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Tuesday
Jul282009

DCM11: Five recommendations

DateTuesday, July 28, 2009 at 12:14PM

In a little less than three weeks, I'll be heading back to the east coast for the first time since I left it, in order to perform at the 11th Annual Del Close Marathon - New York City's first (and only?) continuous 48+ hour improv festival.

The DCM used to be confined to a single stage in the 150-seat Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. At least, that's how I remember it in 2004. At some point since then, the festival ballooned in size: this year's outing features over 150 shows taking place on four stages throughout the city.

The upsides of a bigger festival are, of course, more opportunities for lesser known groups to perform (like mine!), and (theoretically) a more evenly distributed flow of audience traffic among the venues.

The downsides are numerous. Because there are so many performance slots, the show selection process isn't incredibly rigorous, and this benefits more than a few below average groups at the expense of the audience. Also, in order to manage audience traffic, the higher profile shows are distributed randomly throughout the schedule. This doesn't sound too harmful on its face, but it means that you can't just show up at the UCB from 7 to 11 on Saturday and assume you're going to see the very best shows of the weekend. Some of the best improv in the world appears on the schedule adjacent to some of the worst, so a great festival experience requires much more foresight than it used to. It's also much more difficult to make accidental discoveries of groups you like... so here are my suggestions of five DCM shows you might not know you want to see yet!

  1. Three Hole Punch
    Friday 8/14, 7:30 pm at the Hudson Guild Theater
    Hey, it's my blog and I can promote my own group first if I want to. That's why I suggest having a blog. Three Hole Punch has been together in one way or another for about seven years, and we are now dually based in Boston and Chicago. We've recently appeared at the Providence Improv Fest and the Chicago Improv Festival, and our DCM10 performance was highly praised by Jester Journal. Also, the Hudson Guild has a lot of seats and a high ceiling - this will prove to be in remarkable contrast to the rest of the weekend.

  2. Code Duello: Hamilton & Burr
    Friday 8/14, 8:00 pm at the UCB
    Technically, you won't be able to see this and my show, so consider Code Duello a recommendation for life in general... not just the DCM. These are two friends from Boston who perform some of the smartest improv you'll ever see, in wigs and period costumes. You're welcome.

  3. Baby Wants Candy
    Saturday 8/15, 7:00 pm at the Kate Murphy Ampitheater     (tickets sold separately)
    There are at least five improvised musicals on the DCM schedule this year, and this is the biggest name in that niche. It's hard to do an improvised musical that's equally good as an improv show and as a musical, and BWC does it. Bonus: the cast of this show includes two of my favorite improvisers I've ever met, and supposedly Jack McBrayer will be in it as well... he's a favorite too, but I haven't met him.


  4. Drum Machine
    Saturday, 11:00 pm at the Hudson Guild Theater
    Speaking of improvised musicals, imagine seeing one wherein the cast consists of one woman, one drum machine, and an unending wealth of knowledge about different historical periods. This is Drum Machine. I saw Jill Bernard for the first time in North Carolina this February, and she is an absolute beast of a performer. I mean that in the best possible way. Drum Machine will be the most under-hyped, over-delivering show of the weekend.

  5. Walsh & Roberts
    Sunday, 6:45 pm at the UCB
    The last time I saw these two together, they served chocolate chip waffles to the audience and had a kid come up on stage to play with a blowtorch. All I'm saying is... come hungry.

Tickets to the Del Close Marathon are $25 for the weekend. Will you be there? DM me on Twitter about what you're seeing.

AuthorLiz | Comment5 Comments | |
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Reader Comments (5)

I also recommend my show, UCBW: Kicking Ass & Taking Suggestions. 5:15am on Saturday morning at the UCBT.

http://www.delclosemarathon.com/dcm11/shows/view/26/full

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