UCBT announces DCM dates; opens submissions

The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre has announced that the 11th annual Del Close Marathon will run from August 14-16, with over 150 shows playing across three venues.

The event was created in celebration of the late Del Close, a pioneer in the art of improvisation and an inspiration to generations of students:

“Del Close was the driving force behind improvisational comedy in Chicago for over 30 years influencing Bill Murray, Tina Fey, Mike Myers, John Belushi, Chris Farley and the Upright Citizens Brigade to name a few. After Del’s passing in 1999, the UCB started the Del Close Marathon to celebrate their mentor and keep alive his name and teachings for future generations.”

DEL CLOSE

DCM is currently accepting submissions for shows. In particular they’re interested in out-of-town groups submitting late-night shows. The submission deadline is May 4th.

DCM 10 Dates Announced & Submissions Open

We’re coming up on another year of the Del Close Marathon. For the uninitiated, DCM is an annual three-day improv endurance test. The 150+ shows run around the clock at UCBT-NY and other stages from Friday afternoon until late Sunday night. There are so many shows and people and laughs that this marathon has been known to cure junkies of their improv obsessions.

From their site:

“Del Close was the driving force behind improvisational comedy in Chicago for over 30 years influencing Bill Murray, Tina Fey, Mike Myers, John Belushi, Chris Farley and the Upright Citizens Brigade to name a few. After Del’s passing in 1999, the UCB started the Del Close Marathon to celebrate their mentor and keep alive his name and teachings for future generations.”

DCM will run a little later than usual this year. Running Aug. 8-10, it’s up against the DC Comedy Fest and the APW Music & Arts Festival (also NYC). So it should be interesting to see who we’ll have in attendance.

If you have a group that you’d like to submit to perform, all of the information can be found on their website.

UCBT Launches Video Site

The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre launched their video site today. The site will feature

“Original comedy from the twisted minds of the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre’s best improv, sketch and stand up comedians. Funny, F’d Up and Illegal videos, podcasts, jokes and other content from the largest humor community in the world.”

It features one of my favorite shorts of recent time, What If There’s Bears.

Thanks to Will Hines for the heads up…