Recap: The WitOut Awards For Philly Comedy
The glitz, the glamor, the gags—the 2013 WitOut Awards for Philadelphia Comedy had it all.
Held for the second year by the local comedy blog, WitOut.net downstairs at World Café Live, the event is basically the only chance comedians in this town have to receive a snazzy golden plaque and legitimate recognition for their hard work and talent. You know, given how incredibly undervalued comedy is as an art form.
This year, those snazzy gold plaques were awarded in a total of 13 different categories, not counting the ridiculous and totally made-up pre-show awards, which included “Most Exorbitant Ticket Fee” (Winner: the 2013 WitOut Awards) and “Most Embarrassed By His Delco Roots (Winner: Jim Grammond).
Following the traditional award show format, the ceremony opened with a song and dance number from Samantha Brown & The Grimacchio Dancers along with the evening’s co-hosts, Jason Grimley and Ralph Andracchio aka. Grimacchio. Not only did the platonic improvisational life partners prove to have surprisingly very lovely singing voices, but they did a stellar job keeping the show in check. And, of course, they did it all without a teleprompter (take that Amy Poehler and Tina Fey!).
Whether scripted or spontaneous, the night’s presenters and winners all brought their A-Game. Perhaps the most memorable acceptance speeches were that of Jess Ross who accepted the award for “Best Female Improviser” by kindly telling everyone who wronged her in elementary school to go fuck themselves and Mary Radzinksi who accepted the award for “Special Achievement in the Field of Tweeting” in only 140 characters.
Other highlights from the show: the squad of puppet police that chased John Kensil and Dr. Moody off the stage, the brief and tender kiss between Luke Field and Brian Kelly, the heated quarrel between improv duo Kait & Andrew, the mere presence of the Narragansett Tall Boy mascot, and the newly appointed house band, Philadelphia Slick who brought the funk all night long.
Having correctly predicted or voted for 9 out of the 13 winners, I can’t say there were any big shockers, except for The Feeko Brothers taking home the award for “Best Sketch Group” for the second time (I thought for sure this was going to be Secret Pants’ year).
As for the red carpet fashions, well, you’d be surprised just how well comedians clean up. My picks for the night’s best-dressed would have to go to Fastball Pitcher Bob Gutierrez who came donning his usual oh-so constricting short-shorts and knee-high socks and the sketch comedy mavens of ManiPedi who made cornrows look dammnn good.
Anyway, without further adieu, I present the complete list of 2013 WitOut Award winners:
BEST STAND-UP COMEDIAN — Aaron Hertzog
BEST SKETCH GROUP — The Feeko Brothers
BEST IMPROV GROUP — Asteroid!
BEST STAND-UP BIT — First Guy in the World/Netflix (Aaron Hertzog)
BEST SKETCH — Mystery Science Andre 3000 (Camp Woods)
BEST MALE IMPROVISER — Luke Field
BEST FEMALE IMPROVISER — Jess Ross
BEST REGULAR SHOW — Camp Woods Plus
BEST SHORT-RUN/ONE-TIME SHOW — The Improvised B-Movie Double Feature (Asteroid!)
BEST PODCAST/WEB SERIES — Gettin’ Close with Mike Marbach
SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN THE FIELD OF TWEETING — Mary Radzinski (@MaryRadzinski)
BEST OPEN MIC — Sketch Up or Shut Up
BEST NEW ACT — Davenger
**Photos courtesy of Erin Pitts
Recap: Philly Improv Festival Night 1
Beauty School Dropouts / Photo by Kevin Thom
Despite the incredibly lousy weather on Wednesday night, the 8th Annual Philadelphia Improv Festival got off to a pretty commendable start. In fact, the second block of the night exceeded my expectations both in terms of the turnout and the performances. (I’m sure the 7 p.m. show was also great—I just wasn’t there to see it.)
I really don’t know why I had any expectations given that three out of the four groups were totally new to me, but I’m almost glad I subconsciously underestimated them.
The only familiar act, Gross Butler kicked off the show serving their usual array of disturbing characters and grim scenarios. This includes a bit about a father prostituting his daughter, which oddly enough, made me burst in to laughter.
Next up, the Troika team Chaperone featuring Frank Farrell and Meredith Weir under the guidance of improv vet, Steve Kleinedler. I don’t know where hell Frank Farrell came from, but I really hope to see more of him. Playing a gullible teenager with uncontrollable nerves and bowels, he proved relentlessly funny. He and Meredith were also quite endearing together.
