Upright Citizens Brigade
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The Upright Citizens Brigade is an improvisational comedy and sketch comedy group that emerged from Chicago's ImprovOlympic in 1990. The most recent incarnation consists of Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts, and Matt Walsh. The original incarnation of the group consisted of Besser, Ali Farahnakian, Drew Franklin, Adam McKay, Roberts, Rick Roman, and Horatio Sanz. Other early members included Neil Flynn, Armando Diaz, and Rich Fulcher.
The Upright Citizens Brigade began performing improv and sketch comedy at Kill the Poet in Chicago. Their first show was called Virtual Reality. The group followed with shows entitled 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.
In 1997, the Upright Citizens Brigade relocated to New York and began performing shows and offering improv training at Solo Arts Group. These shows and classes 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, in a former nude dance club. On April 1, 2003, they moved to a new space at 307 W. 26th Street. In July of 2005, the UCB opened a theater in Los Angeles at 5919 Franklin Ave (between Tamarind & North Bronson Ave). The Upright Citizens Brigade have also been a featured performance in the Comedy Tent at the annual Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, TN for the past three years.
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[edit] Television series
The group had a TV series dedicated to their sketch comedy on Comedy Central that aired for three seasons from 1998 to 2000. Each season contained 10 episodes, which included sketches inspired by their live shows and new material. What made the series stand out as a sketch show was that every episode had a central theme, the strands of which would all be tied together in some way by the end. The progression of each episode essentially followed the format of the improv format known as the Harold, which was invented by Del Close, improv teacher and mentor to the UCB (who also contributed the voiceover in the show's opening title sequence). Additionally, episodes in each season would make reference to a fictitious element within the show's world and would culminate in a season finale that would focus exclusively on this element. The show also stayed away from overused staples of sketch shows by rarely doing pop culture parodies or celebrity impersonations (with the exception of several impressions of historical figures such as Albert Einstein, Harry Truman, and Jesus in Episode 108).
The four main actors never appeared as themselves. They each took various roles throughout the sketches, which were linked by segments featuring Adair (Besser), Colby (Poehler), Antoine (Roberts), and Trotter (Walsh), the Upright Citizens Brigade.
The overall plot of the show was that these four were The Upright Citizens Brigade, an underground organization "with no government ties and unlimited resources" dedicated to creating and monitoring chaos from their secure underground base. The sketches depict chaotic or bizarre events in the world, events which are often directly engineered by the UCB. In the Season 2 finale, the FBI invaded the UCB lair as part of a raid to find a Supercool smuggling ring. Because of this, in the third and final season, the UCB had set up operation in a bakery delivery truck. The characters themselves also had less of a presence in the episodes, mostly only being shown quickly between scenes.
Another defining feature of the show was a series of real-world pranks, which tied in with the show's theme. Usually run at the end of each episode, these hidden-camera pranks featured the cast (as either the central UCB characters or other characters from that day's episode) interacting with real strangers. These segments featured such concepts as attempts by UCB cast to buy the fictitious drug "supercool" from real drug dealers in shady dance clubs, a UCB mother trying to convince a real store clerk to let her put up flyers advertising "baby fights," Roberts dressed as Santa Clause standing outside a department store offering free samples of his "Santa Liqueur," and the UCB at a sidewalk stand attempting to sell "poo-sticks" (sticks with dog feces on one end) as defensive weapons to passersby.
The show was not renewed by Comedy Central after the third season. Its players have since moved on to other projects while still performing in various combinations at their weekly improvised show, ASSSCAT, which can be seen once on Saturday and Sunday nights in Los Angeles, and twice on Sunday nights in New York. In Los Angeles, the Sunday night show is free, as is the second show in New York. One of the show's running jokes involves a cast members explaining that "it's free to get in, but you have to pay to leave." A version of the show's Bucket of Truth is passed around and donations are taken. Both Poehler and Sanz went on to perform on Saturday Night Live. Comedy Central released a DVD containing the episodes of the first season in 2003. Audio commentary for episodes in season two have begun, but no release date on the DVD has been announced.[1] In the fall of 2005, Bravo showed a one-hour special of ASSSCAT Improv with guest stars like Rachel Dratch, Tina Fey, and Andy Richter.
