South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center presents The Upright Citizens Brigade Tour Company, an evening of the best longform improv on the East Coast, as part of the Center’s Cabaret Series. The performances are on Saturday, Nov. 15, at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m.
Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 on the day of the show and can be purchased by calling the Box Office at 786-573-5300 or online at SMDCAC.org. The center is located at 10950 SW 211 St. in Cutler Bay.
Named “Hot Farm Team” by Rolling Stone magazine and “Best Comedy Club” by The Village Voice, the UCB Theatre is widely recognized as home to today’s funniest actors and writers.
The touring arm of UCB (UCB TourCo) brings the most innovative and hilarious comedians from UCB’s New York and Los Angeles theaters directly to you. The handpicked cast is sure to delight and is known for presenting the nation’s next wave of comedy superstars.
Past casts include: Jack McBrayer (30 Rock), Ed Helms (The Office, The Hangover), Bobby Moynihan (SNL), Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation), Adam Pally (Happy Endings), Horatio Sanz (SNL), Rob Corddry (The Daily Show), Ellie Kemper (Bridesmaids, The Office), Rob Riggle (The Daily Show), Zach Woods (In The Loop, The Office), Lennon Parham (Accidentally On Purpose, BFF).
Longform improvisation was pioneered by Del Close in Chicago at the Improv Olympics and was brought to New York City by the Upright Citizens Brigade. In longform improvisation, performers create an entire show consisting of interconnected scenes, characters, and ideas completely made-up on the spot with no pre-planning or pre-writing.
The Upright Citizens Brigade (Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts and Matt Walsh) came to New York from Chicago in 1996. Noticing an absence of “Chicagostyle” longform improvisation in the city, the four members of the UCB launched a training program in 1997. The UCBT quickly became the place for great, cutting-edge, comedy. Casting directors, agents, festival producers, and journalists began to flock to the theater to see the best comic talent in the city. As buzz for the theater grew, the training program expanded with hundreds of students learning the art of improvised theater.
The UCB Theater at 307 W. 26 St. continues to offer the best and most innovative improv, sketch, and standup comedy in the city every day of the week, every week of the year. In addition to the performance space, UCBT is home to an intensive Improv Guerilla Training Center where students learn the art of improvisational and written comedy. In 2005, the UCB Theatre LA opened to make the UCB Theatre the only bicoastal sketch, improv, and comedy theatre in the country.
More information about the Center and its programs can be found at www.smdcac.org.
