The Upright Citizens Brigade is a group of improvisational comics who have taken their game to the next level.
Matt Bessler, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts and Matt Walsh comprise the Upright Citizens Brigade – a troupe [not troop!] of comedians who have taken the art of improv to a whole different level. Instead of doing a number of shot scenes based on several suggestions from the audience, they take the first suggestion from a first-time audience member and then introduce a monologist, who does an improvised monologue on the subject. This occurs twice for each show.
From there, the group then riffs on the variations of the subject subjected by the monologist until they figure they’re they’ve mined that subject for every possible good bit. Then, the monologist returns and riffs on the variations explored by the group in a second monologue which, in turn, suggests fresh variations for the group to explore.
Thus, each show is sparked by only two audience suggestions – and then explored in precisely the same way that a jazz group takes a riff, or chord progression and develops it in unplanned/improvised directions.
The two monologists featured on the DVD are Tom Lennon [working from the suggestion “medical marijuana”] and Private Practice’s Kate Walsh [working from the suggestion “boyfriend”]. Highlights include: from Lennon’s monologues, Tripping Talking Cactus and Talking Bleached Skull, and from Walsh’s monologues, The Worst Birthday Gift Ever.
If these bits don’t make you laugh out loud, you’re made of stone. Trust me.
Features include: Upright Citizens Brigade Interview; Monologus Interruptus; We Love Our Audience; The ASSSSCAT! Theme], and Commentary by Upright Citizen’s Brigade [an improv master class].
Grade: Upright Citizens Brigade: ASSSSCAT! – B
Grade: Features – A
Final Grade: B+