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Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre
The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre (shorter UCB Theatre) is an American improvisational theatre company and training center founded by the Upright Citizens Brigade troupe members Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts and Matt Walsh. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, UCB had locations in the New York City neighborhoods of Hell's Kitchen and the East Village, and on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. UCB was located in Chelsea West 26th Street location from April 2003 until November 2017, after which it moved to Hell's Kitchen, 555 West 42nd Street in December 2017. The second NYC theatre located in the East Village opened in 2011, and the Los Angeles expansion started in 2014. Members of the Upright Citizens Brigade originally trained with Del Close at Chicago's ImprovOlympic where they created their signature ''ASSSSCAT'' show, the success of which led to the troupe founding the UCB Theatre in New York City. Philosophy The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre Training Center teache ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Improvisational Theatre
Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted: created spontaneously by the performers. In its purest form, the dialogue, action, story, and characters are created collaboratively by the players as the improvisation unfolds in present time, without use of an already prepared, written script. Improvisational theatre exists in performance as a range of styles of improvisational comedy as well as some non-comedic theatrical performances. It is sometimes used in film and television, both to develop characters and scripts and occasionally as part of the final product. Improvisational techniques are often used extensively in drama programs to train actors for stage, film, and television and can be an important part of the rehearsal process. However, the skills and processes of improvisation are also used outside the context of performing arts. This practice, known ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harold (improvisation)
Harold is a structure used in longform improvisational theatre that is performed by improv troupes and teams across the world. In the Harold structure, characters and themes are introduced and then recur in a series of connected scenes. It was first performed in California by The Committee in 1967. History The Committee, a San Francisco improv group, performed the first Harold in Concord, California, in 1967. They were invited to a high school and decided to do their improvisations on the war in Vietnam. On the way home in a Volkswagen bus, they were discussing the performance, when one of them asked what they should call it. Allaudin (Bill) Mathieu, ( W.A. Mathieu) called out "Harold", which was a joking reference to a line from '' A Hard Day's Night'' where a reporter asks George Harrison what he calls his haircut and he answers "Arthur". The form was further developed by improv teachers Del Close and Charna Halpern, as well as the Upright Citizens Brigade. When The Commit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kate McKinnon
Kate McKinnon Berthold (born January 6, 1984) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. She is known for her character work and celebrity impressions on the sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' (2012–2022), of which she was a cast member for eleven seasons, and formerly ''The Big Gay Sketch Show'' (2007–2010). She has appeared in films such as '' Balls Out'' (2014), ''Ghostbusters'' (2016), ''Office Christmas Party'' (2016), ''Rough Night'' (2017), ''The Spy Who Dumped Me'' (2018), '' Yesterday'' (2019), and '' Bombshell'' (2019). In 2022, she played the role of ''Tiger King'' subject Carole Baskin in the miniseries '' Joe vs. Carole''. McKinnon has been nominated for ten Primetime Emmy Awards, including one for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics and nine for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, winning in 2016 and 2017. Early life McKinnon was born and raised on Long Island in the town of Sea Cliff, New York, to Laura Campbell, a parent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nick Kroll
Nicholas Kroll (born June 5, 1978) is an American actor, voice actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is known for creating and starring in the Comedy Central series ''Kroll Show'', ''The Oh, Hello Show'', the FX comedy series ''The League'', and starring in and co-creating the animated Netflix series '' Big Mouth''. He has also acted or voice-acted in films such as ''Adult Beginners'', ''Sausage Party'', '' Loving'', ''Sing'', '' Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie'', '' The House'', ''Uncle Drew'', ''Operation Finale'', ''The Secret Life of Pets 2'', and ''The Addams Family''. Early life Kroll was born in Rye, New York, on June 5, 1978, to Lynn and Jules Kroll. His father is a billionaire businessman who founded the corporate investigations and risk consulting firm Kroll Inc. The youngest child in the family, Kroll has a brother, Jeremy, and two sisters, Vanessa and Dana. He grew up in a Conservative Jewish family, and attended the Solomon Schechter School of Wes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ellie Kemper
Elizabeth Claire Kemper (born May 2, 1980) is an American actress and comedian. She has been nominated for a Critics' Choice Movie Award, two Critics' Choice Television Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, three Satellite Awards, and seven Screen Actors Guild Awards. Kemper is best known for playing the roles of Erin Hannon in the sitcom ''The Office'' (2009–2013) and Kimmy Schmidt in the sitcom ''Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt'' (2015–2019), the latter of which earned her two consecutive nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. She has also appeared in films, notably ''Bridesmaids'' (2011), ''21 Jump Street'' (2012), ''Sex Tape'' (2014), and most recently in ''Home Sweet Home Alone'' (2021). In 2018, she released her debut book, ''My Squirrel Days''. Early life Kemper was born in Kansas City, Missouri, the second of four children of Dorothy Ann "Dotty" (née Jannarone) and David Woods Kemper, a son of one of the wealthiest fami ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abbi Jacobson
