theatre group The Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) is an improvisational and sketch comedy group that emerged from Chicago's ImprovOlympic in 1990.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The original incarnation of the group consisted of Amy Poehler, Matthew Walsh, Matt Besser, Ian Roberts, Adam McKay, Rick Roman, Horatio Sanz and Drew Franklin. Other early members included Neil Flynn, Armando Diaz, Ali Farahnakian and Rich Fulcher.
In 2013, Besser, Roberts and Walsh wrote The Upright Citizens Brigade Comedy Improvisation Manual.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
History
The Upright Citizens Brigade began performing improv and sketch comedy at Kill the Poet in Chicago in 1991. Their first show was called Virtual Reality. The group followed with shows titled UCBTV, Conference on the Future of Happiness, Thunderball, Bucket of Truth, Big Dirty Hands, The Real Real World, and Punch Your Friend in the Face.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 1993, the Upright Citizens Brigade (Matt Besser, Ian Roberts, Amy Poehler, Adam McKay, Rick Roman, and Horatio Sanz) were regular guests on stage at the New Variety produced and hosted by Richard O'Donnell at the Chicago Improv comedy club, 504 N. Wells.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 1996, prior to opening their own theatre, the Upright Citizens Brigade relocated to New York performing 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The shows and classes at Solo Arts were so popular that the UCB were able to open their own theater, the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, at 161 W. 22nd Street in Chelsea on February 4, 1999.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This was a 75-seat auditorium that used to be the Harmony Burlesque Theater, an all-nude lap-dancing club—essentially a storefront. The original theatre was closed on November 18, 2002, after a building inspector ordered the theater to be shut down due to fire code violations. In the months that followed, the theater found a temporary home at the Access Theater on lower Broadway, then moved to the Chelsea Playhouse for a short time before finding a permanent space.<ref name="nyt"/>
On April 1, 2003, the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre moved to its second official space in Chelsea, a 150-seat theater at 307 West 26th Street in NYC in the former Maverick Theater. The new venue had several advantages over the previous theater on 22nd Street, 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".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2005, the Los Angeles branch of the theater opened at 5919 Franklin Avenue in Hollywood, offering improv, sketch and stand-up comedy shows nightly with a 120-seat capacity. Soon after, Comedy Bang! Bang! (formerly 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.<ref name="losangeles.ucbtheatre.com">Template:Cite web</ref>
In September 2011,<ref name=ucbeastsched92011>Template:Cite web</ref> UCB opened a second theater on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, at 153 E 3rd St. This theater featured 124 seats, two lobbies, and a full bar known as the "Hot Chicks Room" in reference to an episode of the Upright Citizens Brigade TV show.<ref name="New York Times">Template:Cite web</ref> Often referred to as "the Beast" (a portmanteau shortening of "UCB East"), the theater was initially opened in hopes of showcasing more stand-up comedy. This venue ran smaller-scale shows for $10 or less.<ref name="UCBEastClose">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The UCB East permanently closed on February 9, 2019. In its stead, the group once (but no longer) offered three nights of programming per week in the nearby SubCulture theatre on Bleecker Street.<ref name="UCBEastClose" />
An expansion in Los Angeles started in 2014.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2014, UCBLA announced the opening of UCB Theatre Sunset located at 5419 Sunset Boulevard for November 1. The venue played home to Upright Citizens Brigade's training center, an 85-seat theatre, cafe/performance space called Inner Sanctum, video production offices, and even retail stores on street level.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This location was sold in December 2020, leaving the Franklin theater as the only space owned by UCB.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
At the start of 2017, ticket prices increased (the first in ten years).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In October 2017, it was announced that the UCB Chelsea location would close. The last show in Chelsea was Wednesday, November 28, 2017.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The next UCB space, from November 30, 2017, was at 555 42nd Street in Hell's Kitchen,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the former home to the Pearl Theatre Company.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The Upright Citizens Brigade has performed in the Comedy Tent at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> UCB had locations in the New York City neighborhoods of Hell's Kitchen and the East Village, and on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this location and the New York training center were closed on Tuesday, April 21, 2020, leaving no NYC locations of UCB, with no confirmed plans for revival.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In March 2022, former owner and CEO of The Onion, Mike McAvoy, and co-founder of Mosaic talent management, Jimmy Miller, acquired UCB and its lone remaining theater with the backing of private equity firm Elysian Park.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> They reopened the Los Angeles UCB comedy theater and Los Angeles training centers in September 2022.<ref>Template:Cite tweet</ref> On June 29, 2023, UCB announced its return to New York at 242 E. 14th Street, featuring a 130-seat theater, a bar, and a lounge. The space officially reopened in September 2024.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Theatre
The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre (shortened to UCB Theatre or just UCB) is an American improvisational and sketch comedy training center and theatre, originally founded by UCB troupe members Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts and Matt Walsh.<ref name="newyork.ucbtheatre.com">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="nyt">Template:Cite news</ref>
Philosophy
The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre Training Center teaches long-form improv, sketch, writing, parts of directing, and various other comedy skills.<ref name="newyork.ucbtheatre.com"/> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2013, they co-authored a manual titled The Upright Citizens Brigade Comedy Improvisation Manual.<ref>Get the Laughs, but Follow the Rules, The New York Times, 20 February 2014</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Screen ventures
The original group, Matt Besser, Matt Walsh, Ian Roberts, and Amy Poehler, have had two TV shows—Upright Citizens Brigade and The UCB Show—and their show ASSSSCAT has been televised twice. In addition, they had a TV movie called Escape From It's a Wonderful Life and appeared weekly on Late Night with Conan O'Brien in the '90s.
