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Entries in Venues (29)
Tuesday Sep 06 2011 The UCB East is Now Open for Business: First Photos, Shows, and Details From the New Theater
Tuesday, September 6, 2011 at 11:43PM The UCBT officially unlocked its East Village expansion Tuesday night, The UCB East (aka The Beast). But judging by the utter lack of wacky inflatable arm tube dudes and the three random people in the crowd for its first show (a screening of Wild Girls Gone), it's not ready for a Theater Magazine feature story yet. I strolled through, snagging shots of the new space. It seats a 100 maybe and is both long-ish and narrow. You'll need to speak with your diaphragms inserted to reach the lurkers in the back. Oh, and the stage is small, probably 12-14 feet wide? UCB West devotees will be majorly disappointed by the clear, unobstructed view from every seat. The venue has a foyer and a roomy spillway, which means you'll be able to shotgun PBRs before and after a performance without getting rained on. BYOB for now though til the liquor license fairies come by.
The official calendar should be debuting any moment now at the UCBT site--someone at the theater said it'll go live tonight at midnight. Here's this week's lineup.
**Full First Week Schedule**
Wednesday 9/7
7:30pm - $5 - Outlook of the Poet + Two Man Movie
9:00pm - $5 - Doppelganger + Cheating On Harold (this week: Standard Oil + Very Good Kiss)
11:00pm - free - The Improv Jam (hosted by Grandma's Ashes)
Thursday 9/8
6:00pm - free - Oh, Hey Guys (storytelling open mic, hosted by John Flynn)
7:30pm - $5 - Adam Wade: BIG HEART
9:00pm - $5 - Totally JK (hosted by Joe Mande and Noah Garfinkel)
11:00pm - free - Gutbucket (stand-up open mic, hosted by Rob Stern and Amber Nelson)
Friday 9/9
7:30pm - $10 - Diamond Lion
9:00pm - $10 - Creaghead & Company Industrial Showcase
11:00pm - $5 - Gentrify
Saturday 9/10
7:30pm - $10 - AIRWOLF: Let's Go Back To Your Place
9:00pm - $10 - The Extended Play E.P. Music Album Release Party with TJ Miller
11:00pm - $5 - Underground Americana (w/ Jeff Rubin, Lang Fisher and more)
Sunday 9/11
7:30pm - $5 - Two Fun Men + Off The Cuff
9:00pm - $5 - Hot Soup 11:00pm - $5 - Fresh Out (hosted by Adam Conover)
Monday 9/12
8:00pm - $5 - Wheelhouse (hosted by Will Hines)
10:00pm - $5 - Improv Nerds
Tuesday 9/13
8:00pm - $5 - After Hours with Gene Hackman & Friends
10:00pm - $5 - It Is It (hosted by Adam Lowitt)
The Apiary | 1 Comment | 82 References tagged UCB East , UCBEAST in Venues Tuesday Jan 04 2011 First Impressions of The PIT's New Theater
Tuesday, January 4, 2011 at 3:10PM
Over the weekend, The People's Improv Theater formally moved to its new location on 24th Street between Park and Lexington. There is no "PIT East: The Beast," as was previously hinted at in a full page ad in The Onion. There is only one space because I hear that everything is out of the 29th Street location and Ali turned in the keys. (Good luck getting the security deposit back with that hole in the wall!)
I went up to the new space last night just to check it out and they happened to be holding their FIRST SHOW EVER on the new stage (What luck!!). It was a student graduation show (It could be worse!!).
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
--You will be blown away; the place is sick. You enter into a full bar detailed in black and red, complete with seating, tables, flatscreens and lacquered wood. It looks classy, like a nice place you would want to drink at anyways.
--The theater comfortably seats 100 or so which is almost twice as many as before. Which translates to: you can get there a half hour early instead of an hour early to get a guaranteed seat for a Super Free Wednesday show.
--My biggest issue with the old space was that it was difficult to slink into a performance late. Assuming you were allowed in late, you'd have to walk all the way to the stage and then up into a seat while disrupting everyone/ruining everyone's night. Here, you can sneak in and out, distantly from the stage in the cover of total darkness. I'm guessing you can also go out for a beer or a bathroom break without causing a ruckus--not sure if that will be encouraged though.
--Speaking of seats, the steep stadium seating is raked in a way that if you sit at the top, you might get a little extra show with your show: your sightline is right down the low cut blouses of busty improvisers! Creepy or awesome?