Abbi Jacobson is an American comedian, writer, actress, illustrator and producer. She co-created and co-starred in the Comedy Central series ''Broad City'' (2014–2019) with Ilana Glazer, based on the web series of the same name. Her other roles include voicing Katie Mitchell in '' The Mitchells vs. the Machines'' (2021), Nya in ''The Lego Ninjago Movie'' (2017), and Princess Bean in the series ''Disenchantment'' (2018–present), in addition to appearing in the live-action films ''Person to Person'' (2017) and '' 6 Balloons'' (2018). She is a writer and co-creator of the Amazon Prime series ''A League of Their Own'' (2022), in which she also stars as Carson Shaw, an aspiring baseball player in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Early life Abbi Jacobson is the daughter of Susan Komm, an artist, and Alan Jacobson, a graphic designer. She is Jewish. She was raised in Wayne, Pennsylvania, where she attended Valley Forge Middle School and Conestoga Hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ed Helms
Edward Parker Helms (born January 24, 1974) is an American actor and comedian. From 2002 to 2006, he was a correspondent on Comedy Central's ''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart''. He played paper salesman Andy Bernard in the NBC sitcom ''The Office'' (2006–2013), and starred as Stuart Price in ''The Hangover'' trilogy. He later starred in the comedy series ''Rutherford Falls'' (2021–2022), which he co-wrote. Helms has also starred in dramatic films and comedic films such as '' Cedar Rapids'', ''Jeff Who Lives at Home'' (both 2011), ''We're the Millers'' (2013), ''Vacation'' (2015), '' Chappaquiddick'' (2017), ''A Futile and Stupid Gesture'', '' Tag'' (both 2018) and ''Together Together'' (2021). He provided the voice to the animated films, ''Everyone's Hero'' (2006), '' Monsters vs. Aliens'' (2009), ''The Lorax'' (2012), '' Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie'', '' Mune: Guardian of the Moon'' (both 2017) and ''Ron's Gone Wrong'' (2021). He has received six Screen Actor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Donald Glover
Donald McKinley Glover Jr. (; born September 25, 1983), also known by his stage name Childish Gambino (), is an American entertainer, writer, director, and producer. After working in Derrick Comedy while studying at New York University, Glover was hired at age 23 by Tina Fey as a writer for the NBC sitcom '' 30 Rock''. He later rose to fame for portraying college student Troy Barnes on the NBC sitcom ''Community'' from 2009 to 2014. From 2016 to 2022, Glover starred in the FX series ''Atlanta'', which he created and occasionally directed. For his work on ''Atlanta'', Glover won various accolades, including two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. Glover has starred in several successful films including the supernatural horror '' The Lazarus Effect'' (2015), the comedy-drama ''Magic Mike XXL'' (2015), and science fiction film '' The Martian'' (2015). He played Aaron Davis in the superhero film '' Spider-Man: Homecoming'' (2017), and played Lando Calrissian in t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ilana Glazer
Ilana Glazer (born April 12, 1987) is an American comedian, director, producer, writer, and actress. She co-created and co-starred, with Abbi Jacobson, in the Comedy Central series ''Broad City'', which is based on the web series of the same name. She was twice nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series for the series. Glazer also starred in the 2017 film ''Rough Night'' and released her debut stand-up comedy special, ''The Planet Is Burning'', in January 2020. In 2022, she won the Tony Award for Best Musical for serving as a producer for the Broadway show ''A Strange Loop''. Early life Glazer, born in New York City, New York, is the daughter of Sandi and Larry Glazer, who both work in insurance and finance. She grew up in a Reform Jewish family in St. James, New York, on Long Island and is of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. Her brother, Eliot Glazer, is a producer, writer and actor with whom she has worked on shows like '' The Boys Presents: ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aziz Ansari
Aziz Ismail Ansari (; born February 23, 1983) is an American actor and stand-up comedian. He is known for his role as Tom Haverford on the NBC series ''Parks and Recreation'' (2009–2015) and as creator and star of the Netflix series ''Master of None'' (2015–) for which he won several acting and writing awards, including two Emmys and a Golden Globe, which was the first award received by an Indian American and Asian American actor for acting on television. Ansari began performing comedy in New York City, while a student at NYU Stern in 2000. He later co-created and starred in the MTV sketch comedy show ''Human Giant'', after which he had acting roles in a number of feature films. From 2009 to 2015, Ansari gained prominence for his role as Tom Haverford in the NBC sitcom ''Parks and Recreation''. In 2015, Ansari co-created, and starred in the first two seasons of Netflix's critically acclaimed series ''Master of None'' which he also served as a writer and director. As a stand ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alternative Comedy
Alternative comedy is a term coined in the 1980s for a style of comedy that makes a conscious break with the mainstream comedic style of an era. The phrase has had different connotations in different contexts: in the UK, it was used to describe content that was an "alternative" to the mainstream of live comedy, which often involved racist and sexist material. In other contexts, it is the nature of the form that is "alternative", avoiding reliance on a standardised structure of a sequence of jokes with punch lines. Patton Oswalt has defined it as "comedy where the audience has no pre-set expectations about the crowd, and vice versa. In comedy clubs, there tends to be a certain vibe—alternative comedy explores different types of material." In an interview with ''The A.V. Club'' after his performance in the 2011 comedy-drama film ''Young Adult'', Oswalt stated: I had come up out of that whole alternative scene, which was all about, "Don’t try it, man. Just go up and wing it. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Comedy Bang! Bang!
''Comedy Bang! Bang!'' (formerly ''Comedy Death-Ray Radio'') is a weekly comedy audio podcast, which originally began airing as a radio show on May 1, 2009.A Special Thing Forums:Comedy Death-Ray Radio starts today! Popularly known as ''Humanity's Podcast'', it is hosted by writer and comedian Scott Aukerman, best known for his work on the 1990s HBO sketch comedy program ''Mr. Show with Bob and David'', creating and hosting the ''Comedy Bang! Bang!'' TV series, and co-founding the weekly ''Comedy Death-Ray'' stage show at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Hollywood. ''Comedy Death-Ray Radio'' was formerly broadcast from Southern California's Indie 103 studios, but since the summer of 2010 has been broadcast as part of the Earwolf comedy podcasting network, being recorded in studios owned by the company. ''Comedy Bang! Bang!'' was also a television series on IFC hosted by Scott Aukerman and featuring in different seasons bandleaders "Weird Al" Yankovic, Reggie Watts and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
