Improv brigade to perform

A stage, chairs and suggestions are all the Upright Citizens Brigade need to entertain.

The brigade is an improv comedy group with theaters in New York City and Los Angeles.

The Carolina Union Activities Board will host the UCB touring company, a program within the brigade, with the Chapel Hill Players as the opening act.

“UCB is one of the best improv theaters in the nation, so it’s guaranteed to be really funny,” said Sam Morgan, comedy committee chairman for CUAB. “Bringing their touring company here was an opportunity I didn’t want to miss.”

Past brigade performers include Amy Poehler of “Saturday Night Live,” Ed Helms of “The Daily Show” and “The Office” and Horatio Sanz of “Saturday Night Live.”

Members of the theater have performed at the DSI Comedy Festival in the past, but the touring company has never performed in Chapel Hill, though the group has ties here. Anthony King, a UNC alumnus, is the group’s current artistic director.

“I think people will come to see something they can’t normally see here in Chapel Hill with a national act such as UCB,” Morgan said.

Since nationally famous groups like the brigade do not frequent the area often, CHiPs has not had many opportunities to open for such famed acts, said John Reitz, co-artistic director of CHiPs.

Morgan said he expects the turnout to completely fill the 380 seats of the Great Hall. He expects that fans will come for both CHiPs and the brigade. The show is CHiPs’ first of the academic year.

“And you’ll never know what it’s going to be about because that’s the nature of improv,” Morgan said.

Improv is different from other types of performance art because the actors develop the piece from scratch.

“Improv done well is as good as a written performance,” said Neil Casey, a performer with the brigade who is part of the touring group.

“It’s just as funny and fun to watch.”

Upright Citizens Brigade practices long-form improv, which has no pre-planned games or rules before a performance. They pioneered this technique during the early ‘90s in Chicago.

“We improvise in a way that is grounded and truthful and not something cheap,” Casey said.

He said he felt the brigade excelled at giving students a unique comedic experience.

“You are watching something that has never been seen and will never be seen again,” Casey said. “Knowing that and watching it is special.”


Contact the Arts Editor at artsdesk@unc.edu.