The same can be said of the ladies of New York’s Beauty School Dropouts who I can only assume have been performing together for quite some time in addition to being real-life besties. These girls fed off one another without a second of hesitation, turning one of the weirdest mother-daughter relationships I’ve ever seen into comedic gold.
Finally, I didn’t realize the Philly Improv Theater started supplying its house teams with large amounts
of amphetamines, but clearly Davenger is the product of some sort of comedic drug experimentation. Seriously, they were unreal. Generally I prefer smaller troupes, my logic being that the more people on the stage, the messier the scenes tend to get. Not the case with this crew. In fact, all nine members managed to out-perform each other. Yeah, I didn’t know that was possible either.
If I had to muster up any criticism it would be that this was one case where the best should not have been saved for last. The troupe was so fast and so sharp that my increasingly sleepy self could barely process it all.
The best of the Philly Improv Festival has yet to come with three more nights of shows. I’ll be hitting tonight’s line-up and shall report back tomorrow. My Philly Comedy Month coverage will then continue on Monday as the Philly Sketchfest gets underway.
FESTIVAL INFO: Each of the nightly performances (which are are split into either two or three hour-long blocks) will be held in the Prince Music Theater’s Independence Foundation Blackbox (1412 Chestnut St.). Tickets for an individual show block are $10 while a nightly pass costs $15-$20. As an additional bonus, a portion of tickets sales from this year’s festival as well as all proceeds from the annual Comedy Month raffle will benefit Career Wardrobe.
The Must-See Philly Improv Festival Shows, According to Local Comics
Tonight, the Philadelphia Improv Festival kicks off its eighth year, with more than 40 different acts performing over the next five days.
This includes a mix of the finest improvisational talents in town in addition to several noteworthy troupes from some of the nation’s top comedy meccas such as the Upright Citizens Brigade and New York’s Magnet Theater. (Note: the same goes for many of our local improvisers.)
Unable to cherry pick my own personal faves from the line-up (really, there’s too many to count), I decided to poll some local comics to find out which shows/troupes they’re most excited to see.
Greg Maughan (Philly Improv Theater Founder and Executive Director): “On Friday, Mayor Karen and The Imposters and on Saturday, Hey Rube and Junior Varsity are must sees.”
Jason Grimley (member of improv duo Grimacchio and PHIT house team King Friday): “I am very excited to see BILLY HAWK from Los Angeles. I know those guys from IO West and they never disappoint.”
Chip Chantry (stand-up comedian): “I’m looking forward to RARE BIRD SHOW. The three of them are masters at what they do, and I’m so glad they’re getting the band back together.”
Paul Triggiani (member Secret Pants; host of PHIT’s TV Party): “Thursday’s show represents three cities, both non-native acts sound novel and intriguing, and King Friday and Iron Lung are great local groups. Iron Lung is also collectively very attractive. So I’d recommend this block.”
Brendan Kennedy (stand-up comedian; member of Camp Woods): ”Hot Dish at 7:30pm Wednesday night. I saw every night of their Fringe show “BackStory” and they were brilliant!”
Corin Wells (member of PHIT house team Hot Dish): “Amie and Kristen/Kristen and Amie Show because every time they get on stage together, not only do they perform amazing improv but they have so much fun together. The audience feels like they’re are having fun right along with them.”
Alison Zeidman (Editor in Chief at Witout.net): “ZaoGao. They perform the best organic improv in the city.”
Aaron Hertzog (stand-up comedian; member of Hey Rube and Hate Speech Committee; host of PHIT’s Hey Everybody!): “Davenger. Because they are dope.”
Kristen Schier (PHIT instructor; member of Amie and Kristen/Kristen and Amie Show): “I am totally biased but I want everyone to check out ZaoGao. I love me some BILLYHAWK boys too! This year’s fest will be a blast.”
FESTIVAL INFO: Each of the nightly performances (which are are split into either two or three hour-long blocks) will be held in the Prince Music Theater’s Independence Foundation Blackbox (1412 Chestnut St.). Tickets for an individual show block are $10 while a nightly pass costs $15-$20. As an additional bonus, a portion of tickets sales from this year’s festival as well as all proceeds from the annual Comedy Month raffle will benefit Career Wardrobe.
**PHOTOS: Tom Lovelund, Musher-Lovelund Photography for Philly Improv Theater