It was April of 2005 when I first wrote about the N Crowd during their inaugural month of shows. At the time they were performing at the Spirit Wind Arts Center. The nondescript building, tucked away on New Street just around the corner from their current home, was and remains little more than a massive brick room… Freezing in the winter and an oven in the summer. Their segmented platform stage built strong enough to hold the antics of a dozen energetic improvisers, but readily deconstructed to make way for the bands, belly dancers and martial artists who shared the space throughout the week.
After Spirit Wind, the group performed for a brief stint in the Red Room at the Society Hill Playhouse. The dark space had walls lined with tin medallions and the audience watched atop lengthy platforms that held the cabaret-style seating. Long gone was the platform stage, and in its place would often be the encroaching set of whatever production was currently being mounted.
Then In August of 2006, the N Crowd would find a home where they would take up residence on Friday nights, and where they remain to this day. Venturing north up Third Street, just beyond the Ben Franklin Bridge where the First Friday crowds begin to thin, sits the Actors Center. And on the second floor you’ll find the unassuming black box that the N Crowd now calls home.
Time has the ability to change so many things, and it’s remarkable what five years can do. When you spend several evenings each week with a group of people doing something you all love, it’s astounding how much you become more than what you thought. I was welcomed into this fold a few years back, and since that time I’ve been witness to so much more than comedy… so much more than a hobby.
These initial relationships that we form can’t help but take root; until we see our lives intertwined, both personally and professionally. There have been numerous projects undertaken… videos, albums and even a musical. But most exceptional are how we’ve been there for one another through so many of life’s moments. We’ve been friends, yet also at times enemies, if only for thirty seconds. Confidants and mocking assholes. We’ve seen one another through hookups and breakups, been bridesmaids and thrown baby showers. We’ve slept on each others sofas and passed out on each others floors. Births and birthdays, moving days and job woes. We’ve cleaned each others wounds – both figurative and real.
We take our punches and we take our rewards, and each time we can’t help but all own a little piece of it. Because Third Street is where it’s most apparent. It hangs on our faces and plays through our characters. People come and people go, some for a short time, others forever. No matter who you see onstage any given Friday, one thing’s for sure… after five years we’re in more than the business of comedy… we’re in the business of being a comedy family.
This Friday we’d like to welcome you in joining us at the Ruba Hall for a special anniversary night. After the show, we’ll have some drinks, dance up a storm and celebrate five years of doing it the only way we know how… through laughter.
THE N CROWD – 5 YEAR ANNIVERSARY SHOW
FRIDAY, APRIL 23RD @ 9PM
RUBA HALL | 414 GREEN ST (1 BLOCK NORTH OF SILK CITY)
TICKETS & INFO
