Recap: Philly Sketchfest Night 5
Camp Woods / Photo by KL Thomas
Tonight, the Philly Sketchfest wraps up its fifth year with three blocks of shows and a stellar line-up of performers including, the local duo (and Philly Sketchfest producers) David Terruso and Matt Lally of Animosity Pierre at 9 p.m. and the Boston-based duo Sawyer & Hurley capping off the 10 p.m. block.
That said, consider this not only a recap of last night’s comedic offerings, but my final plea to get you to go out and actually see the festival.
Out-of-towners opened both blocks of shows last night—Onassis, the house sketch team at The Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theatre in NYC and Brick Penguin from Washington, DC—both of whom I’d welcome again with open arms. Oddly enough, they also both happened to have concluded their sets with really original musical bits.
Still, it was the homegrown headliners that really brought the house down:
Camp Woods: While I can’t say how many times I’ve seen CW over the years, I can say that I’ve never seen them perform at such an uncanny, gut-busting pace as they did last night. From Billy Bob Thompson pretending to play the piano as Rob Thomas to Rob Baniewicz competing on a fake game show as Adolf Hitler, the crew really kicked their wonderful absurdity up a notch. Their first peak came with the sketch “Pop-Eye The Failure Man.” Billy is already like a living cartoon character so there was a certain satisfaction that came with watching him as an actual cartoon character. Oh, and of course, Rob Baniewicz was simply born to play Olive Oil. By the end of their set, already at the top of the mountain with nowhere else to go but down, the gang just decided blow the entire goddamn mountain up. And they did it with a good old-fashion amniotic sac race. Amniotic sacs? Yes, amniotic sacs.
The Feeko Brothers / Photo by KL Thomas
The Feeko Brothers: Philly’s Reigning Kings of Sketch Comedy did exactly what they always do—entertain and amuse. This time however, they did it all in between ridiculous video clips of Yasmine Bleeth. Not sure how this idea came about, but I really wish I could have been a fly on the wall as they scoured the Web for Baywatch clips. The duo concluded the evening with the introduction of a hilarious new character, whose name I believe was “Little Charlie Dinosaur.” In hopes that they bring this little guy out again in the future, I don’t want to say anything else about him or the sketch, except that it was a wonderful example of comedic crafting.
FESTIVAL INFO: Each of the nightly performances 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.
Recap: Philly Sketchfest Night 3
While still pissed I wasn’t able to attend the Dirtiest Sketch Competition on Tuesday, I’m glad that the 5th Annual Philly Sketchfest still has three more nights of kick-ass sketch comedy left.
Last night’s show was dominated by three stellar local acts. First up, stand-ups Chip Chantry and Carl Boccuti officially debuted their new monthly sketch show, The Specific Jawns, featuring an array of their funny friends (Mary Radzinski, John McKeever, Shannon Brown and Sam Narisi, to name a few).
Chip and Carl deserve mad props for the five following reasons: 1) Coming up with what is perhaps the best title for a comedy show I’ve ever heard. 2) Enlisting such a dynamic crew of talented comics. 3) Including Philly-centric jokes that weren’t completely trite. 4) Going the extra step to incorporate visual elements. 5) Conceiving such well-written, off-the-wall and totally original sketches. Already I can’t wait to see what they have in store for the future.
Keeping the laughs going, the gals of ManiPedi dusted off their handmade Fruit of the Loom-style food costumes and proved that watching three girls fight in cardboard contraptions really never gets old. Even the second time around, I laughed till my eyes watered. If you’ve never seen it, just think Justin Timberlake’s “Bring it on down to…” sketches, but ten times funnier. Following this food-theme, the group then played their newest video sketch “The Taco Bell Jar.” I highly recommend checking it out. I also highly recommend picking up a copy of next’s week issue of PW. (wink. wink.)
For the grand finale, the massive ensemble of Penn’s all-male sketch troupe, The Mask & Wig Club took their stage and wowed the crowd with their Ivy League wits. Although some sketches were stronger than others, when these guys killed it, they freakin’ killed it. They delivered more sketches in 20-30 minutes than one can possibly recall, but the two that stand out entailed a bizarre wizard/hamburglar and a chorus line capped off with a surprise appearance from Hitler.
FESTIVAL INFO: Each of the nightly performances 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 Sketchfest Shows, According to Local Comics
Tonight marks the beginning of the 5th Annual Philly Sketchfest, which will be hosting shows each night through Saturday. Offering up a smorgasbord of sketch talents, audiences will have a chance to see the best that this city has to offer as well as several noteworthy troupes from around the country.
Once again, to help you decide which shows to see, I turned to some local comedians for their own recommendations.