In 2002 they created and starred in the film Martin & Orloff, and made another movie in 2007 titled Wild Girls Gone. Neither film was particularly successful or well received.
The group has participated in web series including the ongoing series UCB Comedy Originals, created in 2008, which occasionally shows sketches, and I Hate Being Single, created in 2012.
In 2016, Universal Cable Productions announced signing Upright Citizens Brigade to a first-look production deal.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Pop culture
Saturday Night Live has been known for seeking top talent from UCB's pool of students.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
TV shows like The Chris Gethard Show created by Chris Gethard, and Broad City created by Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer, started out as UCB experiments.
Notable alumni
- Aziz Ansari<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Anthony Atamanuik
- Leigh Daniel Avidan
- Emily Axford<ref name="The 25 Most Famous UCB Alumni">Template:Cite web</ref>
- Matt Besser - founder<ref name = "Vanity Fair 12">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
- Nicole Byer<ref name="The 25 Most Famous UCB Alumni"/>
- Kay Cannon<ref name="The 25 Most Famous UCB Alumni"/>
- D'Arcy Carden<ref name="The 25 Most Famous UCB Alumni"/>
- Neil Casey
- Adam Conover<ref name="The 25 Most Famous UCB Alumni"/>
- Andrew Daly<ref name="The 25 Most Famous UCB Alumni"/>
- Katie Dippold
- Ayo Edebiri
- Ilana Glazer<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Donald Glover<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Ed Helms<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Rob Huebel<ref name="The 25 Most Famous UCB Alumni"/>
- Brian Huskey
- Abbi Jacobson<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Ellie Kemper<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Jordan Klepper<ref name="The 25 Most Famous UCB Alumni"/>
- Nick Kroll<ref name="EW interview">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
- Jason Mantzoukas<ref name="The 25 Most Famous UCB Alumni"/>
- Kate McKinnon<ref name="EW interview" /><ref name="Vanity Fair 12" />
- Kyle Mooney<ref name="The 25 Most Famous UCB Alumni"/>
- Seth Morris<ref name="The 25 Most Famous UCB Alumni"/>
- Bobby Moynihan
- Brennan Lee Mulligan<ref name="The 25 Most Famous UCB Alumni"/>
- Ego Nwodim<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Lennon Parham
- Josh Patten
- Aubrey Plaza<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Amy Poehler - founder<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- June Diane Raphael
- Sam Riegel<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- Rob Riggle<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Ian Roberts - founder<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Times Overhall">Template:Cite web</ref>
- Matt Rogers<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Paul Scheer<ref name="The 25 Most Famous UCB Alumni"/>
- Ben Schwartz<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Jessica St. Clair
- Drew Tarver
- Kelly Marie Tran<ref name="The 25 Most Famous UCB Alumni"/>
- Milana Vayntrub<ref name="The 25 Most Famous UCB Alumni"/>
- Matt Walsh - founder<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Times Overhall" />
- Zach Woods<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Bowen Yang
- Sasheer Zamata<ref name="The 25 Most Famous UCB Alumni"/>
See also
- The Second City
- The Groundlings
- ImprovOlympic
- Under the Gun Theater
- Annoyance Theatre
- Improv Asylum
- Magnet Theater
- The Midnight Show
- The Peoples Improv Theater