The show's motto was, "Don't think."
The show opened with this narration, voiced by improv legend and UCB guru Del Close: "From the dawn of civilization, they have existed in order to undermine it. Our only enemy is the status quo. Our only friend is chaos. They have no government ties and unlimited resources. If something goes wrong, we are the cause. Every corner of the earth is under their surveillance. If you do it, we see it. Always. We believe the powerful should be made less powerful. We have heard the voice of society, begging us to destabilize it. Antoine. Colby. Trotter. Adair. We are the Upright Citizens Brigade."
[edit] Episodes
[edit] Season 1
Screenshot | Title | Episode |
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" The Bucket of Truth" | 101 |
A Realtor shows a house featuring the "Bucket of Truth" and a "Hot Chicks Room". | ||
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" Poo Stick" | 102 |
Big Red Cat gets harassed by a poo stick while performing mini-movies. | ||
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" Saigon Suicide Show" | 103 |
In an attempt to destabilize society by eradicating prejudice, the UCB host a benefit featuring
the Saigon Suicide Squad. |
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" Power Marketing" | 104 |
"Power Marketing" guru Duke reveals the secret of his success: a new brain. | ||
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" Children's Revolution" | 105 |
A pro-union puppet-show at the elementary school incites one boy to stand up to his bullying school-bus driver. | ||
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" The Story of the Toad" | 106 |
People use the heartwarming story of the toad to bring meaning to their lives. | ||
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" The Lady of the Lake" | 107 |
A frat guy dates the Lady of the Lake, who bores him with the story of how she once presented King Arthur with Excalibur. | ||
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" Time Machine" | 108 |
Andy goes back in time to play cards with Jesus and President Truman. | ||
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" Cyborgs" | 109 |
The UCB's cyborg project goes wrong. | ||
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" The Little Donnie Foundation" | 110 |
Little Donnie has a giant penis....but doesn't know it. |
[edit] Season 2
Screenshot | Title | Episode |
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" Competition (Master Dialectitian)" | 201 |
Great fights in history: Tesla vs. Edison, man vs. horse, and a young boy's struggle to become a Master Dialectitian. | ||
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" Crime (Bomb Squad) " | 202 |
The Wu-Tang Clan dig their way into the UCB's secret underground lair. | ||
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" Throwing Stars (Mogomra Fart Monster)" | 203 |
A boy repeatedly teased by his classmates seeks revenge with ninja throwing stars and a summoned monster. | ||
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" Real World" | 204 |
The UCB collects freaks (such as Gilly, the color-blind girl, and a ferocious bikini-wearing Ingret) to star in a new season of "The Real World". | ||
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" Anger Management (Eli's Face Therapy)" | 205 |
Wealthy women pay Eli to slap them in the face. | ||
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" Friars" | 206 |
A friar infestation begins when deli meat and cigars are left out; meanwhile the UCB is busy investigating theme restaurants. | ||
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" Spirituality (Spaghetti Jesus)" | 207 |
A man sees Jesus in a plate of spaghetti. | ||
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" Big City" | 208 |
An urchin shows a rich man around the Big City. | ||
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" Hurricane" | 209 |
Bong Boy is in a hurricane, but thinks he's watching it on TV. | ||
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" Supercool" | 210 |
A documentary about the drug Supercool, including interviews with the Titté Brothers. |
[edit] Season 3
[edit] References
- ^ UCB Season 2 Live Commentary http://www.ucbtheatre.com/schedule/showdetails.php?showid=1396
[edit] External links
- Upright Citizens Brigade at TV.com
- The official Upright Citizens Brigade website
- The official Upright Citizens Brigade Theater website
- Audio Interview with Matt Besser on The Sound of Young America: MP3 Link
- Audio interview with Matt Walsh on The Sound of Young America
- Matt Walsh and Ian Roberts feature film "Martin & Orloff" [1]
- The IMDB page for the Upright Citizens Brigade
- Video interview with Michael Delaney