CHiPs performs with professional group Upright Citizens Brigade

The Chapel Hill Players have students cracking up with laughter every year with their sketch comedy and improv that they provide for the Chapel Hill community.

And tonight, CHiPs brings that laughter to the Student Union Auditorium with a performance with the Upright Citizens Brigade, a professional comedy group out of New York.

“This is a really exciting opportunity because they are the real deal when it comes to improv,” said Jillian Vogel, a sophomore CHiPs member.

Co-artistic director of CHiPs John Reitz has had the privilege of performing at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre and has taken classes from them in New York City.

Reitz, a senior, said that he hopes to work with the Upright Citizens Brigade some day and pursue that work as a career path.

Robert Stephens, director of CHiPs, joined the group his freshman year when he trained in their incubator program.

CHiPs holds auditions every semester. Members first participate in the incubator training program, which is for at least one semester, before they try out for the CHiPs performance group.

Stephens started performing his sophomore year and now, in his senior year, is the group’s fall semester director.

He is an international studies major, but he said he thinks he will pursue comedy after he graduates, possibly in Los Angeles.

“There are a lot of comedy opportunities out there. That is probably what most excites me,” Stephens said.

As director, Stevens is trying some new ideas for the group, including two shorter shows in the Cabaret this semester in addition to their two main shows.

This group usually performs two to three times a semester in Hamilton 100.

Performances consist of a few sketch comedies and some short-form and long-form improv games where they take suggestions from the audience.

They are going to try a method called “a bat,” where they perform completely in the dark and all you hear are the vocals.

“The goal is to make people laugh and enjoy themselves, but the goal for this is to explore comedy as an art form,” Reitz said.

And some CHiPs alums have been able to bring this comedy experience into their real-world jobs.

UNC graduate Josh Sharp performed with CHiPs for three years. He is now living in East Harlem, N.Y., working for Citizen Schools teaching middle school students, where he runs an apprenticeship on improv.

Citizen Schools provides both classes and apprenticeships for students, giving them hands-on experience.

Sharp said that values he learned in CHiPs such as teamwork, acceptance and openness to others’ ideas are applicable to every part of life.

The group plans to have shows on Oct. 30 and Dec. 9. They will also have two small performances in the Cabaret on Nov. 12 and 13.

Stevens said that his favorite part of working with CHiPs is “being able to, night in and night out, have a great time with people who are very talented.”


Contact the Arts Editor at artsdesk@unc.edu.