--BRING YOUR HANDICAPPED FRIENDS: Whether you're a comedy lover who's sprained an ankle or you're in a medically induced coma, you can easily wheel into the theater without climbing (and subsequently tumbling down) a flight of stairs.
--The theater is in a pleasing proximity to Shake Shack, a bunch of Indian buffets and the stomping grounds of the creature known asHe-Man. These are all good things.
What do you think? What are your first impressions of the new space?
The Apiary | 3 Comments | 5 References tagged The New PIT , The PIT East in Venues Friday Dec 17 2010 New Details on The PIT's Future Home
Friday, December 17, 2010 at 4:13PM There are already ads running in the print version of The Onion touting The PIT's new/2nd home, but the venue isn't slated to open until sometime in January or so. Here's some info about the place:
> The Peoples Improv Theater will be unveiling their new performing space in early 2011. The roughly 10,000 sqft space features a 99 seat theater, a 50 seat experimental performance space, a stand-up stage, a coffee shop and full service bar.
The PIT's new digs will offer an all encompassing home for performers to work on their craft and career as well as the opportunity to be a part of a vibrant community. The new space will allow The PIT to expand upon its current comedic offerings of improv and sketch comedy shows, stand up and storytelling performances and even mix in a variety of other comedic entertainment.
WHERE
The Peoples Improv Theater
123 E. 24th Street (between Park and Lexington)
A private holiday party was hosted at The PIT East recently which gave PITizens a sneak peak of the good times ahead. One of the more notable differences: a Mustang Sally's-like watering hole in their own theater. You can get drunk without ever leaving the lobby--hooray! It is unknown at this time whether you'll get a discount on domestic drafts if you tell the bartender you're from The PIT.
The Apiary | 7 Comments tagged The PIT East in Venues Monday Oct 18 2010 Is Comix Turning Into a Sports Bar?
Monday, October 18, 2010 at 5:17PM I walked by Comix this afternoon and saw that the upstairs bar area of it is being renovated into some kind of sports viewing establishment called Bar 353 @ Comix. There were dudes on ladders hoisting a big vinyl banner with various athletic logos over the awning. Is Comix cornering the market on sports enthusiasts who also love to lol?
An artist's representation of what Comix might look like in the near future.
The Apiary | 1 Comment | 2 References tagged Comix in Venues Friday Sep 03 2010 Ochi's Lounge is No More; Also: What's up with Comix?
Friday, September 3, 2010 at 2:00PM It was announced today without warning that Ochi's Lounge has been closed. Kambri Crews wrote on Facebook:
> After three years of fighting to keep it open, free and cheap, it is with great sadness that I report that Ochi's was officially closed. I want to thank each of you for giving that room so much charm and community.
> The joy I felt in that room was never short of stupendous. I’m sure gonna miss it. Special thanks to Mr. John Morrison for the loan of the lighting system for over two years! His generosity and support is mind boggling.
> Your commitment to comedy is inspiring, and I look forward to seeing you all move on to bigger and brighter things. I'll be seeing your faces around. I can't wait to have some laughs with you outside of that club.
> Best, Kambri Crews
It's unfortunate that another nice space in Manhattan has been put out to the pasture, especially one that was so welcoming for noobs and pros alike. Performers lined up on FB to eulogize.
CC Insider's Gonzalo Cordova wept:
> Oh, man, that really bums me out. I've spent countless hours in that space waiting to go up. I'm really glad I went to the mic there on Wednesday and got to perform there one last time.
Mike Lawrence added a rose to the casket:
> Also I think a special mention has to go to Sean Donnely for doing such a great job of running a show and a mic there. I'd say Kambri, King, and Donnely are the holy trinity of that place.
Ochi's, which was created using stem cells from the miscarriage that was Mo Pitkins, made good use of Comix's otherwise untapped downstairs area, so why not keep the dream alive, why not lure more audiences with more shows and more comedians with more opportunites? Show producers there were notified as late as this past Wednesday about the cancellation of all future performances and a group of ominous sounding "new investors" was cited as the reason for the sudden course of action. This doesn't seem to bode well for the venue.
QUESTIONS!
* Who saw this coming??
* What do these new investors want from us??
* Do they plan on turning Comix into a 300-seat Muscle Maker Grill??
* Is the Manhattan alt-stand up scene in shambles??
