From misogyny to Sept. 11, 2001 to a safety deposit box filled
with feces, no subject is off-limits for comedy group the Upright
Citizens Brigade. Nothing is dull. Well, almost nothing. March
4’s crew of UCB comedians, which included Andrew Secunda, a
writer for “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” and
Sean Conroy from “Crossballs,” flexed those uninhibited
and playfully offensive muscles for ASSCATS, an improvisation
comedy act composed of sharp, politically incorrect sketches all
delivered in nerdy good fun. ASSCATS, which the UCB performs in
Hollywood at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre on a nightly
basis, adopts the standard improv comedy model of “the
Harold,” in which a celebrity, usually from TV or film
productions, uses a word or phrase offered from the audience to
reflect on stories from his past. The Brigade patiently waits
behind him, silently ruminating on the different possibilities for
sketches. Once the monologist finishes, the men quickly get to work
with off-the-wall scenes that fluctuate between the silly and
smart, the obscene and immature, the facetious and just plain
funny. On Saturday night, Jerry Minor ““ a writer and actor
for “Mr. Show” as well as a writer and feature player
for “Saturday Night Live” ““ struggled through his
four monologues, reminiscing about “playing slave”
underneath his pool table when he was a child and taking
photographs with his camera phone of a fight between a homeless
woman and a mom taking a walk. Although he warmed up as the night
progressed, most of his pieces were received with just as much
silence and twiddling thumbs as laughter. But the brigade of men
behind him made up at least partially for whatever Minor lacked in
energy and humor. Constantly returning to topics introduced in the
monologue as well as to jokes from much earlier in the evening, the
comedians created a whirling but interconnected line of comedy that
was loose, inventive and, when one stopped to think about it,
mind-boggling. (How in the world did they get from hot sauce to
cows being aroused by two men fighting? That’s right, cows.)
As the brainchild of Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts and Matt
Walsh, the UCB built its roots first in New York City in 1992 as
both a school and a theater specializing in improvisational comedy.
After building a name for itself there, largely due to
word-of-mouth publicity, and landing a weekly slot on Comedy
Central for three seasons, the UCB found its way to Los Angeles in
2005. Its new home has featured acts from such comedic luminaries
as David Cross, Horatio Sanz and Janeane Garafalo. Unlike
professional comedy clubs, the small and intimate setting of the
UCB theater, in combination with low ticket prices and all-ages
availability, prevents any sense of pretension on the part of the
comedians. The limited space between the comedians and the crowd,
both literally and figuratively, also helps to further engage the
audience in the brotherly banter that ensues onstage. The bond
between the comedians not only creates a relaxed atmosphere for the
performance but also allows for swift and cohesive movement between
skits. As everything is off-the-cuff, the troupe must work together
to initiate a scene change when a sketch starts to fall flat,
necessitating an awareness that can either make or break improv
comedy. At Saturday’s show, it did a little of both. The
performance overall created a representation of what many might
imagine a comedian’s mind would look like: an enjoyably
chaotic playground for witty and ridiculous repartee, echoing with
a few dead-end lines alongside some genuinely hilarious ones. It
was difficult to leave the performance with a clear memory of the
jokes that made up the evening. That may be for the better though,
considering the subject matter ranged from sexually-stimulated cows
to illegal immigration to the love lives of those sitting in the
front row. Regardless, it was almost impossible to walk away
without having had a good laugh. So, no matter what, be prepared
for the unexpected.
“”mdash; Kiran Puri