The Macy's Day Before Thanksgiving Day Parade

Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre

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 “Chicago-style” long form improv in the city, the four members of the UCB soon began their training program in 1997. Before the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater opened, the UCB and their students performed at Solo Arts Group – but the shows, and the growing training program, were so successful that the group felt the need to open their own theater. Thanks to Rudi Giulinai’s battle against obscenity, the new theater opened February 4, 1999 at 161 West 22nd Street, the former home of the New Harmony, a strip club reported to be seedier than seedy. The UCBT quickly became the place for great, cutting-edge, comedy. Casting directors, agents, festival producers, and journalists all began to flock to the little 74-seat theater in Chelsea to see the best comic talent in the city. And as buzz for the theater grew, the training program expanded even more with hundreds of students learning the art of improvised theater. On April 1, 2003, the New UCB Theater opened its doors. Our 150-seat theater at 307 West 26th Street continues to offer the best and most innovative improv and sketch comedy in the city every day of the week. In addition to our performance space, UCBT is home to an intensive Improv Guerilla Training Center where students learn the art of improvisational and written comedy.

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