The Apiary | Post a Comment | 1 Reference tagged Comix , Ochi's Lounge in Venues Friday Jul 30 2010 Coming This Winter: The PIT Moves to Murray Hill, UCB East Opens Its Doors
Friday, July 30, 2010 at 5:29PM
The PIT sent out a surprise announcement via Twitter today:
> @ThePIT acquires new theater complex! 10k sq ft, 99+ seat theater, full bar/coffee shop, rehearsal spaces and offices! Follow The Fear!
Where's it gonna be? Sources close to The PIT tell me the theater's new digs will be in Murray Hill - 24th Street between Park and Lexington and they're prepping to open in December 2010. Stuff that in your curry hole.
Hot on the heels of that news, at the UCB Theater's annual press conference to kick off the DCM, 3 of the UCB 4 were on stage taking questions. They revealed the name of their new space--UCB East--a 150 seat theater opening its doors in early 2011 at 3rd and Avenue A. The collective's current location (UCB West?) will continue to operate as its mainstage for improv, ASSSSCAT is staying put. They said, "[UCB East is] going to have all different kinds of comedy. The same way this will be heavily improv, that will be heavily standup. You will be able to do things that you can't do in a club in the Midwest." Eat it, stupid Midwest clubs! Something else to potentially get excited about: UCB East will have A Hot Chick's Room.
Matt Walsh, Ian Roberts and Matt Besser at the DCM press conference | Photo: Paul Gale
The Apiary | Post a Comment | 8 References tagged The PIT , UCB East , changes in Improv , Venues Monday Jun 21 2010 Who's Behind This UCBT Missed Connection?
Monday, June 21, 2010 at 4:21PM Look Mom pointed out a M4W Missed Connection that's so dangerously forward, if it were a political cartoon, it would depict the male with bulging eyes and a nametag that says POSSIBLE MANIAC and an aloof female and they'd be strapped in a speeding Hyundai towards a cliff labeled DISCRETION:
> I am a nerd for doing this, but let me commit. I am twenty one, a student in improv, and an audience member of the UCB and the Gethard Show. You are a very adorable and cute redhead who is an intern at the UCB and a friend of Gethard's who also helps with his show. You are also absolutely beautiful.
I have only really had one encounter with you other than paying for show tickets or being counted on the ticker as I enter the theater at random shows. I have only had one encounter that you probably don't even recall.
About two or three or four months ago, you and two other girls performed at School Night. You all did, what I recall, an improvised interpretive dance. The dance climaxed with the three of you choosing three audience members to dance with...who did you choose and how do I fit into this equation? Simple. You and I shared a very awkward dance, due to my cowardice.
Now, you are probably saying to yourself: "Jeesh, you, if you know where I intern/perform and see me on a pretty frequent basis, why not introduce yourself and talk to me in person?" Well, to answer that question quite honestly and thoroughly and swiftly, I am a coward. I am constantly telling myself that girls I find intriguing would not be interested in me, only so I have the oppurtunity to avoid conflict and initiation. I am afraid of rejection.
So I find myself on this website typing up an essay in hopes that you or someone who is close to you finds this and I eventually hear back from you. I would love to take you on a date and show you that I am a good guy who just wants to get to know you. I am a very awesome guy, aside from what is mentioned in the paragraph above!
Anyways, I hope you find this and reply!
http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/mis/1801190466.html
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
* Is this a publicity stunt?
* Should this lady call the police?
The Apiary | 1 Comment tagged Craigslist , UCBT-NY in The World Around You , Venues Monday May 03 2010 The Slipper Room is Closing; Sweet Searches For a New Home
Monday, May 3, 2010 at 6:51PM In his weekly address to all his fans and email subscribers, Seth Herzog is saying that the LES burlesque venue where he's been hosting Sweet for the past 6 years, The Slipper Room, is scheduled to be demolished.. unless of course he shackles himself to the radiator and makes an emotional plea to sway the heart and mind of the approaching bulldozer operator:
> So Yes, it's come time. The Slipper Room is closing in the first week of June. But not for good, they are tearing down the building and rebuilding it with the Slipper Room on the second floor. However that is going to take about a year (if it gets done at all). SO these are the LAST Five shows at the old Slipper Room. Will it move? Yes, I'm currently looking a new spaces. If you have any ideas let me know. Come down to the shows before its all over!
The last of the great Manhattan alt stand up rooms, Sweet has enjoyed an incredible run--there's no doubt these final shows will be huge.
The Apiary | Post a Comment | 4 References tagged Sweet , The Slipper Room , seth herzog in Venues Page 1 2 3 4 ... 4 Next 8 Entries » Copyright © 2011, [theapiary.org]. All rights reserved.