Pat Foy (Camp Woods; co-host of The Theme Show): ManiPedi’s performances are spot-on and their writing is smart, clever, and fearless. They’re always a blast to watch. Charles Rosen’s unique point of view and inimitable delivery make me howl every time I see him perform, so I’m really excited to check out Tales From a Body Cast.
Madonna Marie Refugia (Camp Woods, ManiPedi): “I’m really excited to see the Feeko Brothers because I love laughing until it hurts.”
Photo: Kevin Thom
LaTice Klapa (stand-up comedian): “In my opinion a must see show during the week of Philly Sketchfest is the dynamic sketch duo Animosity Pierre. They are a hilarious, smart duo who are on the move in Philadelphia.”
Rob Baniewicz (Camp Woods): “Go see Camp Woods. I am continually impressive.”
Steve Kleinedler (Director of PHIT house team Hot Dish): “Friends of Gertrude: I’ve had the pleasure of directing or coaching most of the members of this extremely talented cast when I was at ImprovBoston, and I can vouch for a zany evening of high quality fun. Sawyer & Hurley are impossible to explain, but can be described by adjectives such as stupendous, hysterical, and must-see. Boston is bringing you two superb teams. Go see them!”
Shannon Brown (ManiPedi): “The Feeko Brothers. I leave every one of their shows smiling.”
Paul Triggani (Secret Pants; host of PHIT’s TV Party): “I should say the Monday show since I’m in it, but my pick would be: ManiPedi has become an estrogen-infused city favorite, and The Specific Jawns show a great deal of promise based on only a handful of performances, but the real treat will be seeing The Mask & Wig Club outside of their normal UPenn venue and schedule, which almost never happens. MacCloskey & Myers sound nice, too.”
Photo: Tom Lovelund, Musher-Lovelund Photography/Philly Improv Theater
Erin Pitts (ZaoGao): “You have got to see the Feeko Bros. They’re in the Dirtiest Sketch Competition on Tuesday and headlining Thursday night. See BOTH shows, you will not be disappointed.”
Jason Grimley (Grimmacchio): “I am looking forward to seeing The Monthly Hour. James Hesky, Darryl Charles, Jim Grammond and Mary Radzinski are great comedians individually. Sit them down together and they are amazing!”
FESTIVAL INFO: Each of the nightly performances 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.
The Best of the Philly Improv Fest Night 3
Last night, people packed into the Prince Music Theater for the third night of the Philadelphia Improv Festival where a total of ten acts took the stage, delivering a pretty stellar night of live comedy. With the line-up having been dominated by out-of-towners, here were the four most memorable performances of the night.
Rich Uncle
Hands down one of the funniest improv sets I’ve ever seen. Comprised of veterans from ImprovBoston’s Harold Night as well as a few newbies, the troupe was on fire from beginning to end. Did they potentially destroy the final seasons of The Wire for everyone? Yes. Did they make up for it with a few very clever and hysterical references to The Wire? Yes. It’s rare that something can make you laugh to the point of tears; so uncontrollably that you have to cover your mouth to help yourself breathe. So for that, I would like to thank them.
The NYC-based collective was definitely one of the more boundary-pushing troupes of the night, having poked fun at animal cruelty more than once and, more importantly, with success. Much of this was thanks to Elizabeth Findlay who I could have watched embody a Shih Tzu all night.
I knew I was in for a treat he moment Connie and Connie (Alli Soowal and Liz Scott) stepped on stage. Much to my surprise, inside their house dresses, they were actually packing real treats—little snack cakes that they proceeded to throw at audience members who dished one of their current problems. While the gals did little to actually solve any of these problems, they did exchange some hilarious impromptu banter while simultaneously engaging in nail art and crafting. Their set was sorta like SNL’s Coffee Talk with Linda Richman and Bronx Beat, except without the talk show format. Quite frankly, they didn’t need a format.
Wisdom Teeth 
Now displaced between Philly and LA, these four local ladies and improv vets—Alexis Simpson, Alli Soowal, Kristin Finger, Maggy Keegan—were clearly excited to be reunited, with their enthusiasm having fueled every second of their time on that stage. It didn’t even matter if certain scenes got awkward—they we’re having a blast and so you did too. As two of the five original Real Housewives of Philadelphia, I’ve really only heard references of Alexis Simpson and Alli Soowal as local legends. And now I know for sure that they exist.
….
If you’ve yet to check out any of the Philly Improv Festival shows, I would highly recommend doing so tonight when the level of improvisational talent is sure to reach its peak with Austin’s Live Nude Improv at 10 p.m. (featuring Philly’s own comedic maven Kristen Schier—who may or may not be baring it all), followed by the reunion of local troupe Rare Bird Show at 11 p.m. Rounding out the 9 p.m. block are the boys of LA’s BillyHawk, who several local comics deemed the must-see act of the fest.
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