With our bellies full of Pizza, Stephanie and I had a whole night in New York ahead of us. We saw a musical and a play already, so we decided to make it a theme, and see another show. This time we decided to check some comedy. WIth a plethora of comedy clubs and theaters in new york we had plenty of options. We settle on checking out some improv at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre.
Upright Citizens Brigade
The Upright Citizen Brigade is the improv troupe and training center founded by Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts, and Matt Walsh in the early 2000s. Their original theater was located in the Chelsea area of Manhattan, but it has since moved to Hell’s Kitchen and expanded. Currently there are two locations in New York City (Hell’s Kitchen and East Village) and two locations in Los Angeles (Hollywood and Sunset Boulevard).
What is really great about the Upright Citizens Brigade is they do their best to keep their prices low. Generally a show at a UCB theater will run you anywhere from Free (on open mic night) to $14 dollars at their absolute max. While the prices vary based on weekday vs. weeknight, there is almost always something on their calendar for right around $10. For places like New York and Los Angeles you will be hard pressed to find a show of this quality at those prices. We were excited and ready to laugh.
The Show
We decided on The Instagram Show at Upright Citizens Brigade in the West Village, as we were in the general area. Given the synopsis of the show, it seemed like it would be great.
Do you take more pictures of food than people? Are most of your photos duck-lipped selfies? Or maybe your pics show that you just love your cat WAY too much? We hope so! The improv team Higgins would love to look at your Instagram feed and make up an entire show based on what we find. Just bring your phone and a sense of humor.
As the show started went through a volunteer’s instagram account. For all to see they asked about some of the pictures and the story behind it. Tonight’s guest was pure gold. He was an average looking guy, who really liked to take pictures like he was a model. He had recently got into weed, and from his account he was becoming a connoisseur. Okay fine, he was a hipster. Hipsters are comedy gold. Before we knew it they were performing at good 45 minutes worth of scenes based on a handful of his pictures. Each scene built on the story, and added new and hilarious aspects to his life. The best part was, like true comedic experts in the final scene they brought the entire story full circle. It was great. It was hilarious, and it was only the first half of the show.
After a brief intermission, it became a more standard comedy show. They played some of the traditional improv games you will see at many improve theaters or shows like Whose Line is it Anyways. Despite not being as unique as the first act, It was very good, extremely clever, and really funny.
Overall
The Upright Citizens Brigade Improv was well worth the $10 we spent per ticket. During the Instagram Show, we were in tears laughing. An affordable night out in New York is tough to come by, but the Upright Citizen Brigade makes it easy.