With cheap comedy, students get the last laugh

There is nothing funny about a cheap night out in New York. Fortunately, at the Upright Citizens Brigade comedy club in downtown Manhattan, the $5 ticket price is the only thing that doesn’t have audience members laughing in the aisles.

Founded in 1999 by SNL veteran Amy Poehler and fellow comedians Matt Besser, Ian Roberts, and Matt Walsh, UCB attempts to bring the spirit of Chicago comedy to New York. The founders transformed a seedy strip club into a venue for an entirely different kind of performance: long-form improvisation.

Today, 219 comedians count themselves as former or current members of UCB’s stable. Members include Scott Adsit (Hornberger from 30 Rock), Bobby Moynihan (one of Saturday Night Live’s newest members), and as Rob Riggle (correspondent for The Daily Show with John Stewart).

But you don’t need to be a primetime regular to hit the UCB stage—anyone can audition to be part of UCB’s schedule after graduating from one of their 400-level classes. A wide variety of these courses are offered throughout the week, and typically a set of eight lessons runs around $350.

With such a wide range of talent, any kind of viewer can find a niche in the theater’s monthly lineup. A popular show that always seems to get a full house is Very Fresh with Olde English. Once a month, this group of five intersperses clever sketches amidst a lineup of individual stand-up comedians announced on the UCB website prior to each show.

Another semi-regular show at UCB, with aptly titled Liquid Courage, is open to any comedian, professional or amateur, who signs up. Performers sign up for 3-5 minute slots, and then step in front of an already assembled audience of 150 people who are ready to judge. Disgruntled viewers, however, won’t be asking for their money back—tickets to this event are free.

Far away from tourist traps with simplistic names such as Ha! Comedy Club and Laugh Factory, UCB cultivates an understated vibe. While Ha! attempts to create a more traditional dinner-and-a-show dynamic by having audience members sit around shaky tables with expensive drinks, UCB is a theater in the traditional sense of the word. It is a thrust stage with lighting, a sound booth, and most importantly, the ability to darken the audience seating.

This separation between viewer and stage allows for a better relationship between comedian and audience. It lets audience members sit back with a beer or glass of wine and enjoy laughing out loud without worrying that the comedian will pick you out of the crowd and use you as his next joke. Comedians don’t bombard you with bathroom one-liners or humor concerning cunnilingus—one show covers a wide spectrum of humor so every audience member is sure to enjoy at least part of it.

However, all of these problems can be found in abundance at Ha! Comedy club. Within the first 20 minutes of a show last December featuring Kevin Brown (Dot Com from 30 Rock), the comedian was miming how he treated his wife in the bedroom. Apparently, Brown is not afraid of the vagina, and neither was the poor guy he asked at the center table. These jokes can definitely be funny, but original they are not.

In contrast to clubs like Ha!, where the goal of the comedian seems to be to make the audience as uncomfortable as possible, comedians at UCB get enough laughs making fun of themselves and telling stories. Everyone has heard at least one joke about premature ejaculation—but who has heard a joke about former President Chester A. Arthur? Olde English’s audience at the UCB theater in February has.

While other comedy clubs are expensive and unoriginal, UCB offers some of the best and freshest comedy in the city—and that is no laughing matter.